This is the first post of a series that I have on my mind about the photo sessions and the whole experience. Among other things, in these posts I’ll talk about stuff like what you should wear to a session or give you a simple suggestion of what you can do with your images.
And I’ll begin to tell about something that is really important which is the preservation of your photographs.
One of the things that I advice families to do (and actually insist) is for them to print their pictures. Not only because it is totally different see them on paper, but also because that is the best way to preserve them.
A while ago I stumped with a phrase (said by a photographer, but I can’t recall who, sorry) that was something like this: “It is always possible to scan from a print, but you’ll never be able to print from a damaged file“.
The truth is that we have photographs that were made 100 years ago (or even more) that have lasted until today. I, for instance, have some very old pictures at home that are still kind in a good shape. Considering the technology they used a century ago, that’s amazing. For this reason, if we print our pictures today (in a decent lab) it is certain that they will last for long long time.
Digital photos, on the other hand, are a very recent technology. We have no idea how a file kept in a flash drive will evolve over a long time. What I mean is that we don’t have a single file that is 100 years old, exactly because this technology is much more recent. Not to mention the fact that in the near future we won’t have computers that will read CD’s or flash drives, it will all be in the “cloud”.
You should always backup your files, of course. And save in different places. Specially if it’s something as valuable as your family photos. But print them as well and save copies somewhere dry and where the sun doesn’t hit directly. 30 or 40 years from now, it’s likely that the digital files no longer exist, but your prints will be intact, that is guaranteed.
Your children and grandchildren will thank you.
