By: Nellamor King
Professionally printed photos are a gift you give your future self that you can begin enjoying today. You’ve spent the time and energy to find the right photographer, pick out the perfect outfit, and get all of your littles (and your partner) out the door and to the session on time. For what? Find out why I, and every other professional photographer out there, stand behind professionally printed photos—and it isn’t a sales technique!
Truth Bomb #1: Professionally Printed Photos Get Displayed Sooner
We’ve all said it before, and we really believed it even as it came out of our mouths— “I’ll get to it soon.” We can repeat this sentence about any number of the non-pressing tasks for years without actually doing any of them. Life is busy and complex, and there never seems to be enough time for the things we want to do after all the things we must do are done. Professionally printed photos very often end up as one of those nagging things that we keep saying we’ll get to… eventually.
When was the last time you followed through and had your photos printed from a photo session? How many times have you told yourself you will definitely get these photos up on the wall but let those photos sit on your laptop? Come on, be honest!
Don’t let your memories collect digital dust. A professional photographer can listen to your vision for where you want your photos to go and how you want them displayed and effortlessly bring your vision to life. Allow me to do what I love and make it a stress-free process for you so you can start enjoying your photos of your memorable moments sooner.
With professionally printed photos, you can display your newborn photography prints before it’s time for their school portrait photos. You can even show off your wedding photography while you’re still in the blissful honeymoon glow. Professionally printed photos are the shiny gifts we give ourselves that we can joy almost immediately and for years to come.
Truth Bomb #2: Quality Matters and There’s One Way to Get it
In the past, before we worked together, some of my clients would hire a professional portrait photographer and take the digital files to a retail photo printer, like Walgreens, Costco, or Shutterfly. Each time they came back disappointed and frustrated, especially with photo enlargements like 12×16’s (or bigger). Without fail, those big-box printing services failed my customers. Each client fretted over poor quality, the images suddenly blurry, the colors no longer robust and vivid – or just plain out of whack. All the magic instantly zapped out of an image that was created with love.
When you get photos printed in a simple retail store, you’re getting an impersonal experience with a machine. The equipment has set functions and your image is created in a one-size-fits-all manner when photography is anything but. There isn’t a professional photographer or skilled lab technician examining and preparing your photos (or their equipment). Most of the time, a store employee with limited-to-no photography knowledge scoops up your images off of a processing belt and puts them into an envelope. You deserve so much more.
You won’t find quality in these locations because they’re not designed for that, which is why professional photographers don’t use these outlets. With the fast turnarounds, lower price points, and the sheer volume of photo orders, you are sure to experience distortion, coloration discrepancies, loss in sharpness, and more disappointments.
You didn’t hire a hobbyist photographer or the high schooler next door. You hired a professional for a reason. Remember your “why,” the reason for hiring a pro in the first place. Your memories deserve more attention than a cold processing belt. They need a professional touch to bring them to life, which is why most professional photographers work with quality photo labs.
Photographers have a preferred photo lab who they have created a working relationship with to meet their specific image printing needs. I get my clients’ photos printed in a specialty lab that I have vetted and visited in person. I prefer to work with them because each item is created in the lab by a professional who performs quality checks on each photo, assuring the vibrancy of skin tones and crispness. The lab uses high-quality materials at each stage of the process. The lab I partner with uses only archivable ink and paper, so your photos will look better now and last for generations without fading, scratching, degrading, or tearing.
Each piece of art is expertly handled with gloves and personally inspected for quality. They check not just the printing, but also the composition of the photo. No more getting precious photos back to find that your loved one’s face or arms are cut off in the frame. Instead, you will receive beautiful, vibrant photos created by artists who take pride in their craft and put love into what they do. How wonderful it is to work with people who put as much care into your family’s special moments as they do into their own families’.
Even the photo albums are handmade, so you receive a piece of true craftsmanship. I’ve personally inspected the rolls of fabric that they use and have watched them create the albums. These craftspeople cut real red velvet, blue suede, genuine or faux leather, or whatever material you choose and build the album in it. Then, they touch each piece by gloved hand to make it entirely custom. As a result, the album you receive is always 100% custom, from the cover to the thickness and gloss of the paper, fonts, engraving, and every other detail. Your family isn’t cookie-cutter, so your photo album shouldn’t be either.
