Why Print Your Photos? 8 Important Reasons to Abandon Your Digital Files
Why Print Your Photos?
When a potential client calls, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is, “Can I just get the digitals?” And honestly, I totally get why you’d ask! We’re all so used to living on our phones these days. But if I’m being real with you, just handing over a folder of files would feel like I was only doing half my job.
Your photos deserve more than a quick scroll and a spot in cloud storage. They deserve a real place in your home, where you can see them, feel them, and smile every time you walk by. That’s why I’ve built my business around helping you turn your favorite memories into beautiful, lasting prints and products. And that’s why my clients come back and thank me for providing them with this service.
So the short answer is no, I don’t do simple digital packages (and if I do, they’re much more expensive than my standard packages). Every one of my sessions includes a minimum purchase amount, which must be spent on physical products following the session.
Let me tell you why printing your products makes all the difference.
1. Bring Your Photos to Life
Enjoy Your Photos Every Day
Professional photo products are an investment! Especially if you purchase more deluxe items like canvases, metals or albums. I have been there and have felt the same worries over budget and the cost of printed photos. Last year we had our own family photos done, and I decided to make the leap and purchase metals with our photos- and not just one, but a gallery wall. At the time I was so torn over whether we should pay that much for our wall of photos. I am grateful every day that we did!
They hang in the main room of our home, and we each see those photos dozens of times a day. Every time I look at them, I am in love. Both with the quality of the photos, thanks to our wonderful photographer, and with the quality of the wall art, because I used a professional photography lab. For the cost of going out to dinner a couple of times, we get to look at these beautiful portraits of our family every single day for years to come.
Beyond the Phone Screen
Digital images often get shared on social media and are then forgotten. Ask me how often I sit and scroll through past pictures on my phone with my kids… the answer is never. But they frequently pull out their own albums and look through those photos together. They sit and laugh and talk about all of the memories we’ve captured through the years. They love to see how they’ve grown, and they giggle over each other’s baby photos. As I mentioned in the last section, we have a wall of family photos that we look at EVERY SINGLE DAY, and it reminds us of the importance of our family and how much we love one another.
2. Boost Children’s Confidence and Well-Being
Children Feel Loved and Valued
When you display family and milestone photos in your home, you’re doing more than decorating—you’re sending a powerful message to your children. Seeing their own photos displayed prominently in the home shows children that they are an important part of the family story. It reinforces the idea that your family matters and helps create a sense of belonging. Studies show that children who grow up in homes with family photos on the walls have a stronger sense of belonging and security.
Build Self-Esteem
Displaying your child’s photos helps them internalize that they are cherished and celebrated, boosting their self-confidence. Knowing that they are valued gives them security. These printed memories create emotional anchors that help build confidence over time—something a forgotten digital file simply can’t achieve. Daily positive reinforcement of happy moments reinforces positive memories and contributes to emotional resilience.
3. Heirlooms for Future Generations
Why Print Your Photos? Create Lasting Legacies
Do you know what photos we have of my grandparents? We don’t have any of the photos they took in the years they relied on their phones as their cameras. Not one single photo from their camera rolls made it into our home. We DO have several photos that had been tucked away in boxes and albums, waiting for the day we happened upon them as we cleaned out their homes.
Isn’t that amazing? I don’t have one photo from the thousands upon thousands of photos I’m sure were sitting in phone files somewhere. I DO have a copy of my grandparents’ engagement photo on a collage in our hallway. I have an old family photograph from when my dad was a teenager. On the other side of my family, I have an entire wedding album from my grandparents (they bought several to pass along to their children… thinking ahead when they got married). And it isn’t just the important milestone moments we’ve kept. I also have a photo of my great-grandpa sitting on a porch swing with my mom. I’m so glad that my grandparents printed these photos and kept them for decades, so that they could end up in my home and connect my children to their ancestry.
There’s just something special about physical products. I’m grateful for digital copies of photos that we could potentially use someday. I’ve been known to look up old photos for calendar gifts or slide shows. But while I will let my hard drive sit in a drawer gathering dust, printed products that are more than 50 years old enjoy the spotlight in our home. These products have so much more emotional impact than a photo on a screen.
Why Print Your Photos Through Your Photographer?
4. Access to Professional Products and Expert Guidance
One of the biggest challenges clients face is figuring out where to print their photos. With so many consumer options out there, many of which produce low-quality results, it can feel overwhelming and frustrating. As a professional photographer, I have access to exclusive, high-end print labs that work only with professional photographers, ensuring that every product meets the highest standards of quality, color accuracy, and durability.
I also provide samples of the products I offer, including albums, wall art, framed prints, and more. It’s important to me that you can see and feel exactly what you’ll be getting before you make your selections. We can even put your photos up on a wall mock-up during your gallery reveal so you can see how your layout will look in your house, selecting the pictures that best complement each other. This way, you can feel confident knowing your portraits will look beautiful in your home.
