Where Did All Our Photo Albums Go?

I got to thinking this week about printing pictures from my phone and about how many of us are no longer keeping photo albums. Maybe we're missing out. Those conversation pieces that sat on our coffee tables while we were growing up have disappeared and our kids and grandkids are losing out on something valuable that I think is related to "how big" their world is.

My world growing up was a large extended family that got together every weekend and holiday. My kids' world is mostly contained to themselves and their siblings, with only occasional visits with the extended family when all of our event calendars align just right. So, at a time when photographs might help expand their world and demonstrate how important they are to a broader set of people, we're not printing them.

Photo processing solutions have adapted to digital media, but many of us haven't caught up yet. Did you know you could print your photos right from your phone at the same retailer where you used to take your film to be processed? (Remember rolls of film?!)

To get started, all you need is the photo retailer's app installed on your device. You can find the apps in the App Store (on iPhone) or the Google Play store (on Android). Just do a search for whoever was your previous photo retailer. I did a quick check for a handful of retailers that I have used in the past and confirmed that Meijer, Walmart, RiteAid, CVS and Walgreens each have apps for processing photos, and most of them do the prints same day.

Once you have the app installed, open it up and look for the Photo section. (Most have other helpful utilities, like coupon clipping, weekly ads or specials, and store finders.) In the Photo utility, you will be able to choose your pictures from your phone's photo gallery and then set your print options and send them for processing. You'll get a confirmation that the retailer received your order and then a notification when your prints are ready for pick-up.

One final note… Make sure you are in a wi-fi network since uploading your images might otherwise incur data charges.

You should be pleasantly surprised by how easy the apps are as well as how inexpensive it is to print off your memorable moments. Let's bring those photo albums back! Do it for the kids!

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