With the simplicity and convenience of the digital age, we don't always think about our memories for years to come. It's easy to say "I've got my full resolution image" and feel secure that those digital memories will be accessible down the road when you want to take that trip down memory lane.

But what you may not realize is that 10 years down the road (or technically, maybe even months down the road), those images may not exist. Computers break, external hard drive and thumb drives fail, and CDs will loose information. And when you try to find other avenues to obtain a copy, there's a good chance that those might not be available either.

Professional photographers sometimes hold their digital images for no more than 1 year. Some don't even hold them for that long because the files are large, and they've got to take up space somewhere. Space is money. And what are the chances that someone will want to purchase a copy of those images again years down the road? Out of sight, out of mind...until years down the road...maybe. It's just not financially worth it for a photographer to keep those images once the client has purchased the digital images.

If push came to shove, I MIGHT be able to pull up an image for a client 3 or 4 years ago, but it would take some time, and it's not the norm. Prior to that I was shooting film, and I guarantee you that would be near impossible for me to get these days - I gave my clients the negatives with their prints and sent them on their way.

Being that I look at digital images day in and day out, it's difficult to remember that I need to take my own advice about my personal images - back them up - at multiple locations. But also know that jpegs will loose their quality each time you save them (pixels and information get lost with each save). That's why it's important to make sure that you keep up to date with prints as well. You don't need to print EVERY image. Just pick one or two from a set at least - to hold the memory.

I'm sure many of you have seen your grandparents' square photo prints from when they were younger, right? The ones with the white boarder (love those!)? Had those been digital images, there's a good possibility that you may have never seen them. But they aren't. They are in-your-hand prints. Their prints have held through so much, but they have still lost their quality through the years. The same thing would happen if you took your digital image (you purchased the right to print if they're from a professional photographer, right?) to have them printed on your own at ____ (not naming names, but I'm sure you can fill in the blank with any non-professional printing lab and it would be about the same). As years pass, the quality starts to fade, and eventually the image looks nothing like it originally did - colors change and even possibly bleed, making the details unrecognizable. And we all know that they don't make things like they used to.

That's why it's also important that you have your images printed on high professional grade paper, printed with quality ink. You aren't going to find that at ____ (insert same non-pro lab name). If you've hired a professional photographer, hopefully they are using a reputable professional grade lab for their prints. Not sure what type of lab they're using?  I would definitely ask. They may not give you the name, but all you need to know is if they are using a professional grade printing lab - or maybe they are awesome and are developing their own images, in which case ask what kind of paper they're using. They shouldn't be charging you $50 for an 5x7 they printed at ____ (insert any non-pro lab name), unless they aren't charging a session fee.

So, I guess it's time for me to take my own advice...to go back through my images, back them up, and make my prints. I can't wait to share those with my grandchildren. Wait. Maybe I can...