We live in a digital age. Our friends and acquaintances find out about our latest news by following us on Twitter or through Facebook newsfeeds. We write an email to our boyfriend/husband/friend/mom confirming dinner plans before we ever think to pick up the phone and call.

The affliction of the digital age has hit some of us harder than others. :-)

For wedding photography this means that brides expect packages to include digital negatives of the photos from the wedding and rights to use those images as they like (with some minor limitations).

Digital vs. Printed Albums. It would seem then that albums, physical printed albums with rich leather covers and thick shiny pages, should be a thing of the past or quickly on their way there. If a bride has all of her photos after the wedding, why does she need to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to her photographer for an album?

And some brides do succumb to this kind of thinking. After all, not everyone has it in their budget to buy a professionally-made album. However, the album-making industry is alive and well despite the digital age.

The simple truth is that no online gallery or even photos on one's personal website can rival the beauty and sentimental value of a professionally-printed album. And while there is a time and a place for sending links to all your friends and relatives with images from your wedding, wherever they are hosted, this does not replace the value of an album that you can put in your lap as you leaf through it with your grandma, best friend, or husband.

Album Printing. Of course, a bride could design and print her own album after the wedding. If she has the digital images, the time, and the photographer's release, she can design and print an album at any number of online printing companies. But there is a catch--the high-quality album companies used by professional photographers only work with photographers and don't work with individuals. So while there are many services offering consumer-grade albums, like Snapfish, Blurb.com, or MyPublisher, just to name a few, the quality of those albums does not compare to the albums printed at professional-grade album printing companies like GraphiStudio, AsukaBook, or Leather Craftsmen.

Album Design. And then, of course, there is album design. Once the couple has spent the money on their wedding and on a great photographer to have the benefit of this photographer's vision in capturing their wedding, is it not worth it to have the same photographer use her experience and artistic vision to design an album that's going to really showcase those images and make them so much greater than the sum of their parts?

At Alice Sokoloff Photography we don't outsource album design, so you have the benefit of our creative vision in designing a true masterpiece for you! Our 9.5" x 13" flush-mount Italian hand-made 30-page albums start at $550(+tax). If you would like to see sample albums, please call or email us to schedule a free consultation.