Photography has had a place in our hearts as early as the first film camera. It has this magic of freezing a frame in time, of helping us remember a moment, of telling us a story. And with the proliferation of digital photography, everyone has a camera in their hands, and everyone (at least I do…) has thousands of photos on their phones and hard drives.
But when was the last time you had photos printed?
Out of the hundreds or thousands of photos you’ve taken from the past ten years, how many photos have you actually printed? Framed? Displayed?
Photos used to be this precious gift — people had a limited number of film shots and many people didn’t have multiple prints or enlargements. The photos they had developed were printed and stored with care. They would pull out these albums for special occasions: meeting their kid’s fiancé, having friends and family visit, entertaining on Christmas evening.
We don’t do that now. At least many many people don’t. And in this funny way, despite having thousands of photos on our digital devices, not many of them make it out in the real, concrete world. No one can guarantee that the JPEG format will be relevant in another twenty years. No one can guarantee that USBs will still be a thing (newer computers are already starting to have fewer ports). But solid, IRL albums and prints will be there, through thick and thin, and they will be here for generations to come.
“Couldn’t I just get it printed at a regular one-hour photo shop?”, you might ask.
Yes, you could. But with high quality printing (with special fine art paper and archival inks), there’s a huge difference in colour representation and accuracy, and colour longevity. In our home, my dad has photos taken in the 70s, 80s, and 90s that were developed and printed at professional print shops and they look as if they were printed yesterday. In contrast, he had some prints that were from conventional shops that have faded significantly. Similar, we have studio prints from when my GRANDPARENTS were children, and the photos still hold up. And that quality printing is a huge reason why these photos have stood the test of time. I believe that if you want to create fun albums that are about the everyday moments, you could look into simpler and cheaper printing options. However, for your WEDDING photos, I highly suggest ordering high quality prints and albums, because it will truly make a difference.
So why would you get your photographer to design this album?
Your photographer is a story teller. They were there to capture the getting ready, the anticipation of the first look, the ceremony, the wedding couple session, the details, the speeches, and of course, the party. They were a fly on the wall whom you’ve entrusted to document this story, and an album is their narrative. It’s the best way to tell the story of a day from beginning to end.
Photographers also have access to professional shops that may not be available to the general consumer. These shops often have flush-mount albums, which essentially allow the pages to lie completely flat, so you can really see a photo cross the page seamlessly. This allows the photo to take up the most space on the page and really make an impact.
And yes! high quality albums are expensive. But they’re also meant to last a lifetime. And you’ve put in all the money, time and effort to create this beautiful wedding, AND your photographer has created some amazing images. All of that DESERVES to live in a beautifully handbound heirloom album.
And if you’re still reading this, I hope I’ve persuaded you that you NEED a wedding album. And I’m happy to say that many of my wedding and elopement packages include an album or credit towards one, and can be completely customized for you! Each album also comes with its own matching linen box, vellum cover page, archival gloves and more! Please get in touch and I’ll send you the info ASAP 😊
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