I care. I take a lot of time to shoot, edit, and process images to show a certain style. I take pride in my images, and I stand behind my work. It’s an art, and it's a love of photography and pride in my work. If a client comes to me for their photos, it’s because they want special images and hopefully high quality prints and wall art. And I intend to deliver just that.
That said, I do offer digital collections on CD. But I’m determined to educate my clients on the importance of print quality.
Say you get your digital images, and you get them printed at your local drugstore or maybe a cheap online printer. You might not notice the color shift or lack of sharpness. You might have your “mommy goggles” on and think that picture of your child is the best picture ever. And when your friends see that picture, they’re going to tell you, “Oh, that’s such a great picture! Little Sally is so cute!” You know what they’re saying inside? “Ew, why is it green? Who took that picture? I hope she didn’t pay for that.” And do you know who ends up looking bad? The photographer. Not to mention, your prints just lost that photographer potential business.
I’m not about to let that happen, for my sake and yours.
Not all printers are the same. Not all 8×10’s are created equal. Some of you gasp at the cost of prints by a custom photographer. You know Walmart charges $2 for an 8×10, so how in the world can XYZ photographer charge $60?! This is due to the quality of ink and professional grade photographic papers used in making a professional prints. It's not about the amount of time that goes into creating your images, far beyond the one hour you see the photographer shooting. There’s a lot more that goes into it than you see during your shoot. But let me give you this answer: Quality Quality Quality Prints that last a lifetime. Professional photographers use professional print labs. I don’t mean the camera store at the mall with pricier prints than the drugstore. Wolfe Camera is a good consumer printer to use for your vacation photos, but it is not a professional print lab. Professional labs offer higher quality photo paper, higher quality inks, and special coatings that ensure your images are resistant to finger prints, dust, and fading.
My Photography teacher said she was at a friend’s house recently, and who had a very large canvas print hanging over her mantle. Even at the cheapest printers, canvas prints aren’t cheap. She has high ceilings and very large open windows. By “open”, I mean, light is shining through them. That wall art should look absolutely stunning in her beautiful home. But it didn’t look quite right. She complained that her print had faded, and it has only been hanging there for a few months! Now her investment in that print has gone to waste. If she had invested a little more for a professional quality print, she would have it in perfect condition for a lifetime.
You get the gist of what I’m saying, right? So, let’s move on to an example. This post only shows a comparison to Walmart prints, . Walmart’s print quality was so bad, I had to write this post about this comparison only. See for yourself…
Seriously, when I saw the prints from Walmart, I was floored. I expected them to be a little dark and a little off, but I didn’t expect to see this sweet little baby turn into a zombie!!
Let me clarify a few things, now that you know where I’m coming from. First, I’m not discouraging you from using Walmart or any other consumer printer to print your everyday snapshots. A lot of pictures turn out perfectly fine for their purpose. You know, to flip through them, stuff them back into the envelope, and then toss them in a box in the back of the closet. Consider slightly better options, like Shutterfly or Snapfish or MyPublisher for photobooks or other fun products. I’ve used Shutterfly for years for my personal snapshot photobooks, and I think they’re great. Just not for professional custom photography.
Also, for the record, I do sell my images on CD or DVD, but they are only printable up to 8×10. First of all, like I mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of cost and time that goes into offering photography services as a business and creating your images. The images are art, and that’s what you’re paying for, not the cost of a $3 blank CD. I hope My Clients read this and understand my desire is that your prints match the quality of My photography. As a professional photographer, my equipment is very costly so is the time I spend editing in post production. It's Quality and Integrity and when you print I want the print quality to reflect the work I sincerely put in to capturing your life's story. I just hope to educate my clients on the importance of print quality.
I do hope this is helpful when considering purchasing prints from your photographer.