Don’t Settle for Digital: Why You Should Print Your Photos

When new clients reach out to me they often ask if I offer digital images for download after a session. And while I do generally offer clients the option to download their digital images after a session, I also provide a variety of beautiful printed products for all my clients. Why do both, you might ask. My answer would be that printed photos are SO important. (Yes, even and especially for your boudoir photos!)

Digital photos are great, but they’re all too easy to forget.

So much of our lives happen online. We follow our friends’ days via Instagram and Facebook, we watch TV from streaming services, we even read a newspaper on a screen. Instead of the photo albums we might remember from childhood, our family memories live on our computers, on our phones or in the cloud. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love the convenience and ease of accessibility that digital photos provide. It’s so amazing to be able to share photos with friends and family all over the world with the click of a button. But let’s be honest, how many of the photos on our phones or on our computers do we remember without going back and looking at them? It’s easy to forget what we don’t see on a regular basis.

Print, albums and wall art is the way to go.

So we all know that it’s easy to forget about all the photos we take with our phones. But what about the photos that we pay professionals to take for us? Have you ever invested in beautiful, professional photos only to have them end up living forever on a thumb drive? If so, you’re not alone! No matter how much we love our photos, once we look at them and file them away on our computer or in the cloud and move on with life, it’s easy to forget about how important those photos actually are. 

But what would happen if instead of just having those digital files we decided to print our photos? Hang a photo on the wall or put together a beautiful album that you can display in your home and I guarantee you’ll remember and treasure your photos in a whole new way.

Looking at a printed photo can actually improve your mood!

If you’ve ever taken a moment to look at a photo of a happy time in your life, it makes sense that looking at photos can make you feel good. Spend time looking at photos that remind you of times when you felt confident, happy or joyful and you’ll feel those emotions again, right? It seems like an intuitive connection, I think.

It’s so convenient to have easy access to your photos on all your digital devices, but if you don’t actually print your photos you deprive yourself and your family of the opportunity to enjoy all the beautiful memories that those pictures capture. When children see printed images of themselves with their loving family, it can actually help boost their self-esteem and build confidence in their importance to their family.  I personally have thousands of family images that I’ve never printed and so our family photo history is full of gaps and omissions. I’ve even set a goal for myself to print all of my family’s important photos in albums that we can have in our home and enjoy. 

By putting together photo albums or hanging family photos on the wall, you’re giving yourself and your family the gift of remembrance. Not only will your own children be reminded over and over again of their own family history, you’ll also be providing a visual legacy to pass down to future generations. In essence, you’re preserving your family history and what could be more important than that? 

And when it comes to boudoir…

While a lot of what I’ve said here is about family photos, I truly believe that the same principles apply to boudoir photos. I also understand that most people probably don’t want to display their boudoir images in their living rooms. But there are so many other ways that you can display your boudoir photos in your home!  Putting a tasteful image in your bedroom, bathroom or walk-in closet is a wonderful way to display your boudoir images. And if the image is tasteful, there’s no reason that your children shouldn’t be able to see mommy being confident and loving her body.  Children are so observant and learn how to live by watching how their parents navigate the world. So take this opportunity to show your children that you love yourself just how you are, imperfections and all!

So the next time you schedule a professional photo session whether it’s for yourself or for your family, don’t choose to purchase only the digital files. Think of how important and valuable printed photos are for you and your family now and how meaningful they will be for generations to come. Most photographers offer packages that include both digital and printed photos, so you can get the best of both worlds!

And while I know you probably won’t display your custom-designed album of boudoir photos on your living room coffee table, just think of how amazing it would be to look back at that album in 20 or 30 years time. Life will go on and we will all age and change, but looking back at your confident, sexy boudoir images can remind me of just how amazing you felt way back when.