It takes more work than you think . . .

Let me start by saying if you are someone who takes their photos off of smartphones and hard drives and actually print them . . . you are awesome!

No, seriously, I applaud you for taking the time and effort to do that because otherwise you will see your photos once, maybe twice when your friend or Meemaw “likes” them on social media and then they disappear. Come on, no one ever said on a winter’s eve, “You know what? Let’s pass along the laptop and look at some pictures . . . wait a minute, I have to remember where I stored them . . .”

For the average Joe, there are a number of places to get prints made and hang in there with me, at the end of this post I will tell you about a wonderful place to get them done. You have Costco, you have Sam’s Club, you have . . . ugh, even Walgreens (I say “ugh” because while Walgreens is a fine business, a photo processor it isn’t and whether any employee has changed the developer in the tank recently is a crapshoot).

Places like that are inexpensive and the quality is “good enough,” though. That print fades from exposure to sunlight, and the canvas frame gets warped with time (or just seems out of style with a wraparound look). If you are trusting your photographer, however, to make you a piece of art - be it print, canvas, wall decor, folio, or album - you should have an expectation of specific work to be put into it. Let’s look at that.

A photographer’s work is not finished after they press a shutter

I take your picture. What comes next?

Culling and Editing

The first thing I do is choose the best images from your session. The good news is that in a digital world, we are not wasting film when I am photographing you, so I have a lot of leeway to play with posing, lighting, and crazy ideas that come into my head. But not all of your images will be knockouts, and some will be when I am testing the lighting, and some will be when your eyes are closed (unintentionally). So, those get sent to “bit Heaven” (DELETE) as I like to say.

Then I do some basic editing to produce proofs for you. If needed, I tweak exposure, constrast, and color. I use software called Adobe Lightroom to do this. Is it finished yet? No . . .

Retouching

After you have seen your proofs, love all of them, and order an elegant folio of matted prints (because, really, why wouldn’t you?), I will retouch each image. Retouching is where I brighten eyes, whiten teeth, fix collars, get rid of spittle and runny noses, iron out some wrinkles, take off any lint, “tuck in” body parts that need some tuckin’, remove trash from the ground, swap heads if needed, and other fixes to make that image as close to perfection as I can get. Retouching takes two things: skills in graphic programs like Adobe Photoshop and time. While artiifical intelligence has come a long way, there is no software with a magic button that I only have to click on and the work is done. Sometimes the retouching has to consider personal preferences, too. That pimple that popped up that morning? Gone. That wine-colored birthmark over the left cheek or the snaggle tooth in a smile? Those are permanent features of a person’s face and I am going to discuss with my client how they want me to handle those - no software program can do that.

Still not ready for printing . . .

Because the next thing I need to consider is what are we printing?

Let’s take size into consideration. Professional cameras are designed to grab a lot of pixels when a picture is taken and most photographers shoot in whta we calla “raw” format to get as many pixels as our camera will give us. But there is always a limit. The image size of a photo at its largest from my camera is still 6720 x 4480 pixels, which translates as 22.4 x 14.933 inches, at 300 pixels per inch.

A quick note: the resolution for printed photos is best at 250 to 300 pixels per inch. However, for photos displayed on the Internet, the resolution is 72 pixels per inch. That is why if you print a picture you’ve taken off the Internet and choose a size too big, it looks wonky. Oh, and billboards along the interstate? They are usually printed at only 15 pixels per inch because that is all that is needed since theya re seen at a distance and while you’re driving 70 mph.

“But Steph,” sayeth you, “how then do you create a beautiful 40 x 60 inch canvas that I will hang over my couch and cherish forever?” It is because I use specialized software to resize your image using interpolation. The mechanics can look at the pixels and figure out how many to “stick in” at what colors and at what chromacity to make it larger (and, likewise, which to “take out” to make it smaller).

Then I need to think about on what media - photographic paper, fine art paper, canvas, metal, etc. - the image will be printed. Will it affect the colors? Will your picture need extra or less sharpening? Is “noise” (that graininess that can occur in low light situations, e.g., wedding pictures in dark churches where flash is not allowed) going to be a distraction? Spoiler alert on that last question - printing on acrylic or metal shows noise more than other media so now I fire up my professional software designed to reduce noise while retaining details. Oh, hey, did I mention that because of all this software and artificial intelligence, my computer has to have a LOT of RAM and CPU to run these programs?

Finally, which professional print lab will I be using? I have done enough research to know which labs do highly professional work and use only archival media and inks so your images will last. How do they construct products like canvases and albums? Do they reproduce the colors in the picture correctly? Is their customer service reliable in case there is a problem? If I am getting an item, such as a canvas, framed then I will use a professional framing company that has sturdy quality frames and glass, and whose workmanship is tip top, whether it is matting a print, framing, or attaching the hardware on the back so I know that product will last.

I admit, when I am submitting an image to a print lab, I obsess over is everything ready? There is no going back once I click on SUBMIT. I trust my print labs enough to where I will have the item drop shipped to the client but rest assured, if there is a problem, I will work with the lab to have it redone. I can be selfless and tell you I do it all to make you happy, but that’s is only half of the truth. When I was a newbie lawyer, I remember my boss telling me to be very very careful on my legal drafting becuase I never know when years later a judge might be reading it as part of a case and ask themselves, “Who wrote this piece of $%&!#?” and see my name on it. It is the same with your print, your canvas, or your album - I want someone to see it and ask, “Wow, who made this for you?” because they think it’s great.

What if it is something small or “temporary” such as a Christmas card?

You do not always need a professional photographer to handle your printing. There, I said it. If you are a very discerning person, I will handle your business with kid gloves. But even I know that is not always the case: you took a picture on your iPhone during vacation, and your Grandma is not computer literate, and you just want to send her a picture of the kids to put on the fridge to show her how big they’re getting. Well, you have made it to the end of this blog post so let me tell you about a great resource. May I suggest F/32 Photo? Yes, if you’re in the Knoxville area you can go to their self-serve terminals in the store and if you need help, their staff is glad to get your picture from phone to terminal and on to print. But you can also order online and have your prints shipped to you by them. No driving, no fighting for a parking spot at Sams Club or Costco. And you will be supporting a small business, owned and operated by a native of East Tennessee, April Love. F/32 Photo also can scan your paper photos and make digital images to preserve them, as well as digitize old 8mm or VHS videos. Yes, you can get Christmas cards there. Yes, they can take your passport photo. I have my studio on the premises there so I am completely biased when I tell you to bring your business to them.

In conclusion . . .

Sometimes I think I can undermine myself by saying “I am a photographer, I take pictures.” That only describes what needs to be done on the front end. It is the knowledge, the skills, and the attention to detail that often takes more effort than taking the picture to produce the finished piece.

But is it worth it? Let me tell you this: I have a picture I took with my drone of a friend poling their skiff through low country marshes. I remember that day: it was warm, the light of a late afternoon was delicate and beautiful, we had fun joking and flying the drone, we were out on the water. I had it printed on fine art paper using a method called giclee that brings more vibrance to details in the picture, then I had it framed professionally. It hangs in my home . . . and I see every day. And every day it triggers a memory of a happy and peaceful afternoon. You know, some days I need that memory more than on other days.

Yeah. It’s worth it.