What's your approach?

[greypoint]

And having taken your photos either by design or accident, processed and played around with them, what next? Do most disappear into the depths of your hard drive - do you print everything you like? I keep meaning to get a load of prints done around 8 x 10 in size [i've got a load of mounts] and making a proper display - but never seem to get round to it.

[spinner]

Well as someone who can walk across a room and forget why, planning does me no good. I forget the plan. If I'm lucky, I'll see someplace interesting on a Sat and remember to go back on the Sun. Otherwise, I might remember a place a year after I was there. Worse, I'll remember I planned to return to a place but not remember why. Mostly I just hit the road go in a general direction and hope I come across something interesting.

[skellum]

I have gone the whole hog and now print, mount, frame and sell from our local market and other local outlets. If you are going to print your pictures I would first recommend you get a quality printer. I learned this to my cost when I first applied to the RPS ( I felt a complete D..k )  what you see on the computer as a excellent shot can look completely different in print. If anyone is interested, what you eventually learn from the RPS is to make a good final print.

[greypoint]

Most of the stuff I do actually get printed is for other people, and I also use my dog stuff to make things like cards, notebooks, keyrings fridge magnets etc. for our charity - I so agree with the comment about what you see on the screen not always being what you get in a print. If I'm having any big prints done by an online printer I generally get some 6 x 4s done first so I can adjust before wasting money on the large size.

[Chris P]

The terrible thing is I rarely print anything.  I've got a few of my shots up in the reception building where I work as they're always after suitable images and they print them pretty well but once they're filed away on my hard drive they tend to sit there gathering... well, not dust but you know what I mean!

I've tried printing at home before and I've got a good printer but the prints always come out darker than I expect.  Given the I expect them to be darker than on screen as it's subtractive light rather than additive light they come out really rather dark.  I've struggled around with printer profiles, letting CS3 control colour spaces and post-scripting and I never get a print to come out as I'd like so I give up and don't print! 

[irv_b]

 Just out of intrest how many pics have you guys printed (or thought good enough even if you haven't yet) out just to hang on your wall for your own pleasure over the last year or so because there are some fabulous images posted here
Myself - maybe three not that I have had them printed!

[bones615]

Just out of intrest how many pics have you guys printed (or thought good enough even if you haven't yet) out just to hang on your wall for your own pleasure over the last year or so because there are some fabulous images posted here
Myself - maybe three not that I have had them printed!

Irv, I have my own mrs Bucket who does not like clutter in her house so we only have one portrait of each family member in the dining room, done some for the mother in law of all her grandchildren together which were printed & framed for mothers day and now hang in her front room. Maybe 3 or 4 I would like to see on the wall if I was allowed.

Simon

[Hinfrance]

I've got about a dozen on the walls of the house in various places. Not allowed any big ones though as (and it sounds like it's a girl thing) my better half prefers blank walls to pictures or paintings. Although I did have to put my foot down over my Pre-Raphaelite prints . .

[greypoint]

I hate blank walls! Tend to paint everywhere white to give a plain backdrop to all my pictures - what I really want to do is to swap the existing pictures some of which are mine to a wall with a display of some of my own favourites - just never seem to get round to it!

[Eileen]

The terrible thing is I rarely print anything.  I've got a few of my shots up in the reception building where I work as they're always after suitable images and they print them pretty well but once they're filed away on my hard drive they tend to sit there gathering... well, not dust but you know what I mean!

I've tried printing at home before and I've got a good printer but the prints always come out darker than I expect.  Given the I expect them to be darker than on screen as it's subtractive light rather than additive light they come out really rather dark.  I've struggled around with printer profiles, letting CS3 control colour spaces and post-scripting and I never get a print to come out as I'd like so I give up and don't print! 

I print a good deal, but have only one picture of my own actually on my walls. Like others, I keep meaning to get some framed but haven't quite got get round to it.

Chris: I also have a good printer and despite a fully calibrated workflow was having some problems with dark images (calibration made the colours right but didn't change the darkness). Someone told me that they used a hue/saturation layer for their prints, increasing saturation and lightness. I have tried it and it works really well. Generally a small increase is sufficient - around 5-7% depending on your printer. For some very dark or saturated images a slightly larger increase helps. It makes a huge difference - the pictures are now much closer to the screen in tonal terms.

[Chris P]

Chris: I also have a good printer and despite a fully calibrated workflow was having some problems with dark images (calibration made the colours right but didn't change the darkness). Someone told me that they used a hue/saturation layer for their prints, increasing saturation and lightness. I have tried it and it works really well. Generally a small increase is sufficient - around 5-7% depending on your printer. For some very dark or saturated images a slightly larger increase helps. It makes a huge difference - the pictures are now much closer to the screen in tonal terms.

Cheers Eileen , I'll give that a go and see how it comes out.  I don't really know why I haven't already tried it.  I suppose that when I first started I naively assumed it would be quite straight forward (I know better now!) and had no concept of additive or subtractive colours etc.  I think I just gave up!
I'll give it a go later and let you know how I get on!

[Jonathan]

Just out of intrest how many pics have you guys printed (or thought good enough even if you haven't yet) out just to hang on your wall for your own pleasure over the last year or so because there are some fabulous images posted here
Myself - maybe three not that I have had them printed!

Um, in the past 12 months?

1.  It was a snap of a new nephew printed 6X4 and shoved in a desktop frame.

I print a lot more for clients and probably print about half a dozen a week in the season to hang in the gallery (it has a very fast turnover - yes, I throw away most of what I print...).

Lately I've started using a new pro lab that do the most amazing work and have started ordering fine art prints just for the feel of the paper.  But I haven't framed any yet.  They are more for handing to paper geeks.