UPDATED IMAGE
It is 2014 and while only a few short years ago we still rushed to the local developers with a film in hand, excited to see what we captured so that we can relish in the moment all over again. I remember many times taking film to Black’s or Japan Camera and waiting my WHOLE HOUR just to see what I caught on film. It was so exciting reliving those always precious memories – I have actual pictures of my high school adventures and all of my early adult adventures in albums and loose in boxes in my room. I also have my adventures to Vancouver many times with different friends as well as various camping adventures – and a trip to Mexico with my high school Musical Theater company that toured with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Raincoat.
So when did our obsession with digital images and copies take over our needs? When did having an image on a disk replace the love that we have for holding our images in our hands and appreciating the image for the moment that it captured and represents in our life?
I have had a love hate relationship with digital images since I became a photographer so many years ago. The allure of having your digital image is strong and semi justified. We like to think that when we have the digitals it will safeguard us from ever loosing that memory and that it is close to almost having it in an album…right?
I hate to say that while yes, you would have some version of your image it is likely saved on a medium that is being extinct. I was not shocked by annoyed that my brand new shiny Macbook Air that was almost 1900 with all the bells and whistles (only to type on too…can’t even compare to the gauging I got when I bought my 5K) had no disk drive. I have two USB ports but no space to put a disk. WAIT. Don’t I still sell disks??? Yes…yes I do…
How long will it be before your images are no longer viable digitally? How long will it be before you loose that disk? I have sadly lost a few in the last couple of years and I have no idea where to even begin looking for them. Does that mean they are gone – probably.
Even as a photographer I like to think that I will have some awesome time to go through and edit these images later on. Nope – it never happens and then I have images but then what?
When I meet with families to discuss what their plans are for digitals I always hope that we can at least get one print – at the very least – on the wall. Ideally customers want to order enough so that I can eat and feed my family for a few weeks (I know – greedy hey?) but as a photographer I hate the thought that you, my precious customer is going to put time, effort and money into a session and it will sit on a disk….or get lost on a Facebook post and that is it. Really – what is the point? To show off to your online friends that you have had images done? To feel validated that you too took part in this trendy movement where everyone hires a personal photographer to capture moments for the wall that does not come from Sears or Walmart?
Your images deserve to be displayed. Period.
Whether it be prints in an album, a professional created coffee table album, canvas, metal, etc – I beg of you to put something on the wall.
A few years back I ran into a lot of issues with customers who would purchase digital images from me and then come back in tears because their images were not what they were wanting based on the colours that would be printed. Sadly I cannot control where my customers choose to print their images. Sometimes it works out well and everyone is happy but when it doesn’t work out it makes me feel really sad and upset for my customers. This recurring event led me to a decision that has worked out pretty well all in all.
All digital images purchased within packages and individually for the most part are sized at 11×14. In my years of photography I have rarely came across many people who actually want to create wall sized images of their work on their own behalf. People are BUSY and the idea that someone will take care of a task like that, providing a high quality product is just too easy and is a very popular choice. 99% of the time, individuals who want to purchase digital images are looking to have some to send to family, maybe friends…they are just to save a few dollars in the printing so that they can get the image across. Quality is not a huge deal, they just want to send something so digitals make good sense.
I love working with my customers to make sure that they are getting exactly what they need for their homes – otherwise why on earth would you spend the money on a session to not enjoy the images that were created? I can’t send my customers off with digitals and then have them very upset and concerned on the phone or in person when they went to a third party printer and had huge prints or canvas’ completed and now they look terrible and they have no where to turn.
If you are interested in larger scale digital images from First Blush Photography I am happy to speak to you about that. At the end of the day though I really want you to enjoy your images and would love to help you get to that end point and show you the customer service that First Blush Photography is known for and for you to be able to hold your memories in your hand, put them in your pocket and share them without the fear that they will be gone once your cell phone battery is done for the day.
