After several years as a Chattanooga, TN photographer, I know how it goes. A mom goes through the effort of scheduling a session. We plan the session location and outfits. We come up with ways to keep the kids engaged during the session and a treat for afterwards. I obsess over editing these images to perfections. Everyone is thrilled when the online gallery is delivered. And then…
The Problem
I hear from this wonderful mom several months or even years down the road because she’s not sure she ever downloaded the images and the gallery is expired. Perhaps she did download them when she received them, but she’s not sure where exactly she saved them. Even worse, her hard drive that had the images on them may have crashed.
I can’t fault her. While I am a Chattanooga TN photographer professionally, I am first and foremost a mom to three energetic little girls. I know first hand that time is a very limited commodity. Getting the laundry put away and everyone fed daily can be a struggle. There’s not often margin for extra, non-necessity tasks like printing out all of the images from the most recent professional photography session. And so, I re-upload the images and re-activate the online gallery.
I have learned my lesson and do my best to maintain a cloud based and hard drive based copy on my end. Yet at the same time, this whole process has come to grieve my heart. Your family portraits are not meant to sit, un-enjoyed on a dusty hard drive or folder on your phone. While we do live in a digital age and digital copies of our photos do technically give us quick and easy access to thousands of our images, what have we lost with the neglect of physical copies? When your children walk around their home, do they see images of themselves prominently displayed and cherished? When they go through desk drawers in 10 years, will they stumble upon little treasured photographs of themselves as toddlers?
This Chattanooga TN Photographer’s Solution:
As I’ve already stated, I fully recognize that we live in a digital age. Don’t panic! I’m not doing away with digital images in my photography business. People want digital copies of their photography session images. I love when I see that past clients have my images as the lock screens of their phones because you are truly getting daily enjoyment out of the service I provided.
However, I have come to recognize that I can provide a greater service to my clients than merely providing a digital gallery for download after the session. Therefore, for newly booked sessions in 2023 year, at minimum a 4×6 or 5×7 luster print will be included with any purchased image.
As I started down this path last year of researching what printed products to offer, I discovered that there is a whole world of beautiful, archival ways to preserve your images. I will highlight a few of them below. However, if you find the options overwhelming, don’t stress! I am more than happy to be a resource, to sit down with you and walk you through the options. If you’re a procrastinator (like my husband, cough cough), I know it can be really helpful to have a specifically scheduled deadline for making decisions. An ordering appointment can serve that purpose, so that you think about it once and then you’re finished.
Archival Albums
These are by far my favorite way to display your images. In all likelihood, you’re probably only going to want to display 2-3 images from a session as wall art. With an album, you can include 20+ images. However, the true reason albums are my favorite is because they are so accessible to your children. We keep our family albums on a low shelf in our living room and I promise, once a month, at minimum a child will pull one off the shelf and look through it. My archival albums are particularly ideal for frequent handling because they have thick, board book like pages that aren’t easily damaged. They come in a variety of colors and cover materials including leather, linen, and fabric.
Wall Art
What better way to decorate the walls of your home than with portraits of your cherished loved ones. We recently installed a gallery wall of newborn and heirloom portraits in our upstairs hallway. When my 5 year old saw the finished project for the first time, she yelled, “It’s us!” I love the thought that every time she walks by them, she will have a little reminder that she is a part of our family and that she is valued.
I offer a variety of options for fully framed, ready to hang art work. Surely we can find a frame that will fit with the style of your home. My wall art is framed professionally and with archival materials that are meant to last 100+ years. If you think you would like a gallery wall, I am happy to help you in the process of designing it.
Folios
Let’s say you’ve picked your favorite image to purchase as wall art but there are other images you love and want to display. Folios are a great option that I have newly added to my Chattanooga TN Photographer product offerings. These images come beautifully matted with an album like cover that can be folded open. These are perfect for displaying on coffee tables or shelves.
Are you looking for a full service Chattanooga TN photographer and love the look of the products featured here? Let’s chat! You can see more of my portfolio here and learn about booking a session with me here.
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