Bragging first
Just short of one year and a half ago I started my journey with photography and social media and so far has been quite a ride. Despite the aspects that I know I need to improve on and learn more about I can’t deny that I owe myself a bit of bragging at least about my Instagram gallery. I’m now comfortably at over 5000 followers (I really don’t like the word “followers”) and the best thing is that they are all extremely engaged and never shy of sharing their opinions, thoughts and appreciation for my posts; this is the best part about my journey so far.
The things that really matter
Let’s be honest, it is flattering to receive lots of likes on a post on our favourite social media. I guess the pleasure of that form of acknowledgment has a different meaning and a different reason for each one of us; for me it has all to do with what I put in photography. As I wrote in one of my first posts about my experience with photography, I embraced this never before considered form of personal expression because provided an intuitive, instinctive and very accessible way to smooth the difficulties I had (and still partially have) in finding my voice when I started this blog. As you can imagine, every pic I take and eventually post, feels very personal to me, not just because of the effort I put in going out and capturing them but especially because of the intimate part of myself I share through them. I believe this is what makes people reacting, commenting and interacting with my content on this platform and other media so special to me. I like to believe I’m not an attention seeker (I’m a shy person after all) but if there is something I actively seek is to feel I belong somewhere, belong to something and sharing my ideas, my feeling and thoughts and in exchange receiving people’s views and feelings on the themes I touch on really does the trick for me. The whole dynamic of this experience reminds of the things that really matter to me; not the temporary clout, not the acquired rights to brag but instead the idea of a meaningful gift, something that, perhaps of no monetary value, has the ability to create a real bond built around communication and open sharing of experiences and views. In a way reminds me of when, returning to Italy to visit my family, my nieces would always gift me with a drawing depicting something that happened since my last visit and that was of high importance to them; every time I welcomed that gift with almost teary eyes (I said almost… boys don’t cry!) thinking of the time, effort and purposeful thought they had put into that gift. Far from being as nice as those drawings, I feel the same about my photos and about sharing them… digitally gifting them to the people that wish to accept them. They are of the uttermost importance to me, they tell a story I would otherwise perhaps forget or that would be lost in the cracks of time… they tell a bit of my story; do your photos do the same for you?
The gift of photography
Until now I’ve been working on my picture digitally on screen and I never considered printing them to see what they look like on paper. I never even considered that a printed photo, if right for the occasion, can be a great gift idea especially when the theme of the story beyond the picture is in tune with the person I could give it to. Then, very recently, I was contacted by Saal Digital which is a company specialising in photo printing of all kinds, from professional photo books to wallpapers and from posters to calendars and anything in between. Based on my blog and the relevance of my Instagram page they gave me the possibility to experience the process of putting together and printing a professional photo book which recently arrived by post. I was quite happy to receive it and I have to say that I was even happier to see for the first time my pictures on paper, to be able to touch them and see them outside of the boundaries of a laptop screen. I will admit that living this experience opened my view to a lot more possibilities but also made me think about new ways of looking at my photos when I edit and finalise them. The chance that one day I might decide to print a picture pushed me to embed additional steps in my workflow and bear in mind other factors when cropping for example. The other shift that I had as a result of seeing my pictures on paper for the first time is that I now see the value in using my pictures as a gift eventually. As the creator of my photos I have a connection with them but then, through social media, I also appreciate that some of them create a connection with the people seeing them and I believe that if people were to see them printed that connection would be even stronger.
A big thank you
Saab Digital asked me an honest review in exchange for the photo book I received as result of this collaboration and in all honesty I can only say thank you! Thank you because, as I said before, the experience helped me learn more about the possibilities I have at my disposal as a photographer but also because it has been a nice and smooth process. I recommend to visit their website and check them out whether you are a seasoned photography professional looking for prints for your customers or just somebody thinking of having cards or calendars to give to your friends. The first thing you will have to do is to download they software and this easy to use platform will help you design your product of choice. Initially I was a bit weary of downloading this interface but believe me, it is a light, well tested piece of software and allows you to create ands save in real time as many projects as you want. The difference with other companies providing this kind of service is that they have an online design tool and, depending on the size of your files or the speed of your internet connection, using them can easily become an odyssey… I know because I tried. The design process is fairly easy and there are plenty of tutorials but, should you need further support, don’t hesitate to write to them, they are very responsive… I know because “of course I don’t need the tutorials” and when I got stuck I got in touch with the customer service and they responded after about an hour. Once the design I done your order is just a click away and depending on the shipment options you will receive your material pronto.
Before I finish, big, big disclaimer: the deal with Saal was that in exchange for a pro photo book I was to make an honest review but no conditions were imposed on to what to write. The commercial value of the finished product is considerable but in no way that had an influence on what you just read.
