What 600+ Wedding Photos Taught Me About Family Portraits

A couple I know well called me earlier this year. They got married in 2023. They had a wonderful photographer and received over 600 digital images. Beautiful work. Professional. Everything you'd want.

And then... nothing.

For two years, those files just sat on their hard drive. Maybe they’d open the folder occasionally, scroll through, feel overwhelmed, and close it again. They didn't know what to do with 600+ images. They didn't know how to turn this mountain of digital files into something they could actually hold and share.

They finally called me and asked if I could help them create a wedding album. I don’t photograph a lot of weddings, but I was happy to help.

We spent weeks designing, editing, sending proofs, and getting it just right. About 70-80 of the best images made it in – the ones with the most meaning, the ones that told THEIR story. When I delivered that album, I could see the joy wash over them as they started reliving that day (which was, like most weddings, a blur for them).

THIS was what they'd been waiting for. An heirloom. Something they could hold, share, and pass down to their kids someday.

I don't know what they're going to do with the 600+ digital files. I'm guessing the same thing most of us do: nothing.

The Problem Nobody Talks About

Somewhere along the way, photography became a race to the bottom.

Photographers started handing out digital files like they're promotional flyers. "Here's 300 images on a thumb drive – good luck!" Everyone's terrified that if they don't give away everything clients will go somewhere else. And they're not wrong – because someone else IS willing to give away everything.

And I get it. I really do. When you're starting out as a photographer (or in any service industry), you're desperate for any booking. You think, "Maybe if I just give them EVERYTHING, they'll book me."

But here's what that actually looks like: You're sitting in your car after a photo session, calculator out, doing the math. The result: "Based on the hours it will take to cull and edit these images, I might clear $10 an hour." And that's before you factor in equipment, insurance, website hosting, taxes, the years of training and education it took to get good at this.

That's not a sustainable business model. I've seen what happens when meaningful work gets systematically undervalued. It doesn't end well for anyone.

Why This Matters to You
(Not Just to Photographers)

Here's what most people don't understand – photographers AND clients: A digital file isn't just a nice little extra. It's the master copy. The negative. Once you have it, you can print it anywhere, crop it however you want, run it through whatever filter catches your eye on Instagram.

Sure, photographers retain the copyright, but that's not stopping anyone from doing what they want anyway. And most photographers don't have the resources to enforce it even if they wanted to.

And here's the deeper issue: Those digital files rarely become anything anyway.

I've got thousands of photos of my family on hard drives, on my phone, in the cloud, and even in "print these eventually" folders. The photos I actually see every day? The ones I printed and framed. The ones on our walls.

Because here's the truth: Printed portraits outlast everything, including technological advances that make old formats obsolete and inaccessible.

Printed photos are way more likely to survive moves and phone upgrades and computer crashes. They survive natural disasters (those would be the first things in my car, not the hard drive). They become the thing your kids fight over when you're gone.

Digital files? Those live in digital purgatory, right next to the 2,000 screenshots you meant to organize someday.

This Is Also About Justice

Here's the piece that keeps me up at night, and it's not just about business models:

Photographers are artists. When we don't support art – when we don't value it enough to pay artists a living wage – it affects all of us. Our culture suffers. Our communities suffer. The stories we're able to tell and preserve suffer.

If you're going to hire someone to create art for you, to capture your family's story, that artist should be able to earn a living wage doing it.

I'm not talking about hobbyists or people experimenting with a side project. I'm talking about professional photographers trying to run sustainable businesses, trying to pay their rent, trying to support their families while doing meaningful work.

When photographers give away the store, they can't sustain a business. They burn out and disappear. And society as a whole loses when that happens. I'm watching it happen in real time with other photographers.

And Here's the Good News

Not every photographer is racing to the bottom. And not every client is looking for the cheapest option.

There are still photographers building sustainable businesses around creating heirloom work for their clients. And there are still families who understand that real value isn't measured by how many digital files you get, but by what you actually DO with them.

When you find the right match, the whole experience changes. You're not just getting files dumped on a hard drive. You're working with someone who helps you figure out what actually matters, what deserves to be on your walls, what becomes part of your family's daily life.

That's the business I'm building.

What I Actually Believe and How I Run My Business

I'm not anti-digital. I include digital files for my clients because I know the reality of a digital world. But I design my business around what actually matters: creating heirloom portraits that become part of your family's story. The ones you pass down, not the ones you promise to "deal with later."

When you work with me, we're not just doing a photo shoot. We're creating finished products – wall portraits, albums, heirlooms. Things you can hold. Things that become part of your home and your daily life. Things your kids will remember and cherish.

Because my friends with the 600+ digital files? They didn't need more pictures. They needed someone to help them figure out what to DO with the photos they already had. They needed guidance. They needed expertise. They needed someone who cared enough about their story to help them tell it well.

That's what I do.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Your family's story deserves better than a dusty and unreliable hard drive. And here's the reality: I can't help you create heirlooms that last if I'm operating a business model that's unsustainable from day one.

When photographers price their work so low that they're barely covering costs, they can't invest in quality products, they can't provide the guidance and expertise you want and deserve, and eventually, they can't stay in business at all. When photographers race to the bottom, it hurts all of us who are working hard to serve our clients well and create meaningful, lasting work.

I want to be here for you – not just for this session, but for as long as I'm behind the camera. When your kids graduate. When they start their own families. When you want to capture how your family is growing and changing. That kind of relationship requires a business that's sustainable, not one that's racing toward burnout.

When it works, everyone wins. You get heirloom portraits that last. I get to keep doing meaningful work. And we build something together that spans years, not just sessions.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading! I know this is longer than your typical blog post, but these ideas matter to me – and I think they matter for anyone who cares about preserving their family's story. If any of this resonates with you, let's talk about creating something that lasts.

~Eric

If you're ready to create authentic family portraits that capture real moments and genuine connections, I'd love to help. My boutique portrait experience brings together everything I learned from photographing 600+ weddings—the art of capturing authentic emotion combined with the thoughtful planning of heirloom wall art. Schedule your free consultation and let's create portraits your family will treasure for generations.