How many pictures do you have on your cell phone?
At the moment I'm writing this, I have 2,483 (and 348 videos). Most are cute snapshots of my dog or cat, some are screenshots of memes, some are series of 10 almost identical images I can't possibly narrow down to 1.
Although all of those pictures have their own place (like midnight meme-wars), I can think of only one that sticks out in my head as a picture I really love.
Hint: it's this one. I, too, went through a phase where I thought iPhone's "portrait" mode was pretty sweet.
In a digital age where we have constant access to digital photographs at our fingertips, it's SO easy to think that printing is outdated. That the convenience of digital images is superior to the presence of a physical photograph. Even photographers aren't immune to this.
Take the above picture of Bubbles for example. Even though it's one of my favorites of her, how often do you think I scroll past thousands of other photos to see it? Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I pulled it up on my cell phone before I uploaded it here. And that makes me really sad.
Because when I see that picture, I see her slight pigeon-toed stance and the fast wag of her curly tail.
I see her bright-eyed shepherd gaze, her satellite-dish ears pricked. All of the things that make her so uniquely Bubbles. These things make my heart smile every time without fail - so why haven't I just printed the picture?
In a world where convenience is king, I think it's time to take this small step backwards.
The presence of a physical photograph is something that can't be replaced by any amount of megapixels. When you print your photos, you give yourself the opportunity to see the things that make your heart smile, and not just when you scroll through your photo library. You'll see them every time you walk in your front door, every time you sip coffee at your coffee table, every time you sit down at your desk.
P.S., I have the photo in my print lab's online cart now so it will be living on my desk soon. :)