Photo Album Or Wall Art? Which Is Best For Maternity & Newborn Photos
Investing in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture the precious moments of the last trimester of your pregnancy or the itty-bitty magic of a newborn is invaluable. These sessions allow you to be present in these emotionally powerful milestones of your life. However, once your photo sessions are finished and you’re invited back for The Ordering Appointment, you’ll have exciting decisions to make.
In addition to deciding which of the many endearing images to select, you also have to decide:
Do you want a photo album made? If so, how many copies?
Which images would you like printed on canvas or in a larger format to hang on the walls?
Which photos would you want to frame for tabletops or gifts?
The last one is the easiest to work with because you will already have digital images from the collection(s) you select. You can print images from those whenever you like.
Deciding Between A Photo Album Or Wall Art
Then you’ll have the choice between a photo album or wall art. Here’s how I help clients make decisions that are right for their homes.
When A Photo Album Makes Sense
A photo album of some type almost always makes sense. The question becomes what size, how many photos to include, and how many albums to create.
Things to think about are:
Did you get maternity photos with the same photographer?
If you’re using (or used) the same photographer for both your maternity and newborn sessions, you may want to create an album for each. That way you’ll have a growing library or your motherhood journey. You might later decide to add more albums of other sessions documenting your child as they grow.
How often do you actually sit and look at photo albums?
Here is one to consider deeply: How often do you sit and look at photo albums? Your wedding album is a good litmus test for this one. If you’re a household that loves to pour over albums regularly, then a larger, full-spread album is the way to go.
If, however, you only really look at albums once in a great while, then get an album for posterity (and inheritance’s sake), but keep it modest in terms of size and number of images.
Who would appreciate an album as a gift?
Even if you opt to forgo an album for your household, you may want to use your ordering session to enjoy the high-quality, gift-worthy album gifts for grandparents, aunts/uncles, and other close family loved ones.
Keep in mind that the albums available from our luxury-end photo printing vendors are far superior to anything you can order online. Our albums are made to stand the test of time, so when we are long gone, your children—and their children—will still hold this album dear, keeping the stories of your family alive through generations.
When (And How) To Order Wall Art
The images we print for large-format matted/framed portraits are nothing short of true artwork. They absolutely take your breath away, swell your heart, and bring tears to anyone’s eyes. The best maternity and newborn poses are timeless, and they engage the viewer in tender ways.
Every client orders some type of wall art
Unless you are not one to hang portraits on the wall (I haven’t had one of these clients yet!), you’ll definitely want to order wall art—but you want to ensure you don’t order too much. These images are far too precious to wind up stored out of sight in an attic or closet because you went overboard.
The key here is to order just the right amount and in the best sizes/formats for the location(s) or arrangement(s). Your photographer is a wonderful resource for this part. They can help you determine which images have the most impact, which sizes make the most sense for the pose and narrative, and ideas for where to install the images in your home.
Which images are your absolute favorite?
You’ll love all of your images, but when it comes to choosing the ones we’ll make into heirloom wall art, you’ll narrow the choices to your absolute favorites.
For some, this process is fairly easy because there are one, three, or five images they come back to over and over again. If you are struggling to find the Top X number of photos for the wall, your newborn photographer will certainly have experienced input into which images have the most objective impact.
Which images are best suited to give to your adult child?
You may also want to consider which images you would be willing to pass on to your child when they are an adult and ready to have at least one of these sweet images on a wall of their future home - while still leaving your home adorned with your favorites.
When the time comes, if you haven’t already, you’ll surprise your child with The Best Kept Secret about their portrait on the wall (we’ll tell you about this at your Design Consultation).
Lemonshoots Creates Maternity & Newborn Images Worthy Of Any Gallery
The essential piece to the photo album and wall art puzzle is hiring the right newborn photographer for the job. Wall art should be impeccably produced so it doesn’t look tacky or like a DIY photo print. Unfortunately, despite the best online ads, many of the DIY prints converted into canvases or wall art wind up looking computer-generated or pixelated, which is nothing like the soft, velvety, and ethereal quality of our final renderings.
Schedule a design consultation with me, Marcela Limon, here at Lemonshoots. I’ve created sacred, memorable, and award-winning maternity and newborn photography for nearly a decade. I love nothing more than helping my clients determine which images are the best candidates for their photo album or wall art. Contact me to start dreaming about the possibilities. I guarantee you will never regret it!