Happy Friday y’all! Is it just me or is January going by way too fast this year? I feel like it was just Christmas, and now January is almost over?! It might have to do with the fact that I’m on a massive mission to deep clean and organize my home, finish decorating (which includes starting a pretty big new project in the guest bathroom – don’t worry I’ll definitely have some before and after photos once it is done!), and really stick to my new year’s goals. Needless to say, I’ve been a bit busy.
As I’ve been cleaning and reorganizing, something that’s been on my mind a lot is family photos. If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a while, you may remember my family photo wall. It’s one of the most special areas in my home; I intentionally put it right next to the back door so that every time I let my dog out into the yard I get to see so many of the people who I love the most.
And that’s not the only place in my home I display printed photos. I have a large print from our wedding in the living room, a rotating hodgepodge mix of old, new, phone, and camera photos of family and friends on a cork board in my office, and recently I’ve been expanding my photo albums to include a bunch of photos from my parents’ childhoods as well as my own. Every time I go thrifting I look at the photo albums, and I’ve found some really beautiful (practically new) ones that I’m working on filling up. When I was small I was so obsessed with looking through the family albums, and I can’t say that much has changed. I still love it. And I know that most people love looking through old photos, because I’ve personally witnessed it hundreds of times.
Reasons Why You Aren’t Printing Your Photos
So why is it that people these days simply aren’t printing their photos as much as we (as a society) used to? I have some theories (and I’d love to hear yours in the comments!), so let’s talk about it.
Cost
I mean, why would anyone pay money to print photos when they can just look at them on their phones or computers for free?
Okay, this is valid. The cost is going up for almost everything these days, and food is definitely a higher priority than photos are. That being said, especially if you made the investment to hire a professional photographer for your wedding, engagement, anniversary, annual family photo session, etc., why wouldn’t you also make the investment to get them printed? Only ever viewing your photos on a screen is doing a huge disservice to the photos themselves as the quality and color grade of the screen most likely aren’t that great.
And while I use a really great print shop for all of my personal photos, that admittedly is on the more expensive side (I am a photographer after all!), it’s still not that unreasonably priced. I can get 27 photos printed for just $10 (plus shipping). That’s cheaper than one movie ticket.
And while I always recommend that people order their photos from a high quality photo lab, I (even more strongly) recommend that you get your photos printed by any means possible. So here we go:
From Walgreens you can get 25 4×6” prints for $10 with the option to pick up, so no shipping costs.
From CVS you can get 31 4×6” prints for $10 with the option to pickup.
And from the Walmart one hour photo kiosk you can get 62 4×6” prints for $10.
So please don’t tell me that you can’t afford to print your photos.
Effort
Yes I know that it takes some effort to plan out which photos you want printed, find the frames or albums you want to put them in, order the prints, put them in the frames or albums, and hang them on the wall. And I know we’re all really busy all the time. But this is important.
Seeing photos of your family helps you feel connected even if you live far away from them.
Seeing photos of your friends brings up the positive emotions that you associate with them.
Seeing photos of yourself helps to strengthen your personal identity.
Printing and displaying your photos is good for your mental health. Creating a beautiful space to live in (by displaying your photos) is good for your mental health. And your mental health is definitely something you should be putting effort into.
Final Thoughts
I really hope that you all go out and print your photos this weekend! I’ve actually been putting off ordering some new prints for my photo albums for the last month, and I got inspired to do it while writing this post, so I’m actually going to be ordering prints myself this weekend. And for those of you wanting to order any heirloom albums or prints, I’ve got you! You don’t even have to be a client of mine to order prints from me. That’s how much I want you to print your photos.
*All my blog posts contain a selection of images that I’ve taken. If you are interested in booking a wedding or session with me, I am more than happy to send you a full gallery upon request!
I’m a wife, a dog mom, a foodie, a wanderer, a registered nurse, and a portraits/elopements/branding photographer … and this blog will cover it all! If you enjoyed this post, first of all thank you, and second of all please follow me on Instagram + Facebook and sign up for my monthly newsletter to get exclusive wedding planning advice and access to all of my new (and old) freebies! If you have any questions about elopement photography, my journey from nursing to photography, or my time spent as a full-time RVer, drop a comment and I just might write a blog post answering your question (but I definitely will)!
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