03/31/2026
Hi! Every now and then, we lose a senior or family job because the customer wants the digital files. Our stock answer is, "We don't sell digital files, you have to buy prints and cards from us, but we GIVE free low res digital files of anything you have ordered from, for use on your social media." (Of course we DO sell digital files for business portraits and commercial work, and even weddings.)
But, I'd like to explain to our customers, potential customers, and any photographers trying to build their businesses WHY we don't sell digital files outright for portrait jobs. (The term pros use is "shoot-to-disc".)
1. Our prints are retouched, cropped the way we want, laminated, textured, UV-coated, and have a backing on them. They also all have our logos in the corner. If we sell digital files, people either a) do not ever print anything, or b) print it badly and sometimes tell people it is our work, which is being presented less than professionally and literally working against us for future business.
2. If you don't want to order a lot of photos, then don't order a lot of photos. But if you buy our digital files, it will cost you the same amount as the next guy, who wants them all! And we of course, would price them above our average print order amount, so most people are spending more money to get the digital files to spend more money, again, to print them poorly, or not at all. In essence, it's cheaper and higher quality to order the prints you want from us.
3. If you are honest with yourself, you will agree that one nice 16x20, or 20x24 senior portrait or family portrait hanging on your wall is worth more than 1000 or 5000 digital files on your phone or computer. We all have them! When the fire comes racing at your house, those framed photos will be the first things you grab after your kids and your pets. They have value. They impress your friends and family members. They warm the house.
4. Our work is our advertising and our legacy. We have been in business over 30 years, and make a good living because people find value in what we do compared to others who cannot make a go of it. We want our images to LOOK professional, hold up to the elements, not be under glass, not be awkwardly cropped, and not printed on your inkjet printer or simply landing on your computer hard drive! If you photographers are selling your portraits digitally, you are not really offering that much more than a good cell phone photographer or friend can do in proper, cloudy or shady, lighting conditions.
5. If we can meet with our customers to look at their images, we can answer and solve questions and concerns about: crazy hair, random background elements, head swaps, white feet, acne, yellow teeth or braces, and more. And no, we are not going to retouch every person in every photo of an entire photoshoot. If you are doing that, you will not last one year in this business! We spend on average 10-20 minutes retouching ONE image!!
6. When we shoot a family portrait, we use a 45-megapixel camera! That yields a file so big and so sharp, that you would actually have problems e-mailing it to your family members, unless we size it WAY down! But boy is that nice when you order a 60" print from us!
7. There are other reasons why people will come to us and other professional photographers: we use off-camera lighting essentially all the time, we know how to pose people to flatter them, we know the best locations at various times of day, we know how to be efficient and fast while still getting great image. We also know how to use our f-stops and focal lengths to make people and the environment look their best! Someone called us for a reason. rather than their self-timer or son's girlfriend. We want to live up to their expectations.
Anyway, thanks much if you are still reading all that! Please pass it along to your photographer friends, and please call us if you want some quality family or senior portraits and products at 605-343-5646.
