A lot of people ask if I sell dvd's of their sessions. The short answer is yes, but I don't like to for a variety of reasons. Let me say first that even when I sell a dvd, I only sell it with a print release, not a copyright release. Yes there is a difference.
I retain copyright of all images I create and sell digital files with a print release. What does that mean? Well you can print as many images in a variety of sizes, sometimes limited by the actual release (i.e up to an 8x10 etc.). The print release doesn't give you permission to use the photo as your work, it doesn't allow you to use the photo to enter any contests (without express written permission) and you can't alter the image outside of cropping for size ratios. The ratio of an 8x10 is not the same as a 5x7 or 4x6 so there will be some part of the image cropped out in order to print the larger sizes.
First it's tough for me to sell a digital file because I like having creative control start to finish. It's a whole lot more than just clicking the button on the camera. It's knowing how your equipment works, using the light that can be made available, how to pose and work with your subject and how to process the image. It's also about cropping the image and how the image will be printed. I have an awesome lab. It's not the local one hour. It's a quality lab that cares about how the images are printed and they are printed on quality paper that will last. It's hard for me to release that print right to clients because not all labs are equal and the quality of print they get will differ greatly.
This Link was passed around a while back for some comparison.
The second VERY important reason to purchase print vs digital files comes back to the title of this blog, "The answer, in a 100 years...." What's going to be the NEWEST media storage THEN?
My grandmother has a print in her living room. It is a very large print in an old oval frame of my great grandmother as a toddler. The size of the photo and the era of time it was printed showed my family valued photography and preserved that memory for generations.
It's still valued today, in fact during one trip to the fready hole (that's okie for the storm cellar) during the threat of a tornado this summer. My grandmother had full preparations if the call arose to take the photo with us to the storm cellar.
What did I grab? My child, my computer, photo bag and two hard drives. Ironically my grandmother and were both preserving photos. Grandma was taking an image in a form that dated nearly a 100 years. Mine, well...
Those preparations did make us stop and calculate how old the print actually is. The best we can guess is close to 96 years old.
In the years I've been alive (for the record, it's really not that long... in a few weeks I'll be 32) the following forms of media has been used for photography.
Prints
Slides
Floppies
USB drives
CD's
DVD's
Computers/Hard Drives
Even the initial recording of the image has changed be it from film to an SD card or a CompacFlash Card. The way we process has changed from developing the images with chemicals to developing the images digital with Lighroom or Photoshop.
My grandma still has slides, loaded in a slide reel. She and papa would take motorcycle trips and when they returned we'd all watch her shows. I got my shutter bug from her, by the way. She bought me my first camera. The projector won't work anymore though and you can't just buy one locally any longer.
3.5 Floppy Disk, anyone remember those? I still have a HUGE stack of them somewhere with images on them collecting dust in my closet. Why? Because computers don't have those drives anymore. Some probably have images I've not printed, sad really.
Hard drives and computers change on what seems like a weekly basis. They also crash, get infected by viruses or get knocked down by kids causing loss of ALL data.
I just read an article today Here that says CDs/DVDs may be a thing of the past in a few years. The only media that remains constant for more than 100 years is prints.
Do I recommend having a dvd or a hard drive in a safe place for the back of images. ABSOLUTELY. I back up images both personal and those of clients on a daily/weekly/monthly basis as needed both on hard drives and dvd's. But your first purchase to preserve memories should be quality prints to hang on your wall. It is an investment, but one that will truly last.
What else would you like to know about photography services I provide?
