One holiday season, a family photographer sat down at her computer in Lakewood, Colorado to order her own family’s Christmas cards. Between decorating the tree, drinking the eggnog, Zooming with family and cleaning up pine needles, she found herself with this last “to-do” on her list before calling it a day. Habit took charge, she visited a couple websites, compared a few designs, found the cheapest, most tolerable option and hit “order.”
Later that night as the moon rose high and the snow sparkled like diamonds, while she should have been dreaming of sugar plum fairies, her eyes popped open. “Wait!” she thought. “What have I done? I’m always preaching to my clients, ‘Please do not print your images at a local lab like Walgreens. The quality of the paper and the colors that come out are not worthy of the art we have created together.’
And now I’ve done the online equivalent of a trip to Walgreens!”
She got up the next morning, designed her own card and ordered them directly from Millers Professional Imaging.* When the cards arrived days later, what she had predicted was solidly confirmed—the difference between the two was dramatic. The cards from the professional lab had colors that were more accurate and the paper was thick and beautifully textured with a pearly sheen that sparkled with holiday cheer.
This story has two morals:
#1 Quality Matters
When it comes to printing digital images, quality matters. A lot.
Serious effort has gone into your family portraits:
the time you put into selecting and purchasing clothing,
the managing of naps, moods and hair the day of the shoot,
the carefully crafted proof gallery for you to review,
the time you spend reviewing and selecting your favorite images,
the editing of your final gallery of images.
Printing them at the local lab is like getting all dressed up for the Nutcracker and deciding at the last minute to go to a local ballet recital in a strip mall. Technically, you went to the ballet, but the experience was NOT the same.
Your portraits deserve better. They are heirlooms and you’re going to want quality that is made to last. They are works of art, you’re going to want to honor the effort that has gone into the design.
#2 Usually at 2 A.M. It’s Your Images I’m Thinking Of
I care about your portraits as much if not more than you do. I want to be more than your photographer, tossing you a handful of digital images to lose on a hard drive somewhere. I want to see our process through to the end, so that you end up with a unique display of the art we’ve created together that fits your family’s style and your home—from Christmas cards, to photo books, to wall art—helping you visualize the possibilities.
Holly Freeman Photography is growing and changing in exciting ways. If you had a photo shoot in 2020 and want to explore the options for printing your images, reach out to schedule a virtual consultation. Prints and wall art collections are 20% off until January 31st.
If you are interested in having your own collection of images to print in 2021, schedule a session. I'd love to chat about what you're looking for from your family portraits.
*A word about Miller’s Professional Imaging: For years I have recommended mpix.com to my clients for printing their images. Why am I switching printing labs? Two reasons:
1) I’m super excited to help clients visualize products before making a purchase. We can explore possibilities together and easily order unique and archival quality products directly from Miller’s Professional Imaging.
2) The products I’ve ordered from Miller’s have been the highest quality and their customer service is excellent. Quality and excellence? That’s good enough for me!