The printed photo is becoming extinct

Last week, when Apple launched their latest phone, much of the focus was on its cameras (plural!). In fact, the iPhone is the world's most used camera.

In the UK, nine out of every ten adults has a smartphone, and therefore, a camera.

So it's no surprise that more photos are being taken today than at any time in our history.

But... fewer photos than ever before are being printed.

I totally get that we live in a digital age. We love to document our lives and share them on social media.

Here's why I believe we mustn't let the printed photo die!

Your photos deserve to be printed

Your photos deserve to be printedUSB, album and prints from a newborn baby photoshoot with Abi Moore Whether it's your holiday snaps from your phone camera or your images from a professional photoshoot, your photos deserve to be printed.

It's such a shame if they're hidden away on your phone or camera.

You may share them on social media, where there'll be seen for a second then forgotten.

By displaying them around your home they will put a smile on your face every day.

For this reason, all of my wedding, family and baby packages include both digital images and printed photos - from a simple set of professional prints that you can frame yourself, through to wall art and albums designed with your favourite images and colours.

If you're investing your time and money in asking me to create your family memories, it follows that you should print and display them too.

Crisis of comparison

It's well-known that social media can have a negative impact on self esteem.

It takes one second to take a photo - everything can look perfect in that one second; the sun is shining, families are happy and loving, filters are used to enhance appearances. And that's what people share. Two minutes later the toddler may have dropped his ice cream or someone may have been stung by a wasp, but all you get to see is the perfection.

US Pastor Steve Furtick put it best when he said, “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”

Your photos deserve to be displayedCircular wooden sphere displaying a baby photo from a newborn photshoot with Abi Moore Throughout the current decade, self-esteem in UK children and teens has been falling, and many claim social media is to blame.

Now, let's flip that on it's head... Imagine displaying your own perfect moments around your home.

Your children will get to see their own photo displayed lovingly in a frame.

When you come home to see the memories of your amazing holiday or happy family day out, it will raise a smile and have a positive impact on your family's self esteem.

Future proofing

There is another reason why printing your photos is so important...

Do you ever visit parents or grandparents to find they've got out the old photo albums?

Print your photos 3Family heirloom photo I love to look through old photos. On a visit to my Grandpa's a few years ago he showed me photos of his parents on their wedding day and his father in his military uniform - even though I'd never met these people, it was so special to see my great-grandparents. This one he had of my mum as a baby is so precious.

Your family photos should be printedFloppy disks Now imagine going back to the 1980s and finding there were no prints, but the images were on a floppy disk. What would you do with that disk?

Today cloud galleries and USBs are ubiquitous, but technology will always move on.

The prints from one hundred years ago live on and can be accessed without out-of-date technology, the same will be true one hundred years from now.

In Part 2 of this blog, I share options for backing up your photos. For now, a reminder that a print will not be lost when a phone dies or a hard drive crashes.

An aside on where to print

Print your baby photosPhoto album from a newborn baby photoshoot with Abi Moore I'm sometimes asked which print labs I recommend. The labs I use for my business are professional trade labs that I've chosen over the years of being in business.

I can't recommend any specific consumer print labs, as they can change over time and without the experience of using them, I'm unable to vouch for their services.

What I do always recommend is that you print your photos somewhere that specialises in photo printing - whether that's a high street photographic shop or online photo labs.

The instant machines in supermarkets and pharmacies will not give you the same qulaity of print.

Having said that, a poor quality print is better than no print at all!

Now... go, print!!

I will finish with a challenge. Look around your walls and shelves - have you got photos of your family printed? Have you got photos on display that were taken in the last 12 months?

Print your photos 4Framed images from Abi Moore's family photoshoot If the answer is yes, then give yourself a pat on the back.

If the answer is no, pick your favourite snap from this summer and get it printed this week!

And if you'd like some professional photos of your family, you know where I am... :)

Click here to contact Abi

(And just to prove that I practice what I preach - to the left you'll see our images from our last family photoshoot, proudly on display in my home. I'm currently working on printing canvases from photos taken this summer).