One of the major beliefs I have as a photographer is that photos are not meant to live on our computers, smart phones or social media. As a mom of young kids, I see how their eyes light up when we look through the photo books that hold our family photos. They love seeing their baby albums and flipping through the pages. That is an experience that is so much better that only seeing those photos on a screen. This winter, I recently created a gallery wall in our home of six favorite family photos. Every morning when I walk down our stairs, I see those special photos – and so do my kids. I hope this speaks to them and shows them how important they are to our family. That’s the main reason I value albums and prints hanging on a wall.

I’ve come to realize that only offering digital images to the families I work with is actually a huge disservice. I send a gallery of digital images and then leave them to figure out how to use them – which may take months to determine, or more likely, they will just live as digital images with one set of Christmas cards to show for them.

It is a huge effort and investment to commit to a photo session. For all of that effort, I want you to truly enjoy your images. And that means seeing them in physical form, whether it’s an album or one precious photo hanging on the walls of your home. What better art is there than the love of your family?