One of my most popular blog posts to date is my list of top sites for printing pictures.
There are so many options these days for getting our images into print (including a few creative ones I’m excited to share with you next week). Getting your images organized and prepped for print however can be a huge challenge as a busy mom, I know that firsthand.
But…
[Tweet “The most important thing you can do with your images is print them.”]
I’ll admit, printing images is my greatest struggle as a photographer.
Recently, on a 5 hour flight to California, I finally had a big chunk of distraction free time to work on a project that has been haunting me for months. Over the summer I took newborn photos of my nephew and I had yet to sort, select, and edit photos from the session.
By that time he was adorable 3 months old and I really needed to get the newborn photos into an album for my sister, because he’d already changed so much. Not to mention needing to send a few prints to the grandparents and great grandparents who are not on Facebook and don’t have cell phones to get their instant gratification of daily baby cuteness the rest of us tech savvy family members receive on the regular.
When I do devote the time to actually getting my images off of a hard drive and into albums I feel so accomplished. And we absolutely love sitting down together with old albums talking and reminiscing about life, family, and fun times together.
I need to keep that feeling in mind as I prioritize printing projects and avoid my typical excuses in the coming months.
Yep. Excuses. I make them internally ALL the time when it comes time to printing pictures and I bet you do too. Today, I’ve boiled the printing struggle down to the 5 excuses we all make when it comes time to tackle photo printing. Keep on reading to see what they are.
1) I’ve got too many pictures
This is the blessing and the curse of digital photography. We can take photo after photo until we get one right. But if we don’t stay on top of deleting the not so good ones, we’re left with thousands of photos on our hard drive to weed through to find the best. This issue can also get compounded once there are multiple children in the mix. More kids a lot of times can mean more pictures. I had a friend tell me recently how her systems of organization and printing needed a re-do after her second child was born (does she separate her folders by child? By year? By event?) and she was a bit lost with how to tackle it.
2) Life is too overwhelming
Ahhhhhh, the life of a busy mom. We are constantly pulled in a million different directions and it’s hard to concentrate on our desire to print photo books when there are kids to entertain, dishes to clean, and a disorganized house all calling to be cared for first. Which leads me to tip #3….
3) I don’t have time
This could sort of ties in with excuse #2, however I truly believe that we make time for the things that matter most to us. Think about that for a second. Are you spending time for what matters most? When I need a girls night with friends, I put it on the calendar and go. When it’s time to get a haircut I make an appointment and get to the salon. When there’s an awesome photography class I want to take I mark it on my calendar and put in the time to work on the assignments. If you desire to organize and print your photos you have to schedule it in to your calendar! By scheduling in a specific time to work on your projects, you’ll be setting the task as more of a non-negotiable priority.
4) I don’t have a deadline
In school we always had our teachers to give us assignments with a deadline attached. There was a built in accountability system with the other students in the class and our teacher to check in and ensure we were getting the work done. But with our family photos there really isn’t a great system for accountability unless we put one into place ourselves. Pull a friend in to your project to help stay on top of it, or work on your photo projects together to ensure you get them done.
5) I’m not creative
When it comes to making albums I always watched friends and fellow photographers piece together these stunning albums with the perfect layouts and embellishments. I didn’t have confidence that I’d be able to recreate such an awesome masterpiece for our own albums which kept me stuck from even starting them in the first place. Developing the mantra, “Perfect pictures are printed pictures” and hanging that near my computer has helped me push past the expectation for how my albums should look and allowed me to simply get them done so we can all benefit from looking through old images together!
Which of these excuses is yours? Does one of them ring true? Or are you making several? Are there any you’d add to the list? Want to finally overcome these excuses for good?!
LET ME SHOW YOU HOW TO JUGGLE YOUR FULL SCHEDULE SO YOU CAN GET BACK TO THE CREATIVE PROJECTS THAT FULFILL YOU.
I know you want to finish the book that’s been sitting on your nightstand for ages, or complete that half finished quilt in your sewing room, or print that photo book of memories you’ve been wanting off your phone.
You can during the FREE 6-day Recapture Time Email Class. Sign up HERE!