Many years ago, as I was preparing to sell my home back in Massachusetts, I began to thumb through my photo albums that were sitting in a pile on the floor.

Within seconds, I was lost in another time. There were my albums from when I was a bit of a geeky girl in high school, the beginning of my relationship with my daughter’s father, the birth of my children, and the bat mitzvah of my second daughter while I was in the midst of my divorce.

My entire life was spread before me and I could not turn away.

I smiled in memory, cried about the losses I had experienced, and gently revisited the last fifty years.

These albums were before everyone stored digital images on phones and computers. Hell, I didn’t even have a computer! Many of the pictures were blurry, in duplicate and out of order. They were magical.

There is an enormous difference between viewing the occasional image on one’s computer and getting lost in time while sitting on the floor and going through photographs.

Images on a digital device often sit forgotten or unvisited. Worse, digital images can disappear due to a crashed hard drive or loss of a computer. And what happens when the keeper of the photographs passes away? Where does the visual history of a lifetime go?

While I also index all my digital images on line, that’s not how I enjoy them. I’m all about the touching and feeling, holding a photograph in my hand.

Photographs document history. They are proof positive of a time that has passed. Portraits recall memories of the people who touched our lives, and often move us with a reminder of important moments.

We exclaim, “How young we were!” “Oh my goodness, I forgot about that day!” or “Remember Grandma’s sneaky grin?” Almost always, photographs provide a visit with the past in the present.

I create photo books for my family every year and have been doing so since I moved to Colorado in 2010. Through these photo books, I witness the passage of time, remember moments I don’t want to forget and am immersed in our shared life history. I like to think my granddaughter, Ellie, will value these visual memories when she is older.

Portrait sessions often celebrate milestone events; a big birthday, family holiday, new arrival or relationship. Printing those images is a magical gift, and the options are many, from canvas, matted print, photo book, or boxed prints.

I believe my work with you is far more than the portrait session. Once the photos are taken, I will share the many product option choices you have to preserve your valuable memories. I’ll help you find a way to keep them close.

Below are just a few options for printing your photos.