Ideas for getting the most from your photos

This blog post leads on from last week's blog; Why I am so passionate about printing photos (if you haven't read it yet please do!) Obviously I am a photographer so I'm here to take beautiful portraits of you and create professional products that will endure and be enjoyed for years to come - but this blog post and last week's one actually relates not just to professional portraits, but to the snapshots we take everyday.

So today I'm going to give you a few ideas for how to get the most from your photos. Make it a regular exercise to get the photos from your iPhone or camera printed off. And if you do have photographs lying on a USB from when you had professional photos taken by a photographer go get them printed too!

THE PHOTO BOOK - If you want to get a bit fancier than the old slide-in photo albums, you can design your own printed photo book online these days with relative ease. At the end of each year I collate photos from my phone and Matt's, photos sitting on the computer and sometimes even photos from Facebook. I sit down for an hour or two and set about creating a photo book of all our adventures during the year (that is the time consuming part, however most online designers have pre-made templates to speed up the process). Then within a few weeks my photo book arrives on the courier. These books sit proudly on my bookshelf in the lounge. And just last week I was reminiscing about our trip to America - rather than going to find the photos on my laptop or phone, I went straight to the photo book on the shelf!

Professional photo albums are part of my product range here in the studio and are a popular choice for many clients who want their photographs printed to be enjoyed but not necessarily wanting to put them on the walls of their home.

THE TREASURE BOX - Not into albums or just know you'll never get around to making a photo book? The treasure box idea is a great option for having as a bookshelf or coffee table piece. Your treasure box could be an ornamental wooden box, a simple cardboard box + lid, or something else - but the idea is that you print photos regularly and keep them in the box. You could tie pretty ribbon around the bundles of photos. You could start a treasure box for each child, keeping photos of all their childhood milestones in one place, and then give the treasure box to them on their 21st birthday.

I do a very similar product in studio - prints in a keepsake box. These prints are matted, so they're ready to frame if you wish, otherwise simply to be treasured in their accompanying wooden box for safe-keeping.

PHOTO WALLS - When I was a teen my Mum helped me make a photo display to collage my photos and hang on the wall. It was a piece of board which we covered in patterned fabric, then pinned red ribbon across it diagonally so I could slide prints in behind the ribbon. Today there are even cooler ideas out there (just check out Pinterest!) from collages of frames to pegged prints hung up on string. 

I am extremely excited to have my new printer up and running in the studio and I plan to try out doing square prints for collage walls - like having a real-life Instagram feed on your wall!

Hopefully these ideas might inspire you to go out and get those photos off your devices and into prints! If you have any questions whatsoever about printing, photobooks or anything photographic please get in touch - I would love to help! x