There are many reasons why parents do milestone sessions for their baby (like this session we did for Siena, who is 8 months old). The most obvious is that their child is growing like crazy and they want to forever preserve those changes in photographs. And there are many photographers who offer these types of sessions. They can be quick or elaborate. Cheap or expensive... 

But what sets my milestone sessions apart is the fact that my clients walk away with beautiful museum-quality prints in the end.

The importance of high quality printed photographs is quickly disappearing from our day to day lives. We all love the convenience of posting our photos on social media and enjoying an immediate response with all those likes and comments. But in the long run, who knows what will happen to all those images. Hard drives, computers, mobile phones.. cloud storage! Technology is wonderful in so many ways, but so frustrating in others. Our parents didn't have any of it, so they relied on printed photographs in albums instead, which is what we all grew up having.

Which brings me to the second option.. prints! But not just any prints. Your everyday cheap-o printing that's just about anywhere nowadays isn't the same as what we had 20 years ago. The paper has gotten thinner, the printing itself has gone from art form to mass-produced. Longevity pretty much went out the window. The truth is, it's very hard to accurately test how long colors will look good on a piece of photo paper since a lot of this new technology simply hasn't been around long enough. How long will it take for the inks to fade? How will sunlight affect that number? What about humidity or high temperatures?

The truth is, there's a HUGE difference in quality when it comes to printing. And there's a huge variation in price, too. You simply can't get archival quality for the price everyday printing kiosks charge. They focus on being the cheapest option around, which means cutting costs as much as possible.

The other side of printing, which is where I decided to take my business, is completely the opposite. The fine art photo paper I print on is made by a German company named Hahnemühle, which has been around since 1584. They are one of the last paper mills that produces high quality artist's papers and high purity filter papers for various purposes. The paper itself is 100% cotton (which is important because chemical composition affects aging). And I believe them when they say their paper meets the "most exacting requirements for age resistance", because they have the history and experience to get it right.

So in the end, I ask every parent to take a moment and really think about this. What kind of photographic record will your children have (like, really have) when they are grown? The cheapest option is usually just that, a thing that isn't meant to last. But photographs... they should be there for your child when they are older.