What an Elton John Concert has to do with photo organising

Indeed, what on earth has an Elton John concert gotta do with photo organising?!?! Well, let me explain: Yesterday, my family and I went to Elton John’s farewell concert at the Hanging Rock. Before I go further, let me tell me it was absolutely aaaaaawesome!!!

A new kind of momento

Here is where the photos come in … We had seats and on every other seat there was a brochure, a little catalogue of the merchandise sold that night. Looking through that little booklet, I noticed an offer I hadn’t seen before (but then I’m not going to so many special events like this Elton John farewell concert, might well be that it’s been around for a while). They offer a photobook … you can order your custom photobook featuring photos from that night.

Why I think it’s a good thing

My first thought was wow, that’s really great (and of course a clever way to make more money …). But all in all, I think it’s a great idea if event organisers offer this option. Why? Let me give you 3 reasons:

1. Not even with a good camera will you be able to take such good shots unless you are one of the event photographers.
2. It gives you the freedom to actually be in the moment and enjoy the show rather than frantically trying to take photos and videos.
3. It is a souvenir that will last long. This is very personal of course but I’d rather have a photo book than a t-shirt, which I’ll never wear again.

Why I think it’s worth a second thought

Even though I like the idea of a photobook, and I find it really tempting to get one, I decided against it. Why – since I was just raving about the idea?

1. I looked at the promotional video on their website and discovered, that some of the information that they add is great, but I already have the same in the program.
2. We did of course take a few photos and videos with our phones but also with our little DSLR camera. Now, these photos are of course nowhere near as good as they are in the book and Elton John is kind of hard to see on the huge stage and from the distance. However, how many photos do I need to be reminded of that very special night? Exactly, in theory, one is absolutely enough.
3. It is not exactly cheap and honestly, how often will I look at the book? For me, a couple of photos in our family year book will be enough and I don’t need close up professional photos.

Again, these are my personal thoughts, I’m not saying you should or should not buy a photobook as a souvenir, each to their own. I just think that if you do want to buy a momento, a photobook is probably one of the better investments … kind of obvious since I’m a photo organiser and love photos ;-).

Over to you …

What would you do? Is a photobook of a special event something you would buy as a memento? Let me know in the comments, can’t wait to hear your thoughts.