In photographic circles and forums, I have seen that some photographers are giving their work to clients on a CD or DVD (depending on the type of photo-shoot it is), while others are staunchly against final products as digital files. Maybe it’s OK, depending on the type of photography that you provide, but are we cheating ourselves and our clients?
Years ago I had the pleasure of working with one of the largest providers in the world of stock photography in the automotive industry. The CEO of the company was always surprised that the automotive companies would buy the stock photography, not for the walls in their offices but instead for archiving. He thought that it was a waste of time and money to have the photos on disk, rather than on display or even used in marketing to promote the latest and greatest of their brand. When asked, 9 out of 10 company owners said that they wanted to have a “back up” of the pictures but had no intent to have them printed. Again this puzzled the CEO but he provided the files in digital format as the clients preferred.
But how many clients are archiving automotive photos? Certainly no brides nor graduating seniors or even aspiring models. So this leads me to ask “Why do we give images on disk to clients?” I do know that there are clients that are in the fashion or commercial industries that need to hand off the pictures to a professional printer or media outlet for the marketing, but to our clients that are not professionals, why?
Pictures are memories and memories are better remembered when they are hanging on a wall or sitting on a shelf to remind us of the good times, not on a digital media storage. On a personal note, my family (Mother, Father, Brother and I) in 1984 took a family portrait in San Francisco and even 30 years later we still have that photo hanging at my parents’ home. Modern studies even show that pictures stored digitally rarely get viewed later while prints remain on display indefinitely. These are how memories are made and remembered. When our clients think that they are getting a deal by getting the photographs on a disk that they can print it at a local store and get the same effect as they did of the day of the photo shoot, wrong…..
Local stores and their printers are simply not capable of capturing the colors, mood and message that is set when we, from an artistic perspective, capture that moment. Even the paper quality can affect that memory; if not from a professional printer it is very elementary, and at best would last a couple of years if stored in a cool, dry place. Again, how many of us still have professionally-printed photos from 20 years ago or more that are still in pristine condition just like the day we received them? Memories are meant to be viewed in a visible location, not on a disk only. Out of sight, out of mind!
Another personal example of why memories are more cherished on the wall vs disk is the last photo of my uncle taken before his passing. Seeing his photo next to my work station everyday reminds me of how much I love him, miss him but draw strength from all he imparted to me while he was here. If this same picture was on disk I would not see it on a daily basis and could eventually forget I even have it.
So as photographers we are happy create special files of our clients’ photos for them to share on social media, because who doesn’t want to share them online these days? But we do our best to educate clients on why their most valuable investments should be placed where they can be loved and remembered, not just saved into an abyss of our snowballing digital worlds. We’re here to provide lifelong, cherished keepsakes – not just to click the shutter and take the easiest way to deliver a lesser-quality product.