This past holiday season I was rummaging through my parents basement to find old photos from past Christmas parties for our annual extended family holiday get-together. It happens every year, but this time we made a theme of it: “A Throwback Polzin Christmas Party”. We decorated with thrifted, nostalgic decorations, listened to “oldies”, made popcorn balls, and had old board games to play. We also made a display of old photographs from various family Christmas parties throughout the years. My mom has dozens of photo albums that are filled with thousands of photographs – they are so fun to browse through and I am so thankful that she took the time to develop all those rolls of film and place them in albums.
While I was looking through the photos I thought about how sad it would be if we didn’t have them to bring back those memories and feelings. Looking at the funny outfits and hairstyles, seeing Aunt Carol in the dated kitchens making her famous Grasshoppers, being able to hear Grandma’s laugh one more time just through a single photograph. The power of a picture always amazes me.
As a shoot and share wedding photographer (a photographer that shares the edited images digitally with clients afterwards and doesnt do seperate in-person sales for prints) I always try to stress why it is so very important to make sure you print your wedding photos and not let them sit in the online gallery or on the flashdrive you receive.
Three important reasons to print your photos:
1) Technology Will Become Obsolete
Remember records? Remember cassettes? Remember CDs?! It’s crazy to think that CDs are already becoming obsolete in today’s digital age, but its true! Some computers don’t provide a drive to insert a CD anymore. As history tends to repeat itself, its safe to guess that USBs, flashdrives, thumb drives, or whatever you would like to call them will soon become obsolete too!
2) Losing It All!
You could lose your flashdrive. Your computer might crash. Your phone is on its last leg. The media you are using to store your photos could very well let you down and you could lose it all! The average lifespan of a USB is 1-10 years and 20% of hard drives fail after 4 years. Archival, professional papers lasts for 100s of years! A hardcopy (ie: prints!) are the safest bet that you will not lose your memories due to technology failing!
3) Your Story for the Future
It may not seem important now, but all the little mundane parts of life today will tell your story for future generations. Your grandkids will enjoy looking at your wedding photos and your iphone pics. Your children are going to appreciate that you took the time to document life together. You are going to be so happy to know that your photos are real and tangible after another computer crashes or phone dies.
Do you have photos sitting on your computer or phone? Get them printed! What are your favorite products to purchase?
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Journalistic and intentional photography for the modern couple who wants to remember how they felt in the moment 20 years from now.