Yesterday on the blog we talked a little bit about the importance of choosing only the photos that bring you true joy, and then making sure to get those favorites off of your digital drives and into your hands so they can be enjoyed for generations.  If you missed it, you can find that post here.  

I wanted to talk a little bit about quality but I ran out of room, so guess what?  I'm going to talk about it just for a hot second before I move on to show you all the ways we can help you with your memories.

These photos are from my wedding day.  They were taken on the same day, printed at roughly the same time and displayed in the same frame for about 20 years.  The photo on the left is the one I received from my professional photographer.  He undoubtedly printed my photos through a pro lab and he delivered this high quality photo to us after our wedding.  The photo on the right was taken by a friend with a good camera.  We developed the film, probably through a consumer lab and it looked pretty good when it came in.  But look closely.  After 20 years of display, how did they hold up?  Remember, these were in the SAME frame for all those years, displayed side by side.

Here's a quick closeup of the pro photo.  You can see all the details, colors and even my freckles are clearly visible in the actual photo.  I don't know if you can see them in this photo of a photo, but take my word for it.

How about the print from the consumer lab?  Wow.  Our faces are faded out, you'd never know I have freckles, and actually, my nose is almost entirely gone.  It's kind of funny ... since we do have a pro print to remember our day.  But if this was our only photo, how sad would we be?  

Especially now that my husband is no longer with us - how important is it to my children to have that professional photo to remember their dad?  Because this one is just not enough.

Because of this, I always encourage my clients to print at least a few of their family photos through a professional lab.  There's a time and place for those 10 cent print sales at Walgreens, but those should never be the only photos you print.  True pro prints not only look better from the start, but they stand the test of time.  I've been collecting photos from the 1800's and really love seeing how these photos have held up over the decades and centuries.  My dream for my clients is to have photos like these that will outlive them and be a legacy to their grandchildren and great grandchildren.  I mean, how cool would it be to have a photo like one of these from your grandparents?

So how can I  help you?  How can we work together to make sure that your photos reflect your family style, will fit into your home and will stand the test of time?  I have  ideas!!!!

I have found that most of my beautiful clients are becoming far too busy to deal with all the hoops involved in getting their photos ordered and up on the wall.  Downloading the digitals, ordering the prints, picking out a frame or going to the framer.  Or what about a canvas?  Can those be framed?  Maybe an album would be better?  So many decisions and so little time. 

The first thing I'll tell you is that we will always start your experience with a consultation.  We'll talk about what you want to do with your photos.  Do you need wall art?  What do you like?  Framed and matted prints?  A gorgeous canvas for over the couch?  Maybe you want that canvas framed?  Or maybe you don't want anything for the wall but you just want some prints for Grandma and an album to display on the coffee table.  Knowing what the photos will be used for ahead of time will help me to take the photos that work best for your needs.

After your photo session, we'll take some time to look at your photos together and choose the ones you want to print, the ones you want in an album, and the ones you want to print out for your cousin Beatrice in Idaho.  If you have digital files from a previous session, we can even incorporate those into a collage wall or frame, as long as you have a print release from your photographer.  If you have a photo of your living space, we can help with design as well.  The goal is to get your items ordered and ready for use, not just waiting for you on a hard drive or USB.  This can usually be done in about an hour, but if you need more time, that's fine too, because once it's done, it's done!  Once your products come in, you can choose to come in to pick them up, we can deliver them or we can mail them directly to you.  Easy Peasy.

We've spent a lot of time researching the quality and beauty of each product, and we have samples for you to look at and touch.  I love every single item we offer. Here's a quick look at some of the options we have available.  

How about a fine art print on wood?  Do you want the wood grain to show through?  Or no?  Round or oval?  How big?  Something small for a cute little nook, or a big one for the living room?

Maybe a framed canvas?  Did you know you can order a canvas unstretched and then we can send it in to our framer to put on the frame of your choice?  These are amazing and so light and easy to hang on the wall!

How about a traditional framed print?  Before you decide on your frame, our framer can mock up your photo with several different frames so you can see how it looks before you make your final choice.  He has a huge variety of styles and colors that will match any decor.  Here are some of the mockups he has done for us in the past:

Maybe you want to incorporate two or three photos into one display.  Our framer can do that too!
 

What about a professional quality photo album?  Did you know that our albums feature sturdy pages as thick as a dime?  And if that's not thick enough, we can also get the ones that are as thick as a nickel!  These are perfect for young families, so little ones can actually see their photos without the panic that comes with ripping pages out of a cheaper quality photo book. 

Maybe you want another kind of canvas?  How about an unstretched canvas on a magnetic frame?  These can be traded out when you are ready to change the photo - just pull open the magnetic frame and insert the new canvas when the time comes.  I'm kind of obsessed with canvas options!

There's always the good old gallery wrapped canvas.  These are the ones that kind of look like a box - I like these to be big, or in groupings, but they come in all sizes.

These are just some of the products we offer.  Believe it or not there are more, mostly specific to the type of session you are coming for.  But whatever you are looking for, we are here to help!  

If you have questions about our products, services or you're just curious and want to come in and look at some of these items, drop me a line!  There's always time for a quick cup of tea and a studio tour.  I love showing off all of our amazing samples and you will love seeing them, I'm sure of it!