A lot of people today take photographs for granted. Now that's a big statement coming from a professional photographer ~
But it's true....Today, the value of photography is sometimes forgotten and we get a little complacent about the images that we take and how we should care for them. Part of the reason for this is because photographs have become so easy to take and the cost seems minimal.
But it's true....Today, the value of photography is sometimes forgotten and we get a little complacent about the images that we take and how we should care for them. Part of the reason for this is because photographs have become so easy to take and the cost seems minimal.
Minimal cost is a misconception.....The true cost is actually more than traditional film photographs because now you need a computer to see the images and digital cameras, while wonderful, do not last as long as the old film cameras. With all the digital storage devices we have at our disposal it is also hard to remember what image is where. Is it on your phone, ipad, digital camera or on that media card, that you just can't find?
My family, especially my children, are probably the most typical way many people around the world handle their photographs these days, because a years worth of pictures can wind up on one digital card. Those images may or may not be downloaded. I have a fear that these images will be lost if not backed up properly. Digital is a great way of capturing our memories and documenting our lives but we can’t forget to perserve those memories in a tangible way.
Actually, thinking about it, I'm sure my daughter has five years of university ball's and booze cruises of images just sitting on her hard drive, with little, if any of them printed! And whilst, I can advise that she prints them and puts them into albums, it often falls on deaf ears!
As a professional photographer we understand that the true value of photographs is to have the responsibility to preserve our images to last forever. Photography and before that paintings preserved the memories and documented the lives and fashions of the time. By not backing up your images regularly and by not printing them and putting them into albums you run the very real risk of losing your images forever! Digital storage units such as hard drives have a limited life span and often they fail long before their expected date. They common consensus it that all hard drives will fail - it's just a matter of time. I have had two fail, so far and I have numerous back up systems in place to ensure the images are not lost forever. Nevertheless, a hard drive crash is a very stressful occurrence - what if it was your wedding images were backed up on that hard drive?
The backing up of images takes a huge amount of time and effort on my behalf not only for clients but for my own family images. I do print my family images and I have shelves full of photo albums that my children love to pull out and have a laugh over from time to time. Searching through a hard drive for an image from 2001, just isn't the same!
We are all attached to photos that we love - whether it be a wedding, a family image, an image of the two year old that is now turning twenty-one. We all have them. As much as we value these such personal images, it's long after we are gone that their real value is appreciated. It's when your great grandchildren are thumbing their way through your wedding album from 2010 and laughing at the hairstyles or how tall great grand-daddy was that the real value of those images become.
Good chances are your great grandchildren won't have USBs or CD drives to read them and if that's where your images are from your 2010 wedding then a good chance no one will get to look at your hairstyles or how tall great grand-daddy was!
Sometimes, we only realise the true value of photography....when it becomes a memory
One of my family photos - 1909
