Print your photos!
One message that has come up over and over from multiple photographers that I follow is that the ultimate joy of photography is printing your work and hanging it on the wall. Instagram is fun and all, but as proud as you might be of a photo you post there, anyone who comes across it will probably spend 3 to 5 seconds looking at it before they move on and never see it again.
If you have a piece that you really enjoy, it’s important to give it life in some way. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I set up this website. The more I practice photography, the more I’m making images that I absolutely love. I love them so much, in fact, that it’s sad to think that they might only ever live on a hard drive or server farm somewhere.
A few weeks ago, I finally decided it was time to make my first real print. Choosing the photo was easy. I think the best photo I’ve taken so far was from an early morning trip to Lake Baldwin in Orlando (pictured above). It was 100% luck that I found that scene and was able to set up my tripod and get the shot before the light changed completely.
Choosing the print process was also a no-brainer. I heard about Nevada Art Printers and their Lumachrome prints on Nick Page’s podcast and decided it would be perfect for this choice. Lumachrome prints are known for making an image glow, which I knew would make this particular photo look beautiful hanging on the wall.
The process was incredibly easy. I decided to crop the image for a 12” x 24” print, uploaded it through the Nevada Art Printers website, and…that was it. They sent an invoice, I paid, and my print showed up about 3 weeks later.
The most difficult part of the entire thing was deciding which mount I wanted. I decided to go for the museum standard mount, which added a protective backing and a composite rear floating frame.
The final product is just stunning.
Now I get to enjoy this gorgeous photo every day. If you have a photo you love hiding in your computer’s hard drive or your phone’s photos app, I highly recommend getting it printed and framed.
And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I’m selling prints of this photo in the store section of my site. You can order the same 12” x 24” Lumachrome print that I put on my wall, a paper print on Photo Rag paper that you can put in a frame of your choosing, or if you’d rather discuss other options, feel free to send me an email. I’m limiting this image to 99 prints regardless of the print option (this one doesn’t count as I’m labeling it an “Artist Proof”).
Now…get out there and make some images!
