Professional Photo Album Value
Are you still considering a professional photo album value?
Let me ask you this…when was the last time you had to replace the batteries in an album? Update its firmware? Pay a monthly fee to keep the album on display?
How many times have you had to transfer one of your albums to a new media or format before you could view it? Or if the album maker who made that album went out of business did your album disappear off the shelf?
You’ve picked up an old album and look through it, right? Did you embrace the feel of the pages and notice the smell of it? There’s no app for that. When was the last time a burglar broke into a house and had to make the split decision on stealing your laptop or one of your photography albums?
There is such a remarkable beauty to a professional photo album, and there is no other photography format in the world that lasts longer than albums. Any photo that you hang on a wall — whether it be canvases, long-lasting fine art ink jet or traditional prints behind a frame — won’t last as long as prints inside a book. Why? Exposure to light fades the ink. Print longevity is all about lightfast and prints in books are protected from light. With albums, you are preserving your images the safest way possible, in a way that will last hundreds of years.
DIY Albums
Some people have good intentions of creating their own album, and there are several online companies that offer the ease of putting together an album as long as you have the high resolution files. This my be a good option for you, or your budget.
But here are the things to ask yourself if you pursue this direction. Will you actually carve out the time it takes to put together an album or will the files continue to sit on your desktop month after month? Can the company you’re working with guarantee that the images are printed on archival photographic and press papers (remember the part about preserving your images for years to come)? Is the cover made with genuine leather, fine linen or other natural materials? Is the album built to last, constructed by a skilled team of artisans?
Goals
If you can’t answer the questions above, or the answer is no, then I ask you to go back to the beginning and consider the goals for your professional photo shoot. You’ve determined that an event or person is important enough to hire a professional photographer. Think about (and budget for) how you’ll want to use (enjoy) those images after the photo shoot. How will you preserve the moment? Who might be looking at these images 5, 10 or even 20 years from now?
Portrait 8″ x 8 “albums of 30 pages are offered in the collections. Wedding collections also come with an album. And of course you always have the option of switching sizes or page counts.
Want to know more? I’d love to hear from you.
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