When our son Cooper was born, it was a miracle. A miracle that we created a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby, and a miracle that he even came to be in the first place. After being diagnosed with cancer in 2006 at the age of 30, I was told that my options at that time would make having a baby difficult, if not impossible. I was lucky to be in the care of an amazing doctor who is on the leading edge of cancer care, and I opted to undergo a new surgery that would at least give me a chance at having a family. Four years later, I found out I was pregnant. After weekly trips to the hospital for check-ups and close monitoring, I had a wonderful, full-term pregnancy and Cooper came into the world weighing a remarkable 8 lb 8 oz. 

Whether we would invest in family photos was never a question for us. The fact that we were three when the odds were against us was something we wanted to document and cherish. And we could only take so many photos ourselves, using our remote or the timer setting on our camera so we could all be in the image.

Being photographers, I was picky about who I wanted to hire. It was important to me that our photos were our style — natural, fun, light and bright. Most importantly, I wanted them to show us how we really are as a family with all the goofiness, laughter and love (and sometimes tears!) that we have together. When I came across Hilary last fall, I knew she was the one for us. And when she delivered our disc of images (the fact that her fee included a disc was a bonus for us) I was so excited to have beautiful, meaningful photography hanging on our walls.

But then a week went by. And then a month. Then, all of a sudden, it was 2012 and the disc sat on our cluttered desk with no action taken. It could have easily gotten misplaced or lost. I’ve also heard stories of hard drives failing, memory cards being corrupt and external drives being stolen with precious family memories being lost. I would be utterly heartbroken if this happened to us.

This is a trap that many people fall into if they receive a disc of images from their photographer. You feel secure because you have all your images safe and sound on a disc, but then it just sits and gathers dust or worse, goes missing. I just want to say, get those photos printed! Seriously, it’s SO important.

I finally ended up taking my own advice. We ordered a timeless 20×30 canvas of Cooper and three 12×12 prints of us together that we framed. Luckily, we have access to some fantastic professional print labs that cater specifically to pro photographers. The products we ordered are of amazing quality and will last forever. So more advice (I know, I’m getting all soapboxy): if you can go through your photographer to have your photos and products printed, DO IT. The quality far surpasses your local big-box store or online source. Seriously. If you make the investment to hire a pro photographer, why would you skimp on the most important aspect of that investment — your photos! They are art, so treat them as such. It isn’t cheap, I know. But I made sure we set aside some money above and beyond our photographer’s fee to spend on printing. Plan ahead!

Finally, a lot of us consider a 5×7 or an 8×10 an enlargement. It’s hard to understand that this is not the case until you get a real wall portrait done. I think 20×30 is the minimum size for a piece of wall art. In fact, I wish I had ordered an even bigger size for Cooper’s canvas. Here is our canvas hanging in our entryway — we’ve since moved it to the family room.

And here is our canvas in comparison to a framed 5×7 photo on the left.

It is so teeny tiny! I’m no interior designer, but that size is far too small to hang on a wall. If you want to put it on your desk at work, that’s one thing. But for your home, GO BIG. It really is better and you will be glad you did. I promise.

We all have a story to tell, and photos are the best way to keep our memories alive. This canvas will hang on our wall forever. I hope Cooper’s children will see it in our house one day and ask about the day their dad’s photo was taken. I don’t think you can put a price on that.

So, to recap: if you have a disc of images laying around, get your photos printed so you can enjoy them! Do so using a professional print lab or order through your photographer if you can. And finally, bigger really is better when it comes to beautiful photographic art for your walls.

Happy printing!

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