Fotogra Books: Preserving Travel & Milestone Memories To A “T”

Gone are the days when “album” meant a Sterling or Ace-Free photo album which preserves all of those good memories. We conveniently and solely rely on Facebook to keep everything.

#Photodump. Heartbreaking truth though: Facebook will NOT keep your albums forever (I was a sorry witness of my 2009 Bohol Trips being removed as I add newer albums to store my travel memories).

Much as I wanted to have my pictures printed and arranged in a single album, I find it inconvenient for the following reasons:

• My preferred albums are costly. Prices now range from Php500-1,000 and this amount will only add up to -;
• The cost of printing pictures in 3R or 4R versions;
• It’s not practical to keep heaps of heavy photo albums if you are renting a cozy studio unit like yours truly and may relocate soon (or from time to time);
• I don’t have the luxury of time (insert sheepish smile here).

Fotogra Books solves my predicament in an instant.

 

Owned by wedding photographers Mimi and Karl, they ventured into the business in 2015 because as young parents, there simply are milestones which gets to be documented and stored but doesn’t get to be browsed frequently.

The website’s FAQ page contain all of the things you need to know in creating your photo book. Here are some of my takes:

1. The process: Create your account, select the size (5×5 or 8×8), choose your add-ons (customized cover, layout service, expediting the print for a week), pay via BPI or Paypal, head back to your account and submit your photos (I normally upload my pictures via Google Drive);
2. You need to make sure that you are cropping your photos in 5×5 or 8×8 style. Adobe Photoshop’s handy as usual. Not cropping your pictures in the recommended style is still okay but this will result in some unused spaces (I prefer maximizing the book hence, I patiently crop my shots properly);Paying an extra Php50 is worth it if you’d like to customize your book’s cover (I make sure to edit my book’s spine because I’d like to arrange it in my shelf as a collection soon – country’s flag, country’s name plus my initials are the way to go);
3. Committing “photo collage” in a page is not a sin. As a matter of fact, it breaks the monotony of having one single full-blown picture page after page after page;
4. I am extra patient with the delivery time. The book gets to be shipped out and delivered in three weeks anyway (rush photobooks = +Php300);
5. Pictures came out clear. The colors are vivid and each picture looked glossy despite having the pages printed in matte finish (the cover page is printed in satin finish though).

 

 

I will be busy with my 3rd travel book soon. Happy photo dumping via Fotogra Books!