Your memories deserve better. Your memories deserve to be loved and cherished the way you imagined when you hired the professional to take them. Did you know that your family photographer can take care of the printing, saving you time and hassle while delivering a superior final result? Some people spend a lot of time researching printers with whom they have no experience. Don’t worry – I’ve already done that for you.
Truth Bomb #3: Photographers Take Photos With a Vision, They Can Do Your Products Justice
If you work with the right portrait photographer, you will be working with an artist. Artists don’t work haphazardly but rather with a vision in mind. The final result is vital, and that includes the print that you hold in your hands. Getting professionally printed photos from your photographer can help ensure that the vision for the shoot is appropriately executed through to the end. The photographer understands how many factors, including sizing, paper, and ink type, can affect your image and then they can make the proper alterations so that your photo comes out crisp and vibrant, regardless of the size you choose to print at.
This is the best way to do your photographs justice after spending the time and money to engage a professional photographer for a shoot. I take pride in my work and want it to show up on your walls and coffee table in your home.
Truth Bomb #4: You Don’t Need Something Else on Your To-Do List
Your time is precious and there already never seems to be enough time to do the things we genuinely enjoy, like spend time with family, get outside, and practice our hobbies. Then there are our jobs, chores, and responsibilities that take up every spare moment and sometimes encroach on our lives. Of course, this is just everyday life stuff—now toss in wedding photography or newborn photography editing and printing on top of those major lifecycle events!
The name of the happiness game is simplicity. Delegating tasks and reducing your to-do list is the best way to avoid feeling overwhelmed and reduce your risk of burning out. Photo editing and professionally printed photos can and should be outsourced to your photographer not only because the finished product will show it, but also to just save yourself the time and hassle of doing it all yourself. Instead, you can spend more time with your family in these fleeting, magical years.
I want those photos of our family and your babies to blanket you in LOVE while you live your lives together. Photography should remind you of your whys after a long day of work, a frustrating day, or a particularly rough time. I want those photos to remind you why you push through, why you work hard, why you pause to play with your babies. Photography is meant to be enjoyed as you slowly see your littles grow up, when their little hands barely fit in yours, or when you argue about whose night it is to do the dishes. Photography is your visual reminder that some days it’s ok to leave those dishes in the sink and watch some guilty pleasure tv in your partner’s arms instead—the dishes can wait.
Truth Bomb #5: Clouds Are Meant For Dreams, Not Memories
You’ve hired a professional portrait photographer, or maybe a newborn photographer, or perhaps a photographer to capture a military promotion ceremony. You looked through several galleries and pounded the digital pavement to find the right artist for your special moment. You interviewed and vetted this person, and then worked together to create beautiful photographs to treasure a lifetime. And now your treasured memories are stuck in digital limbo.
What are the chances that your wedding photos, from 8 years ago, are collecting digital dust in your hard drive? Exactly!
Professionally printed photos bring your memories to life and make them present in your life. Artful prints can be hung up on the walls and arranged in beautiful frames on the mantle, and decorate your life with the cherished memories that you sought to capture to begin with. Remember why you wanted photos to begin with and make it happen.
Ask a Washington D.C. Portrait Photographer
When you hire a professional photographer, you’re giving yourself a gift your future self will thank you for. Tomorrow your littles will be a bit more grown-up and independent. You can’t go back and take yesterday’s photos. Let a professional portrait photographer capture your moments, just as they are right now, so you can enjoy them displayed proudly for years to come. As a photographer in the DMV area, I’ve helped bring countless memories to life for weddings, newborn & family sessions and many military promotion ceremonies. Don’t let your memories collect dust, let me design your albums, let me help you pick frame colors and canvas sizes and make it a quick and easy process. Let that wall art show up at your doorstep and be ready to display for yourself, your friends, and family. I got you.
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