Photography Is Best Enjoyed in Print

Yesterday I had the enormous pleasure of representing Bay Photo Lab at the October meeting of the Montgomery County Camera Club of Maryland ("MoCo Camera Club" as the like to be called) for a discussion of why it is so important to print our favorite photographs for ourselves, and for our clients. I presented three broad cases for printing: technological, historical, and business.

A few shocking statistics to consider:

• 53% of consumers haven't printed a photograph in more than 12 months
• 70% don't have photo albums
• 42% no longer print photos at all

What's more, we're raising a generation conditioned not to print photographs.

I also talked about the advantages of printing with a professional photographic lab versus a consumer lab such as Costco, CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart. We talked about Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and their public education campaign PRINT! The Movement. Now, in agreement that we all need to print more and provide a true full-service experience to our clients, I dove into the exceptional products and services Bay Photo offers the professional photographic community and I got to play some show & tell with a number of Bay Photo samples that attendees got to hold in their own hands and examine first hand including a full range of photographic paper prints produced in several mounting and finishing options, canvas wraps, acrylic prints, MetalPrints, Bay's innovative Xposer, and Maple Wood Prints.

Because this topic of printing is so broad and multi-faceted, I don't feel that I can properly address all of the points that need to be made in a single blog post, so over the next several weeks and even months I'll be taking on the topi one bite at a time. Click the "Print" tag above to view other posts in this series.

Before I go, there is just one striking argument for printing I'd like to share with you. While preparing my presentation and remarks I came across an incredible video produced by Bryan Caporicci of of the Pelham, Ontario studio, Bryan Caporicci Photography. Bryan produced this video one afternoon for fun and to enforce his belief in print versus digital. He sends this to every client and every inquiring prospective client. It brilliantly speaks for itself in short, sweet, and comedic form, while at the same time communicating an important message.