3 Tips for What To Do with Your Photos

I have my photos, now what?

It’s the funniest thing to me. We put in so much time and energy to get some beautiful portraits taken, only to have them sit on a jump drive or CD to collect dust and never be seen outside of a quick upload on Facebook. Over 70% of people don’t take the time to print their beautiful photographs! Why? Time & money is what I have boiled it down to.

This is one of the biggest reasons I push my clients to think beyond just taking photos and stressing that they must think about what they want to do with these photographs so I can recommend what products would best suite them! It also gives me good insight on what to “shoot” for during a photoshoot.

I also have my clients think about products beforehand because it is an expense that should be included in the process. I myself include a tangible, UV coated, archivable print that is mounted, matted and ready to be framed with any digital I sell. I do this because I know your life is busy and I want so badly for you to hang your beautiful artwork up and enjoy it everyday without the hassle of making sure it is formatted, cropped, calibrated, and colorspaced correctly. I have the expensive software and have a professional lab that I have calibrated to and can ensure that what you see on screen is what you will see in print. A lot of steps take place to print each photograph.

I understand that all photographers are not the same.

So let me help you out with a couple of places you can print your photographs and some tips to ensure they get printed!

1.) Think about how/where you want to use these photos.

Are you looking to replace a family portrait on the wall? Do you want to create a gallery? Do you need to use it for a Christmas card? Are you looking to just get a Photo Book for the coffee table or make some gifts for the grandparents at Christmas? Taking the time to think about this will give you the upper hand when you are shopping for a photographer. It will also give you the ability to find a lab that can get you some pricing info on the products you desire.

2.) Not all labs are created equal.

Lets face it, the photo labs at places where the prints are cheap, are cheap for a reason. I highly recommend that you avoid these labs simply because not only is your print going to fade over time but the color calibration will be horribly off.

All of these labs have some great quality products and mostly easy to use software to create fun items.

3.) Just print something!

At the end of the day, just print something! Even if it’s a cheap print. Do it because you have something to be proud of Mom’s! You got everyone together to freeze a moment in time and having a photograph is the best way for us mom’s to see ourselves and our family from the outside looking in. Because sometimes when we are in the thick of it and doing life, we often forget how incredibly blessed we are to have these moments together. We get the chance to tell our story and leave a legacy and heirloom to our children of a happy time. Even if it was stressful, it will be so worth it. We can always get more money, more leadership, more of anything but time. Everyone gets the same 24 hours a day. And time is something we can never get back.

Be the mom who has tons of photos of their family around their house. There is no such thing as too many memories!

Thanks for following along and I hope that you were able to gain some more knowledge in this blog series!

If you are still looking for a photographer, be sure to check out my Fall Family Sessions! It’s a special event I host only once per year! I take the time to print out your Christmas cards for you with your return address on the envelope & give you the stamps! I’d love to help you check that “to do” item off your list!