As a Brisbane Family Photographer I know how important printed photos really are!
Gone are the days when we use to take the roll of film to the Kodak shop and wait for our photos to be printed. We would snap just one shot of our subjects because there was no way to check if it was any good. You would just have to hope that when the images were printed they all turned out. Anyone remember looking at the strip of negatives and seeing one blown out or completely black and wondering what the image was?
My mum documented our entire childhoods, we have albums of each year and loved getting them out as kids to show our friends. I remember getting my first film camera and taking it to America. I took photos of everything and loved that once It was taken I had just frozen that moment in time.
Growing up I always loved photography, I had an Izone and polaroid camera and I loved that you could instantly print the images you took. As time went on Digital Cameras started to become affordable and no longer did we have to wait for the negatives to be developed. We could take our XD cards into the store and print photos using the kiosks. Then phones started to be able to take pictures and the digital era began. Whilst all very exciting the prints that were once the only method of viewing our photographs started to become less and less needed. I remember the Kodak shop closing down at our local shopping centre.
Nowadays we store thousands of photos on our phones and hardly print any. Have a look at your phone's camera roll and see how many images you have. I have 2238.. but not one of those images have been printed. You see we are the most photographed generation but we are also the generation who prints the least amount of pictures.
We capture moments so that we can always look back on our adventures, children or time with friends. To be taken back to that exact moment with a photograph is very powerful, some photos can remind you of a certain song that played or a particular smell. For most of us our photos are some of our most precious possessions. So what would you do if one day they were all gone?
Hard drives can fail, USB's can become corrupted or Phones lost/stolen. Taking with them years of precious memories that we may never get back. They say you never know how much you treasure a photo until it's all you have left.
When my sister Zoe passed away at the young age of 21 her entire life was in the photographs we had. All of a sudden these photos that had always been in our home were the most important things we had of her. And even though we have so many, I wish there were more.
My girls know of their aunty Zoe through the photos we have of her, I tell them Stories of what she was like but it's the pictures that hold the most value. They can recognise her and point her out in a photograph as if they really did once know her. Which is a beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I'll be forever grateful for all the memories my mum took and printed of us as children.
My girls also love photographs like this one below, my mum (their Nanny) as a little girl. They can't believe she once was as young as they are now. It's photos like these that I love also because I never got to see my mum as a child, but with the prints she has I know what she looked like and the people who were in her life.
It's a daunting process when you have thousands of images to go through and print, so start with your professional photos. The one's you've invested a lot of money into, get them printed and on the wall or in an album. Don't let the USB sit in the draw and wait for a rainy day. I hear from clients all the time who have photos from years ago and still haven't printed them.
I offer a full photography service with all packages including beautiful handmade products that have a 75 year + guarantee. Designed to be passed down through the generations and be treasured memories for your family.
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