© 2019 Rachel L. Shumate | All rights reserved.
We don’t often like to think about the limitations of our own mortality, but I would like to take a moment to ask an important question… What will you leave behind for your loved ones? What will be your legacy? Many will immediately think of financial gains or hardships. I implore you to think beyond that to what’s really important. Will you leave them a legacy of love and a beautiful life? Will you leave them memories? Will you leave them pictures?
I don’t mean will you leave them your phone or your computer to pull them up on – if they can even access the files. I mean will you leave them pictures that they can hold in their hands, hang on their wall, and put in an album? Perhaps Millennials, and even those in my generation, are scratching their heads at this suggestion. “Why would you want to do that? They take up space and no one wants to have a photo album anymore….” Am I right?
Well, the sad thing is that not too many years from now all those digital image files will be considered old technology. It’s quite likely that your grandchildren won’t have a device that will be able to pull up those wonderful memories documented in pictures. However, only your eyes are required to “view” a physical print. And let’s be honest, if you hold a printed portrait of your family from your last vacation in one hand, and a thumb drive that contains your images in the other hand – which one gives you an immediate emotional response? I would be willing to bet that the print instantly makes your heart happy.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not knocking digital files. In fact, I think you should have both. And I strongly suggest that you backup your digital images, and then back them up again! (Please, please!!) Ideally, we should all have digital files with at least one backup, as well at prints and photo albums. As a photographic artist I really can’t stress this enough. I wholeheartedly believe in my calling to capture images of people, families, and moments that will get passed down through generations – to provide clients with tangible memories. There is actually a widespread concern that we will be the lost generation because we won’t have any prints or albums to chronicle our lives. I find that rather distressing.
Our society today takes more pictures than ever – and of everything. (I’m guilty as charged too.) Our phones are just so convenient. But what happens to those thousands of pictures on your phone if it gets lost or destroyed? Are they backed up, or gone forever?
And why do we only look at pictures on our phones? Your family portrait or your child’s graduation picture can still be shared digitally, but I personally think they belong in a frame as well. Here’s a neat fact that I picked up in one of the many photography seminars I’ve attended: It actually boosts your child’s self esteem if you have a canvas or framed portrait of them (alone or with family) on your wall. Think about it. Doing so sends them the unspoken message that they are important, loved, and that they have a place of honor in your home. Wow; right?
I’ll climb down from my soapbox now, but I truly hope this has inspired you to go back up your images, as well as to print your favorite ones – at a reputable lab so that they last. Perhaps just print a few to display in your home and office, and then maybe start a tradition of creating a family yearbook (this is actually a personal project of mine). You can use photo albums or go through a vendor like Shutterfly or Blurb (the options are endless) to create a beautiful polished family yearbook. (Tip: be sure to research and check for coupons.) Either way, how fantastic would it be to have a keepsake album of each year?! And for the digital junkies out there, when you order an album through Blurb you can also get a pdf version as well.
I plan to work on all of the above a little harder. I hope you will too.
Behind the scenes fun fact:
The featured image is of my Granny and Grandpa. My Granny was 21 in this photograph. Now she is in heaven with Grandpa, and today they are celebrating their anniversary together. I really can’t say enough how much I love this photograph. It is priceless in so very many ways. It was discovered when we were going through photographs for Granny’s funeral (because that’s always one of the first things you do). I immediately asked if I could have it and I carefully stashed it away in my suitcase like the found treasure it is. Not only is it a wonderful image of people I love, I noticed on the back that it was taken by a studio named Candid Pictures and was likely a proof. That makes my heart sing because this is what I do – “guided posing” and all! And to think this style of shooting is so very big in portraiture these days! This photograph is a beautiful reminder of my loved ones, the past, and my future.
