There’s a question that’s always in the back of my mind when I take a photograph, or more specifically, when I’m looking at it on my monitor after the shoot. That question is “is this good enough to hang on a wall?”. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t necessarily see a print as the final destination for my photographs, most have never been printed, but the question stands as a marker of the quality of a photograph to me.
Even though I sell prints, I don’t print my work myself, I leave that to people who know what they’re doing. I’ve always had a printer for printing out bits and pieces for use as props in photographs (it’s much easier than Photoshopping things in afterwards!) and general miscellaneous tasks. Last week my current printer reached the end of its life. It was a horrible, horrible machine. Each time I tried to print something it would find a new way to mess it up and waste my time, paper, and ink. It really took a dislike to me. So when it started pestering me to buy more ink I felt it was time for a change.
The result is that I now have a shiny new A3 photo printer, and (fingers crossed), it doesn’t hate me yet. I spent a few hours testing different paper and profile settings to get it to match what I see on screen, and the results are truly lovely. I put my latest LEGO ninja photo through it and now have a gorgeous borderless A3 print of it that I can’t stop looking at.
I don’t think I’ll be fulfilling print orders myself just yet, the logistics of packaging and delivery are not something I really want to get into, but I can see me spending a little more time making prints for my own amusement, and possibly making my own exhibition prints once I’m a little more practiced.
I do like to dive into the techy stuff, and printing is something that I’ve not really spent much time exploring. The prints I’ve made look great to me, but then I thought my early photos were good, and looking back now, they’re certainly not. I’m looking forward to learning the subtleties of making a good print. I foresee a lot of wasted paper and ink, but at least the time won’t be wasted.
-Mike
