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Before digital cameras become common, physical prints of pictures were the way that people preserved their memories. Whether you had a huge camera with many different flash settings and lens adjustments, a simple camera for taking snapshots, or even if you used disposable cameras, you got developed printed pictures. Now, with all of the digital media options we have, we take much less care in preserving photos, if we even print them at all.

You did not see the pictures as you took them, and often you forgot exactly what shots you took. After a family vacation where you took four or five rolls of film, you would take them into the drugstore and have them developed. If you chose one-hour developing service, you often waited anxiously, checking your black sport watch every five minutes to find out if it was time to pick up the pictures yet.

Looking through the photos was a fun activity and a great way to relive the memories of the vacation. You might come across a funny shot of the elephant at the zoo, or a sill picture of your cousin with the men’s sport watch he bought at the gift shop before a mountain hike. Putting the photos in an album was also a fun thing to do.

These days, digital cameras display the photos immediately after they are taken. When you aren’t satisfied with a photo, you simply erase it and take another one. While in some ways, this enhances our artistic control, it robs us of the element of surprise. We look through our photos several times each day, instead of waiting until the end of a trip to come across ones that we forgot we had taken.

Because of digital photos, people often do not make photo albums anymore, not physical ones anyway. Instead they just transfer the photos onto a hardrive or cd, or put them in an album on a social networking site.

While this allows us to share the photos immediately with people who are not in the same physical location, it takes away the experience of sitting on the couch and passing around a photo album. Crowding around a computer screen is more difficult and much less conducive to relaxed conversation.

With a little effort, you can enjoy the convenience of the digital photography age without losing all the pleasures of looking at and sharing print photos. Most drug stores have machines where you can order prints of your digital photos. You can crop them and play with the color schemes, or just print them as they are. Buy some photo albums and some scrapbooking tools, and get started. You can use the versatility of digital photography to enhance the art of preserving your memories.