5. Customization Tailored to You
Many of the products I offer have different styles, sizes, fabrics, and finishes. When you order your products in my studio at your gallery reveal, you can see these options in person and get a better feel for what fits your family’s style. You can compare them side by side, see their colors as they truly appear in person, feel their textures, and see how they react to light from multiple angles. There’s just no replacement for seeing print products in person before you purchase them.
6. Access to Quality Products
Professional print labs make a huge difference when it comes to your photos. They use top-quality papers, rich inks, and carefully calibrated printers to make sure your images look exactly how they’re supposed to — with true colors, sharp details, and a beautiful finish that actually lasts. Unlike quick consumer labs that rush prints through for speed, professional labs hand-check everything for quality and accuracy.
Plus, the prints they create are made to stand the test of time — no weird fading, discoloring, or bending after just a few years. If you’re investing in professional photography, your memories deserve to be printed the right way — beautifully and built to last. The archival quality materials used by professional printing labs are specifically chosen to create long-lasting works of art. Even the lowest-grade portraits I order from my favorite printing lab have a 100-year “shelf life” when placed in full sunlight.
7. Getting it Done
One of the most common stories I hear from clients is the story of the session never printed… It’s completely understandable! I’ve been there, too. The focus is on the session- choosing outfits, getting haircuts, and ensuring kids smile. We reach the end of the session, view our photos, breathe a sigh of relief that it’s all over, and vow to order our prints tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and goes, followed by a few months of extra tomorrows. Then suddenly you realize it’s been two years and those photos are outdated anyway.
It happens all the time, and what a tragedy to go to all the work and expense of getting professional photos, only to never really get to enjoy them. This is one of my very favorite things about having a gallery reveal and ordering appointment for my clients! We plan this to take place 1-2 weeks following your session, and sit down together to choose your products. Sometimes I have clients worry that they’ll waste my time because they’re so indecisive, but these are the very clients who benefit the most from having a gallery reveal. I’m happy to throw in my input as a professional, and you don’t have the weeks of stress you’d normally endure in the decision-making process.
8. Reducing Stress and Enjoying An Elevated Client Experience
My goal is to make your client experience as stress-free and seamless as possible. From your session to your finished product, everything is taken care of. You don’t need to spend hours researching where to print your photos- finding the best consumer printing lab and then crossing your fingers that your prints turn out like you hope. You’ll see exactly what you can expect, in physical form, before you even order.
I take care of your research for you, giving you access to the very best labs (only available to professional photographers). I am constantly on the lookout for new, fun products and order the samples so you don’t have to! Only the best products and labs make it through my testing process and into my product catalog, saving you the time and money required to do this kind of research yourself.
We’ll walk through choosing the best photos for your walls or albums together, you can see a mock-up, and then you pay and walk away! Your order will be delivered to your front door in a matter of weeks, ready to display and enjoy in your home. The only thing left for you to do is to hang it on the wall!
This is all great information, but I still just want digitals…
I get it! There are definitely times when all I need are some digitals as well. The good news is that there are PLENTY of photographers out there who will deliver just what you’re looking for! You and I may not be the best fit, and that’s ok. I choose to run my business with the end result being print products, because that kind of service brings me joy and fulfillment. It’s not what every client needs, and it’s not what every client needs right now.
I LOVE burgers and fries. I love going out to eat burgers and fries, and we have a bunch of local favorite places to order them. Sometimes I need a quick bite, and Wendy’s is right down the street, so it’s perfect for that moment. Other times we have a little more time and money, and we go to Chom or Seven Brothers or Chubbys! And sometimes we just want to splurge on a really good steak and fries, and we head over to Outback Steakhouse.
I love all of these places, at different times and for different things. But I’m not going to drive up to Wendy’s and demand a steak (or expect it to taste like it came from Outback). I’m also not going to go to Outback and say, “This is all really nice, but I actually only need a $5 burger.”
This is a little tongue-in-cheek way of saying that my business is what it is because of the attention to detail that I offer. I’m so glad you love my photographs and you want that for your own family! And I’ll be happy to serve you that luscious steak with yummy fries that I offer to all my clients. If a $5 burger fits your needs and budget better right now, then I promise there are plenty of fast food photographers who are happy to deliver you a phone full of digital files. And when you’re ready for your steak, I’ll be here ready to be your photographer!
Where have you been all my life? I want this for my family and can’t wait to book a session!
I’m so happy to hear it! I can’t wait to help you get gorgeous photos of you and your loved ones, and to get those photos in albums and wall art where they can be enjoyed by your family and friends!
To schedule your session, just reach out through my contact page and let me know a few details about what you’d like to schedule. I’ll be in touch shortly to answer any questions, and I’ll email over a booking proposal with my calendar, packages, and contract all attached. Once you finish the booking proposal, you’ll be on my calendar! You’ll receive a welcome email, access to your personal client portal, and helpful emails along the way until your session date arrives.
