Printing your family photographs

I recently did a short Facebook Live video that talked about how in today’s world of digital photography and ‘instant’ images, parents are taking thousands of photos of their kids but these photos are essentially lost because they do not print any of them out.

The post was inspired by an article I read from a concerned mum who had no photos of her young daughter as a child. She longed to be able to sit down with her daughter and look through family photo albums as she had once done with her mum. A chance to connect with her daughter was lost and with it a chance to educate her daughter about her family history. You can read that article here:

Are we breeding a ‘lost generation’ who won’t have photo albums to capture their lives?

I am really passionate about this subject because from the parents I talk to (not clients, but friends and relatives) about 90% are in similar positions – not printing their family photos.

You can watch the video below or if you prefer to read the transcript it is underneath the video. Towards the end of the video there is a small challenge for you to help you start thinking about and actually printing your family photographs.

If while watching the video you feel that you are also falling into the same trap, I really hope that you can then gain some inspiration from the it and start taking action.

TRANSCRIPT

Hi everyone. Warren here from Volare Photography.

Today I want to talk about something I’m really passionate about and it also effects you as parents as well as your kids, in fact especially tour kids.

But first let’s play a little game. It’s called guess this sound. Now can you tell me what’s making this noise?

Hold on a sec. Are you ready?

One more time.

And again.

Alright.

Can you guess what’s making that noise? Well I’ll give you a little hint. Obviously it has got to do with photos but you would have to probably be over 25 years of age to know what that is.

Do you give up? Alright.

It’s these. Photo Albums. Do you remember these? Now, before the age of digital photography, families had dozens of these at home all stacked full of family photographs.

And the way they would work was you would take the plastic sleeve, lift it up, stick your printed image on the adhesive backing and cover it up.

Now why am I talking about photo albums? Well last week on our Facebook page I posted an article from a parent who was really concerned that her daughter was going to miss out on a lot of her family history and her self-identity because she wasn’t creating these photo albums. She was doing nothing with the photographs that she took.

In fact she was really concerned about kids in general because parents are not really printing out their photos anymore.

Now, these things might be old school but they allow me to go back decades in time so I can see what I looked like when I was a kid, what my parents were like when I was a kid and what my relatives were like back then as well.

It really is an integral part of family hisory.

Now I know what you are saying. Warren I’ve got all my photos on my phone, their on my computer, their on my hard drive at home.

SERIOUSLY! When was the last time you looked at those photo from a year ago, in fact even a month ago? You just don’t.

The problem is we take so many photos each they that they keep piling on top of each other and they get lost. We never go back and sort through them or look at them.

Think about what are they going to do when they are 10 years old, 20 yo, 30 yo or 40 year olds with their own kids, your grand kids. They’re not going to go through thousands upon thousands of your old images on obsolete phones, on date hard drives or out of date computers. They’re just not.

So remember when you are taking photos these days, it’s not just about you at that moment. It’s also about your kids when they grow up to learn about their family history, where they’re from and their self-identity.

So let me ask ou this question. When was the last time you actually printed any photographs?

I’ll say that again. When was the last time you actually printed any photographs?

Leave the answer down below in the comment, I’d love to read it.

When family come to us for a family photography session, even if they come with the mindset of “We just want digital files”. We make sure that every family leaves with at least one beautiful family portrait that they can touch, they can hold, they can display at home and can be passed on from generation to generation.

So I have a challenge for you. OK? Here’s my challenge.

Before you go to bed tonight I want you to go through the photos on your phone and I want you to choose 5 photos that you are emotionally attached to and I want you to print those 5 photos by the end of the week.

OK, 5 photos print them out by the end of the week.

Now you’re probably thinking that’s a great idea Warren, I’ll definitely do that. But we both know that life gets in the way, things get busy and you’ll forget.

So, make a promise to yourself, before you go to bed tonight choose those 5 photos. In fact to hold yourself more accountable add one of those photos in the comments below. That way you have to go and print them out.

I hope this little video has shown you the importance of printing family photographs. Trust me you won’t regret it once you start doing it. If you have any questions at all please hit me up in the comments below I’ll answer anything that comes through.

And if you would like to read that original article jump on our Facebook page at Volare Photography and it’s there.

Until next time, take care. Good luck printing your photos. See ya!