Getting the most from your holiday snaps

Going on holiday is the highlight of the year for many people. Whether it’s a road trip round your home country, a short flight to a different nation or a long haul across the other side of the world there are wonderful and colourful experiences to be had almost everywhere.

All too often, though, trips end too soon and before you know it you’re back home. Taking photos while you’re away is a great way to keep memories fresh and to remind yourself of some sights you visited that you may have had pushed from your mind because of your hectic holiday schedule. Photos are also a great way of sharing your experiences with friends and family. You may always have stories to tell from your travels but using photos to show exactly how beautiful a waterfall was or how deep a canyon is always adds extra impact.

Before technological advances and the widespread use of digital cameras, films had to be sent off and developed upon return from holiday and photos may not have been ready for a few weeks afterwards. With no delete button on these cameras, you’d then have to wade through the pile removing all the blurry and out of focus shots before enjoying the few remaining good ones.

Since digital cameras have become the norm, there are a lot fewer bad photos. The user can check the quality of a photo as soon as it’s taken to avoid the frustration of a wonderful shot turning out to be partially covered by a stray finger or a group photo being spoiled by someone blinking at the wrong moment. Digital photos also have the advantage of immediacy and can be sent worldwide within seconds of returning through your home door. If you’re really organised it’s even possible to upload your snaps to a photo sharing website and allow people to follow your travels from their own desks.

However, some people miss the feeling of holding a photograph in their hand and being able to pass it round a group of friends. Also, looking at a monitor for long periods of time can be uncomfortable and can detract from the quality of the photos. There are also some people who aren’t up-to-date with technology and wouldn’t know what to do with a jpeg file.

That’s why many people are turning to photo printing to give them the best of both worlds. Holiday snaps can be printed off as soon as you return and if you want to make a few copies — which is a lot cheaper to do at home than with a specialist — you can do that quickly and easily. If you set them to print whilst you unpack, you should have a completed print job by the time you’ve put everything away and you can go straight round to your friend’s house to show off just how good a time you had.

Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.