Where Will You Mount Your Next Photo? (The Benefits of Printing Your Photos)

In this day and age where millions of digital files are floating around in virtual clouds, on our USB drives, on our computer hard drives, what place does photographic prints have?

In our new journey into parenthood, we took some self portraits of our expanded family and had our favorites printed. Today, we mounted one printed on canvas form on our dining room wall.

James and I want our baby to grow up knowing and feeling that he is dearly loved, learning that we "see" him, that we hold him in our mind, that we are thinking of him - and a photograph is one tangible way to do that.

We are forever shaping and re-shaping our identities, reflecting on our origins, on our own childhoods, especially when we have a new infant ourselves. James and I have been enjoying our parents sending us our own baby photos. We search for resemblance in the photo to what we look like now, and to our own baby. Just as it has been for James and I, having printed photographs is something our baby will be able to touch, turn over in his hands, smell, and see as he is growing up.

And finally, who doesn't want a striking, artful, photograph of themselves and their loved ones in their living room, dining room, bedroom, or hallway? We certainly do! Somehow, printed photos have an emotional impact that is just not there as much in digital form. Seeing a good photo printed feels like a big high five to my eyeballs, especially if my eyeballs had feelings. Those photos on our wall makes our home feel more like us and, increases the cozy-ness factor, and catapults us back to some of our happiest, or sometimes frantic, chaotic, even sad, moments in our lives. All of them special. All of them bringing us to where we are now.

James and I would love to help you with choosing which photos you would like to have printed, stretched on canvas, or framed. Ask us next time we do a shoot together.

Now, where do you see your next family photograph going up in your home?