Hi there! 

Happy summer! In addition to the Throwback Thursdays blog series this summer (posts from which will be posted on – you guessed it! – Thursdays), each Monday I will be doing a post, too! For most of the summer, I will be doing product features in these posts. These will show you the various pieces of custom photo art that I sell in ordering sessions!

In the world of receiving digital files, I want to have this introductory blog post in order to:

1) Make it really clear that I sell photo art for your home! This occurs in an ordering session typically about 1-2 weeks after your session, and this summer you’ll get an overview of all the different products you can purchase. Of course, if you’re interested in booking me for a session or wedding, contact me and we’ll talk about them much sooner! 

2) Explain why selling photography products is important to me, rather than solely giving digital files.

3) Explain how it benefits you to invest in professional photography products.

Before I begin, I want to note that I use the terms “photography products,” “products,” “custom photo art,” and “photo art” interchangeably. The term “product” feels a little rigid to me for something as thrilling as holding your special moments in your hands, so I use the phrase “photo art” more. When we turn your memories into pieces for your home, they really do become art. 

ALSO! The words just really flowed out as I was writing this post because I have become so passionate about you holding your photos. Since I’m so passionate about it, I think it’s important for you to have the option of hearing these words in my voice. This is also a great option for you if you’re doing things around the house or are on the road. Here’s the audio for you! The words are the same as the remainder of the post, but the audio obviously doesn’t contain the photos in the post. 🙂 Enjoy.

“Why do you sell photography products?” 
(“Okay, I’ll give into your lingo, why do you sell custom photo art?”)

I used to have the business model where I take photos at a session or wedding, edit them, then hand over about a hundred digital files per session (many more per wedding). Let me be clear that that model is a great fit for some photographers and some clients, and there is nothing wrong with it if that works for you!

Here’s why I’ve found that selling products is a better fit for me, though: As I said above, with custom photo art, you get to hold your memories in your hands. You touch your prints. You share them with loved ones. You frame your graduation announcement in celebration and seal announcements in envelopes for your family. You flip through gorgeous pages of photos in your photo book. Your grandparent who wasn’t able to make it to the wedding gets to experience it through a gift album. You see your family on the walls of your home daily and remember how beautiful your perfectly imperfect family is, even when they’re driving you nuts. It’s like a little breather amongst the chaos of life with kids. 😉 

Your photos become an experience – not just of remembering how silly I was during your session to make your kiddos laugh – but of treasuring your family members more. 

“Why should I invest in professional photography products?”

So you want photos in your home, but why not order online yourself or run to Walmart or CVS to print your photos? Those are cheaper options, but like many other things, you get what you pay for. When you invest in photo art with Light Creative, you are ordering professionally-printed works of art. Your photos and products are made with quality materials that won’t fade or crinkle over time. We have a set of photos hanging in a vintage window over our couch, and the only photo that has bent and fallen is the one that I printed at Walgreens last minute. The others, all ordered through my professional printing lab, are holding up like champs. 

Here’s the other, really important reason to invest in professional photo art, though – when you receive digital files, ordering products often gets put on a mental to-do list to get around to at some point. More often than not, the files just stay there. They never get printed. And then, when you remember that you haven’t gotten around to it, you feel guilty about it. (As if we don’t already have enough on our plates.)

You’re busy, and no one is blaming you for that! When you order photo art with me after your session, you will have it within three weeks – and often quicker than that. You can start hanging your photos, sharing them with friends and family, preparing those Christmas cards… you have them. It’s already done. What a sigh of relief to not have to worry about it later. 

My own wedding photos are sitting on a flash drive in a box under my bed. I’m not joking, and it makes me sad. We just celebrated our FIFTH wedding anniversary, and I still haven’t put together a wedding album for ourselves! OR for any family members! (Did you know that parents & grandparents also love having books and albums to show off to their friends and to look back on your big day?) I love our wedding photographer. And at the time, receiving all digital files felt right for us. But I sure do wish I had ordered an album by now. 

 

 

I’m trying to make your life easier by ordering these beauties for you! I am taking one thing off your to-do list by doing it FOR you. Done and done. 

When you have professional photo art in your home, you see your photos differently. Photos are different when they’re in your hands. You treasure them more, and more importantly, I think you tend to treasure the people in them more. You see them smiling, you see them laughing… even if today’s a hard day, you remember how much you love them anyway. And if it’s just you in the photo? You get to see your beautiful self. That’s right – even if you’re a guy, even if you have insecurities (don’t we all), even if you don’t even like selfies – you’re beautiful. I want to you see that. And believe it. And know it. And be reminded of it.

 

 

If photos stay as digital files, you don’t get to enjoy them as much. You have the photos, but you’ve only paid your photographer to capture the moments, & not to allow you to keep enjoying the moments daily. You will look at your photos daily if they’re on your walls. You’ll probably go through them a little less than daily in an album or a photo book, but surely more often than if they weren’t there. At the very least, you’ll see your book sitting on the coffee table with the photo on the cover and remember the moments the photos represent fondly. But if you just have digital files, they may stay on a flash drive under your bed until you dig it out to use a photo for something twice in five years. 

Again, I am NOT trying to bash photographers who give digital files or their model of business. They are lovely people who take great photographs, too. I simply want to explain why it is so important to me that I make it as easy as possible for you to have quality, beautiful photos displayed in your home. 

Last thing – What about sharing? Prints, albums, and other photo art are great gifts, and here’s the thing – I still give you digital files, too. For every photo you choose for a piece of photo art, you receive a web-sized file of it to share on social media. If you order a set of 10 different prints, you receive those 10 web-sized files. If you order an album with 30 different photos, you get 30 files to share! These files aren’t large enough for printing – because you take care of those orders through me, remember? 🙂 – but they’re perfect to show to friends & family on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, you name it. Social media game, strong. Everyone wants a great profile pic. 

*Update – I understand that many people enjoy having high-res files from their wedding day, in case they’d like to print more photos years in the future without having to rely on me to provide those. I do include high-res files with each wedding collection, in addition to an album or photobook (or photo art credits to order something else you’d like) – so you have flexibility with files while still receiving beautiful, professional-quality photos for your home, as well!

If you have questions about any of this, I would be more than happy to meet up with you over tea or coffee to gush about this more with you or to clear a few things up. Thank you for hanging out with me through this whole post – the next ones in the series should be much shorter, haha! 

You’re awesome. Keep letting your light shine.

In light & love,
Kelly