Why I don't offer a digital-only photography package
In short, YOU are the reason I don’t offer digital-only photography packages…because YOU deserve so much more than that digitals from your session with me. If that’s the only thing you take from this blog post then that’s enough for me! When you book a photography session with Mama Bear Photography you are making an investment. You are investing in portraits that will be in your family for generations, something precious to look back on as they grow and change and to look at with them one day and tell them all about the session they had.
It could be when they kicked so hard during Mummy’s maternity session she thought she was going into labour, or when they relieved themselves all over Daddy’s white shirt at their newborn session, or the way they dived head-first into their cake at their 1st birthday cake smash! There’s so much that can happen during your photography session that will make reliving it with your child such a fun experience for all of you.
These memories are ones that will last forever and why it is so important to choose the perfect photographer for you and your family. I truly believe that it is so important that the portraits you have invested in live in tangible form, so that you can flick through physical albums with your children or they can see their portraits in frames and on the walls, creating an environment where you can all reminisce about these special moments.
Let me break down why I don’t offer a digital-only photography package, and never will…
1) Social media - I LOVE social media, let me start by saying that. I post photos of my children regularly and I love knowing that my favourite photos are just a few taps of the screen away whenever I want to look at them. I don’t do this for likes, comments or shares, I do this for me so I get great memories pop up every year, I can show friends and family en masse what my boys have been up to and I have an easily accessible record of their lives. Plus, they’re cute, I can’t help it!
Receiving digital images from a session with me is the MINIMUM I want people to expect. I’m under no illusion that, for most, one of the first things you want to do is change your profile picture, cover photo etc and share a few from your session on social media too - that’s great! BUT, I do not want that to be the ONLY place your photos are ever seen. After a session, it’s so easy to get your favourite images where you want them digitally and then that’s it. Facebook has compressed the quality, Instagram has forced you to crop the image and don’t even get me started on what Stories does to them! You invested a lot of money in your session and your portraits, so they need to be shown off in the quality format they were created for, not just on a screen!
2) People are busy - Everyone is busy, parents are tired (believe me, I know)!, there’s always something that needs doing, I get it! Printing your photos, or doing anything with them is one of those jobs that often gets pushed and pushed until your child is unrecognisable from those photos and you then just don’t bother doing anything with them.
By including luxury prints in all of my Collections I am taking the effort out of this whole process for you! All you need to do is choose your favourites and I will do the rest. The prints are posted direct to your door (sometimes even by my own hands) ready for you to unwrap and display! Plus, who doesn’t love receiving a package of prints of the people you love through the door!
3) Your experience - So many of my clients say to me ‘I loved our images but seeing them in print is something else!’ Having a tangible piece of your photography session, whether it be the prints that are included, a beautiful piece of wall art or a memory box full of prints, brings the whole session to life! You aren’t just looking at your favourite people on a screen, they are in your hands as a quality product that you can enjoy looking at day after day.
It is well recognised that a child's self-confidence and feeling of belonging is increased when they see images of themselves around their home, and that’s what I am here to do and why I LOVE providing my clients with gorgeous prints after their session. Investing in Mama Bear Photography for your portraits is a big deal. You have chosen a photographer that has a passion for detail, lighting, aesthetics, experience and quality so to have these portraits on your computer, phone and social media is great, but do you know what is better? Prints and artwork where you can really see the detail, you can appreciate the aesthetics and your child can grow up seeing photos of themselves at every stage and YOU know that you have made the very most of your investment too!
Still want just the digitals from your session?
If you feel that you really don’t need or want beautiful prints of your loved ones to display around your home, or you want to display your images a different way - just gift them to someone who does! I’m sure plenty of family members would love to receive gorgeous quality prints of their grandchildren/niece/nephew/godchild and just think how happy it would make them to receive their very own piece of art without paying a penny!
Still have questions on how including prints can work for you? Drop me a message!
Ali x