One of the most popular products that people ask for with their photography session are digital files. I get it...with the advent of camera phones, it's become second nature to want a digital keepsake of every moment in your life. But do you honestly ever do anything with those all of those photos or are they still sitting on your computer, unseen?

When I first started my business, I only offered digital files. It seemed like the easiest option and the one that most people wanted. But what I found was that most clients didn't actually ever print them. They got their disk of images and put them in a desk, never to be viewed again. Or they printed them at Walgreens or Target and displayed images that had a weird color tint to them (since these places are great for many things but printing images is NOT one of them). I realized that offering strictly digital files might not be the best way to go.

In an effort to make things as easy as possible, I started meeting with clients either before or after their session to show them some of the beautiful print products available. It made it simple for those families who didn't know what to do with their pictures and needed a little guidance plus I could make sure the images I showed them in their gallery looked just as beautiful once they were printed.

These days, I still offer digital files but my goal is to make sure every family has something tangible from their session, whether they want smaller gift prints or an album or something for their walls. My assumption is that if you are going to go through all of the effort of scheduling a photography session, coordinating wardrobe for your family, making time in your busy lives for the session and meeting with me at some point to look over your gallery, you want something to remember this session. Maybe it's a few updated pictures for the wall...maybe it's a signature book or gifts for other family members. But you didn't go through all of this to get a thumb drive of pictures you're never going to look at again, did you?

So what fun things can you do with the photos from your session?

While I do have a print lab that I recommend for those of you purchasing digital files (I will get to that later), I offer several products that aren't offered everywhere that I wanted to tell you about.

Disclaimer: the following images are not my own but are used with permission from Millers Lab and WHCC.

Albums and books are probably my most favorite product. They don't require wall space and are perfect for displaying all of the images from your session. They are completely customizable and have so many fun templates to choose from. The accordion albums are only 3x3 inches and are perfect for gifts for grandparents:

And I love the custom image boxes! They're also completely customizable plus you can store all of your 5x7 gift prints here if you don't have the wall space to display them (and the white border around each print can be added on as well for something different):

Bamboo panels are one of the newest products I'm offering. The prints are mounted on 3/4 inch bamboo panels and come ready to hang. It's a great sustainable alternative to framing your images:

I also offer canvases as well as standouts (prints mounted on foam) and collage wall displays (easy to hang and come in several different arrangements) that are a great alternative to traditional mats and framing:

While this isn't something offered by the print labs I work with, one of my favorite things to do with photographic prints is to create a "photo journal" for the children I photograph, especially for families that I work with every year. It's completely customizable and a super fun way to keep track of the little things that your kids love at each age! Let me know at your next session if this is something you're interested in!

Below is my fiery redhead at age 3, 4, 5 and 6:

So do you even need digital files from your session?

That depends on you. What are you going to do with them? If you're going to use one image to make many prints of (for gifts, holiday cards, etc), it might make sense to purchase it. But if you just want them for posterity and to show friends and family, I can help you with that!

One of the things I offer to help my families who want a digital copy to share is to include a smaller resolution copy of each image they order as a downloadable file that they can use for social media. So if they order a signature book with 53 of their images in it, they get 53 low resolution files (plus an app that they can download with their 53 images together). I completely understand wanting to have copies of the images from your session so I've tried to find a happy medium where you get digital images to share but also get some beautiful products to display in your home.

If you choose to purchase the digital files, there are so many options online for printing photos but my go-to recommendation is www.mpix.com. They use archival quality paper that will last 100 years (as long as your images aren't in direct sunlight) and calibrate their printers so that there's no weird color cast to your images. They have amazing products and excellent customer service.

So as you're thinking about scheduling your next session, think about what you want to use the images for. Photographers WANT you to to display their photos from your session in your home (and there's research that says it boosts kids' confidence too when images of them are visible in their home). There are so many fun products out there for showing off your amazing family and I'm happy to help you in any way I can so drop me a line here and let's get started!!