Digital Photos or Print?
As a professional photographer I can see that we live in a world where everything is digital—our music, our conversations, and yes, our digital photos. The cloud has become the ultimate storage solution, and printing images almost feels old-school. But is it really? As convenient as digital photos are, the reality is they are fragile, temporary, and easily lost. And if we’re not careful, the most photographed generation in history might end up with no tangible photos to look back on. And honestly, this makes me sad.
It’s estimated that only 0.004% of all the digital photos taken today actually get printed. That means the vast majority of our memories are trapped in aging devices, forgotten in old hard drives, or buried in the endless scroll of our phones. We snap pictures daily, but how often do we truly preserve them? How many of your favorite digital photos have disappeared when you upgraded your phone, lost access to an old account, or had a hard drive fail?
Now, ask yourself this—if disaster struck, what’s the first thing you’d grab? Your flatscreen? Your fancy blender? Nope. You’d go for the photo albums, the framed pictures on the wall—the things that matter. Because at the end of the day, those printed memories are irreplaceable.
Digital Files Don’t Last Forever
We like to think digital photos are safe, but the reality is they’re fragile. Hard drives crash. Cloud storage companies shut down. CDs and DVDs? They’re already starting to rot. (Yes, disc rot is a real thing!) Technology moves fast—how many of us still have a way to play an 8-track, a VHS, or even open files from an old floppy disk?
If your wedding photos are sitting on a hard drive, waiting for “someday” to be printed, or your child’s newborn photos were given to you on a CD that you might still have somewhere… you’re not alone. But ask yourself—how will your kids access those files in 20 years? And will they even exist?
Even if you back everything up to the cloud, there’s no guarantee your digital photos will be safe forever. No company is invincible, and cloud services change all the time. If you’ve ever lost access to an account, had a corrupted file, or struggled to retrieve old digital photos, you know how frustrating it can be.
Printed Photos Are Forever
Think about the old family photos from your grandparents or great-grandparents. They’ve lasted for generations, passed down through the years. Meanwhile, how many digital photos have you lost because a phone died, a hard drive crashed, or a cloud service changed its policies?
The truth is, we take better care of printed photos. When something is printed, it becomes real. It’s something we display, protect, and cherish. But digital photos? They tend to get lost in the shuffle, left on devices we always intend to organize but never do.
When it’s 2060, and your kids or grandkids ask to see photos from your youth, will you have to dig through a drawer full of old, dead cell phones? Or will you be able to pull out a beautiful album, filled with prints that have stood the test of time?
Having photos taken is the first step in capturing your life, but to truly preserve your memories, you must print them. Technology changes. Hard drives crash. But a printed photograph will last lifetimes.
This Is Why I Offer High-Quality, Tangible Prints
Having photos taken is just the first step in capturing your life, but to truly preserve your memories, you must print them. Technology changes. Hard drives crash. But a printed photograph will last lifetimes.
That’s why I don’t just offer digital photos—I provide high-quality, tangible prints, albums, and wall art. I want my clients to have something real to hold, something they can pass down to their children and grandchildren. Because your memories deserve more than to be forgotten on an old hard drive—they deserve to be displayed, cherished, and lived with every day.
I get it—you want to share your photos, post them everywhere, and have them at your fingertips. That’s why all my prints come with digital copies, so you don’t have to choose between convenience and longevity. You can share your images online while also having high-quality, tangible prints to display in your home and pass down for generations. With this, you truly get the best of both worlds—memories that are both easily accessible and built to last.
So, when was the last time you backed up your phone? Cataloged and organized your digital photos? If you’re anything like me, it’s been a minute—if it’s even happened at all. Every one of those images floating around on your phone or in the cloud is a slice of your life, a memory worth saving.
Memories fade, expensive gadgets break, and technology becomes obsolete—but a printed photograph? That’s forever.
