After posting about my annual family photo album I just sent to the printer on Instagram (my Instagram here!), I got so many photography questions. Since it’s Cyber Monday, I’ll share those recommendations here along with some stellar Cyber Monday photography deals.

** I do want to note that I’m sharing my favorites often via affiliate link. Clicking on these links costs you nothing, and gives me a commission– so needed in a year when I only shot 1/4th the number of weddings in an average year.**

Cameras

First, cameras! Whether you’re newly engaged, a soon-to-be mom, or about to go on vacation, you’re probably looking for a Cyber Monday photography deal on cameras.

Here are my four go-to recommendations:

• A great camera on your cell phone. I LOVE the new iPhone 12’s cameraS. Yes, more than one. It’s a little pricy, but considering you’re getting an amazing camera in your pocket and a phone in one, it’s something to consider. See the iPhone 12 here.
• Then, for the budding photographer looking to shoot a DSLR, I love the Canon Rebel brand. I started with a Rebel! The newest version is the Rebel T8i. You can see it here. With a DSLR, you’ll also need lenses. I recommend a kit lens– it allows you to zoom in an out– and a 50 mm lens. The 50 mm will allow you to have that beautifully blurry background called bokeh. Canon is offering an awesome two-lens pack here.
• If you don’t want to learn about aperture and shutter speed, a point-and-shoot camera is for you! This one is a great one, good zoom, also shoots video, and looks super sexy. Check out that camera bag!

• Finally, if you are looking for a steal, check out eBay. My daughter took a trip to South Africa, Tanzania, London, and Paris with her grandparents. She was 8, and there was a 75% chance she would loose the camera. Well, Good Wills from around the country list old models for $15-$75 dollars. We got her a point and shoot camera with a good zoom for around $50. If you’re traveling, looking for a kid, or just want a “beater,” there are no better deals than eBay. Just make sure to try the camera out before leaving. The first camera we purchased didn’t work, and we got a full refund. **Oh, and she didn’t loose the camera. She has an amazing album of her trip!

Albums

I rely on two types of albums: one for my cell phones and one for my “big girl” camera photos.

For the Cell Photos

We have a zillion cell phone photos and Instagram photos that just to die. Can you image if your kid’s baby photos only lived on MySpace?

We signed up for a membership with Chatbooks. Chatbooks loads photos from my camera roll automatically, knows when there are dups or blurry photos, excludes screen shots, and sends me an email when I have 60 usable photos. I review the images selected to make sure there aren’t….ahem, any photos I don’t want included. Then, presto, small book of the photos is mailed to me.

It’s about $10/ book, and I get one every 3-6 months. Is it beautiful? No. The photo quality is just ok, but you know what? It’s done. You have the option to actually design a book, but I just go for the 1-photo per page book and it’s done.

I highly recommend this for busy new moms and brides planning their engagement. Document life and don’t let “perfect” albums get in your way of album being done.

You can get $10 off your first order using my code here.

The Annual, Beautiful Album

Once a year, I splurge on a “real” album of the photos I’ve taken with my “big girl” camera. I’m not going to lie, these guys take some time to put together. Here’s how I do it:

1. Annually, I purchase a new hard drive to store our family’s photos and important papers. Currently, this is my favorite. This weekend ordered one for my business and one for our family for 2021.
2. I create a folder for photos and subfolders for each month- example: “01-January.” Because I sometimes get behind on editing and several times over the year my camera will run through all the numbers and start over at one, organizing by creation date or image number is not effective.
3. Each month has sub-subfolders. “Originals” and “Edited.” Again, sometimes, it’s not till the end of the year that I get around to editing, but I want to make sure the originals are backed up right away.
4. Set 3 hours aside to design an album. We love to pop on a Christmas movie marathon and get comfy on the couch to design the album. I recommend simple designs, on a white background, 10 x 10 or 12 x 12, and no more than 6 pictures on a two-page spread. The goal is not to fit **every picture** of the year; it’s to tell the annual story.

Top Photo Album Companies for the Mom or Bride

There are two companies I would recommend. If you are a budding photographer and can do a little of the design, mpix.com is my go-to recommendation (here is a link to get you $10 off your order). Mpix is the public-facing door to my favorite lab, Miller’s Lab. To go in the Miller’s Lab “door” you need a business license, however. You don’t need a business license to order from mpix.com, but it’s the same lab. GREAT quality and amazing prices.

My favorite style of album is the flush mount also called lay flat album. This style allows you to print across the middle (gutter), and the books have thick, baby-board style pages. Thicker pages are great for long-lasting, legacy creating books that will outlive the kids and wine.

Shutterfly albums aren’t what I would sell to my clients, but you know what? They are easy and cheap. The key in this busy world is getting it done. Anyone who would judge your Shutterfly album? Well, they don’t even have an annual album, so they can keep their opinions to themselves. And, I honestly like the quality of their ornaments over my pro lab, so shhhhh…. you’ll see lots of Shutterfly Christmas ornaments on our tree.

Today, they are running one of the best Cyber Monday photography deals at 75% off! Ordering all my ornaments after hitting publish on this post! Here’s a link to their albums. The Simply Modern album style looks great.

Getting in the Photos

If you’re like me, you’ll have hundreds of photos of everyone else, but none of you. I highly recommend scheduling a professional session once a year. We always get a mini session, and often a full session. This year, for instance, it will be a maternity session. In other years, we schedule a session when my step-daughter is in town. The goal is to have at least one, nice photo of the family annually with everyone it in.

Don’t have kids? I still highly recommend a photo session. With your spouse, you are creating a legacy. Kids, no kids, photos capture a time in your lives. Your struggle, beauty, and pain.

If you want to schedule a portrait session with me, check out my family section, here, or couple’s portraits, here. You can see some of my past mini sessions here.

Other Deals

So, other Cyber Monday photography deals include:

• Editing: I love the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan: $9.99 per month. You’ll receive LightRoom and Photoshop.
• Cloud Storage: SmugMug. I use this for all my longterm storage because its a great price and the storage space is unlimited. This link will get you 20% off.