The Power Of The Print

The other day I was reminded of the 'power of the print' when a customer picked up a couple of 16x20 inch prints. She very rarely prints any of her work, and has never had any prints made above an 8x10. I was a little worried at first thinking we had made a mistake with her order - she was quite silent, and tears looked like they mightn't be too far away. Then she exclaimed "Wow! I took these pictures!" She experienced for the first time the joy of seeing your own photography in print form, and big.

These days it can be far too easy to forget about the impact a big print can make, about the pride & satisfaction it can bring. The process often tends to be you shoot your images, you download them, edit them and then file them. The end. I'm not saying there is no satisfaction seeing your images on screen, there definitely is, but when you make a big print of that same image and hold it in your hands, it is something else - the process tends to feel complete, at least it does for me. I'm lucky, and owning a photo lab allows me to print my images whenever I like, but even before that was the case I was making prints of my favourites from both my personal and professional work - I have a ton of unframed prints in big flat boxes at home that I pull out from time to time, and rotate through various frames.

Do yourself a favour and make a print or two of some of your favourite images - and I don't mean a 4x6 or an 8x10 - make a 12x18 inch print at the very least. And don't forget there are all sorts of options these days too in regards to paper types - I've just been experimenting with some textured fine art papers and man does it bring on a whole new dimension to the completed image. There are so many options when it comes to what you make your print on - high gloss, metallic gloss, lustre, matte, canvas, textured fine art... and they all just add to your creative toolbox and vision.

My final bit of advice is to get your prints done properly. If you don't have the facilities to make them yourself, have your prints made by someone who cares as much as you do about the final result - not a mass merchant who lured you in with cheap prices so you could browse in their furniture and carpet section whilst waiting for your prints.