I recently experienced evacuation from our home due to fire, followed by evacuation due to mudslides. In the process of evacuating I grabbed my most valuable prints and albums, carrying them with me to safety as the thought of losing my life's work was unbearable. The process made me realize that the things I cherished most (besides my family and my life) were the images that I had committed to print. It was the first thing I grabbed when we realized we had to go. Thankfully I had time to do so and was able to get everything out.
Oftentimes when clients come to me they think that they are looking for digital files as their final product, and I believe that is a mistake. In order to understand why you have to look at the pitfalls of the medium, and weigh them carefully.
Digital data has a tendency to get lost in the ether. Most people have no set system for organizing and preserving their images. We accumulate so much data over our lifetime and it multiplies daily. As digital files accumulate the likelihood that you know where they are is diminished. Who really remembers if that was 1986 or 1987? They get lost over time as hard drives are not backed up and fail or you just can't remember what device they were on.
And let's say you do know where they are, the bad news is that digital data erodes over time. Think you're safe because your images are in the cloud? How do you know that company is going to be in business in 20 years? What safeguards do they have to protect your valuable digital assets? Can you trust that your files are on some server online and that they are secure in this day and age?
The nature of digital is short lived and transitory. People don't give a lot of weight to images that are presented digitally. You might get a like, but most won't stop to ponder the image. There are countless other things pulling on them to be seen, and they will quickly be pulled away. Many of us have good intentions but ultimately only having digital files represents an uncompleted project that is hanging over our heads. We may think we will just design the album ourselves, but can’t even get to deciding which images should go in it. And it's likely that other priorities will pop up and you will never get to it.
That is sad, you and your photographer have created works of art! Imagine if Picasso had never committed his sketches to paintings? The world would be without the masterpieces we have come to know and love. You pause to look at albums or images on the walls. Most people just don't do that with digitals. You and your photographer have created a work of art but the cycle is incomplete if you can't see, feel and touch it.
You've elevated the moment captured in a photograph by giving it a physical space in the world. You've preserved it forever. Beautiful art deserves that special place in this world. Don't let your experience be incomplete and see the vision through. And at least in my case, with any image that is a part of your final product you'll get the digitals too.
If you commit to having your final products exist in the tangible world all that is left to do is to admire what has been created and cherish it for years to come. And I guarantee they'll be the first thing you are going to grab if ever faced with an emergency evacuation like I was.