Friday, November 7, 2014

A Photographer's Note on Digital Files


In this day and age, a print is a rare commodity. They are uploaded to Facebook and often forgotten. The CD is stashed in some box in the computer room, getting scratched and ruined. The hard drive they were uploaded to crashed. All that you are left with is a sad, low resolution web version of a piece of your life.

I'm speaking from experience here, obviously. When Ross and I got engaged, he had strategically placed one of his friends in a bush below the bridge where he was going to propose. Despite this friend having only one photo class in his life....... I cherished the photos because they were from a moment in my life that could never be relived. I quickly uploaded them to my computer and to Facebook.

Facebook is an instant gratification of sorts. All your friends see the photos and leave their "likes" and Comments. There is nothing bad about this. It's great for me, as a photographer, to show off my work. But I feel like we need to start thinking long term. Facebook doesn't replace your photo albums. It complements them. Do not....DO NOT rely on just facebook to store your priceless memories! I learned this the hard way. I went to print some of those photos of us getting engaged... and they were gone. They were on a hard drive that had crashed with no hopes of recovery. My precious photos were consumed by the fire of the digital world.

Now I'm sure you've picked up on where this rant is going. Your wedding photos. Whether or not you are getting married, or have been married for awhile. Make prints of your photos. Don't let them drift off into cyber darkness. You wont get that moment back. This is why I offer albums in my wedding packages. There is just something special about an actual print of an image. So whether or not I am your photographer, just please make prints of your photos! Even if you hired your little sister's best friend and you hate all the photos! They are still irreplaceable.

Now... stay tuned for some albums that I recently designed!

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