#printyourphotos

I am very vey passionate about printing your photos and below is why:

I grew up in Ohio where the summer days were humid and the winter days were bitter cold. I was the type of little girl who would play in my backyard for hours on end, making a whole imaginary world up. I am an extrovert to my core but need the balance of quiet in my life to be able to give so much energy to people. I remember going to my room after dinner with my family and spending a long time playing, organizing, or reading before bed. My favorite thing to do was look through old photographs of my family. My mom printed out hundreds of photographs from family trips, Christmas vacations, and birthday parties up at the lake. To this day I every time I go home I take time to flip open our old photo albums and remember the old good days growing up at the lake in Ohio. 

Something arises within our hearts when we get to hold tangible memories. Memories of grandparents gone to the after life, a moment we wish we could go back to again, an epic view we want to hold in our minds eye forever. Photography has the ability to invite others into a space otherwise they would never be able to go. And printing your photos let’s you hold a moment forever. Since the invention of photography in 1839 people have been obsessed with snapping moments in history to be seen forever by future generations.

My Great Grandfather (George) and his wife (Hannah, who I’m named after) would do these trips around the world and send postcards and gifts back to family (see below). He was a photographer as well and started the 3rd largest printing company in America that unfortunately has been shut down in 1998. When I was told all about him by my father, I felt this instant connection to the past and wanted to see what they looked like. I was the faithful one who received all his film slides a few years ago from my great uncle. This year for Christmas I scanned them into the computer and designed a leather bound album for my dad’s Christmas present. He cried and cried. Then proceeded to show it around to all my family members as if it was a new puppy! How special it is to hold memories of the past we were never apart of but we came from. Moments like my Grandfather as a child on the boat my dad and I both grew up on on Lake Erie. The cottage my Great Great Grandfather build in the late 1800’s with his two hands, where I grew up on the weekends of my childhood. These places hold history and space for generations but when they are gone we are only left with memories in our head but also now photographs to hold and look at. I now get to share those images with my grandchildren and tell them stories of my Grandfather and the legacy he built for the Gray Family because we have photographs.

How have we gotten so far from monthly printing our photos?! I mean I get it… the iPhone came out.. but still!!! I cannot Imagine my whole life on my phone. I want my walls to be filled with the faces of my loved ones I get a glimpse at as I walk by or having a break down moment, knowing they are there in some way. Or my tables filled with handcrafted photo albums for guests to look at when they come over for dinner.

Think about moments in your life that spark you alive.

Think about people you wish you could hold and see everyday.

Think about the views that capture something wild in your heart.

Let’s print those memories and more. 

Below are some options for printing Prints, Albums, and Canvas’s !! They are all great companies but some are more geared towards high quality professional camera’s because they have higher quality printers. PRINTING MATTERS!!! Please don’t go to Walgreens, Walmart, or CVS for your prints. Their printers and color tones are not compatible with professional camera’s and editing. If you choose to go with the “Best” companies, you would have to go through a professional photography (like me!!) to print. These are some of the highest quality printers out there and promise you will get only the highest quality prints or you can send them back.

Good:

–Snapfish

–Shutterfly

Better:

–Artifact Uprising

–mPix

–AdoramaPix

Best:

–KissWedding Books

–WHCC

–Miller’s Professional Imaging

Print Local (IF possible): Flagstaff options:

–Print Raven

-Staples for – Large Prints

If you would like me to design an album for you through KissWedding Books here is a link to the template you can choose options from: http://album.hannahrosegray.com/

Below are examples of Heirloom Kiss Albums!