What's the point of a print?
It's been over a year and a half since I moved away from digitals to selling printed products. I did this in the firm belief that printed artwork is simply more meaningful to my clients - and that isn't just an excuse to charge more, it's an observation in how people treat digital images and digital photography in general, and in this post I'll walk you through what led me to this conclusion.
- The Reasons Why
- Framed Prints
- Vivid Metal Prints
- Canvas Prints
- Unframed Prints
- Albums and Photobooks
The Reasons Why
Nearly all of us carry a smartphone in our pockets that would out-do most of the early digital cameras in terms of resolution and capabilities, and the software and settings of these devices can create nice images really easily. We see a flood of digital content on a near-constant basis, and it's easy to share or save an image, making them to all intents and purposes "free". AI software takes this one step further, having been trained up on human creators' own work, it can create or modify images in an increasingly realistic and artistic way with no real artistic skill necessary from the prompt-writer. In short, the perceived value of imagery has been all but lost in many situations. I think that an added factor here is that adequate photography has overtaken truly artistic works. Whether it's due to the lenses, the camera settings, or the eye of the photographer, professional work is simply better than much of the imagery we see these days. However, the ubiquity of photos that are "good enough" has further stretched the expectations of clients from the reality of professional artistry.
Another factor has been the consumerism of the modern age - attempting to quantify the value of something in some concrete manner. Many clients focus on the number of images delivered, while others focus on the amount of time spent on a photoshoot, in an effort to justify the money they are spending on what is essentially a luxury service. In truth most people are only going to ever use a handful of favorites, and merely assessing the value based on time spent doesn't take into account the experience, talent, and training required to deliver excellent photography. As has been said elsewhere, "You aren't paying for the hours, you're paying for the years," but these mindsets have undervalued photography as a profession. In many ways, being able to sit down with someone for a few minutes, take one or two photos, and deliver a perfect headshot, should be worth more than having to work with someone for an hour and cull through hundreds of "okay" photos to find the one you want to use.
In combination, these two issues have led to an ever-widening gap between the true value of a professional photograph - often capturing a single, unrepeatable moment in time - and its perceived worth as a digital image. To make matters worse, people truly do seem to treat their images as if they are worthless. The vast majority of photographs captured today will sit, forever, in a digital graveyard of sorts. Even if they are posted online - social media or a website or similar - oftentimes they are simply lost to the algorithm, pushed down the feed with new content, or ignored unless you go to look them up. Prints, especially wall art, are the obvious solution to that problem.
As a professional photographer therefore, I see one of my roles as helping my clients chose the best printed products for their photos. One argument I have heard (in fact, used myself) is that if you have access to the digitals then you can simply go and get prints made. There are many print labs available these days, from budget high-street stores to high-end professional printers, and it's even possible to print photographs at home! But the truth is, most of us will never get around to making prints. It is not enough to send a client a gallery of proofs and expect them to figure out which products would work best for them, although I have to say that many people do just that! The truth is that product selection and ordering options can be quite overwhelming, especially if you're not well-versed in the differences between them, and analysis paralysis is a real thing. When faced with a large choice of options, the decision many people make is to do nothing! This means that ditching the digitals is only one part of the solution - the other part is offering in-person or virtual image review sessions to guide clients through their best options for wall art and albums, or whatever else might suit their needs.
With all of that said, here are my usual options and recommendations for printed products.
I love framed prints! Whether you want your art to look classic or contemporary, there is a framed print option to suit. I have narrowed my recommendations down to one or two signature styles and a preferred set of sizes that work best for wall display. I have found that clients who get a chance to look at or touch examples, quickly realize that the sizing they may have had in mind (8x10 or smaller) is usually wholly inadequate. My first recommendation is a 16x24 curved black metal frame with a 2 inch white mat, which works perfectly for my style of black and white photography. Wooden framing (especially lighter or distressed wood) might work better in some homes, and sizing might go up or down depending on how you want the prints to look on your walls. The largest framed prints are easily the most expensive items available to purchase, but may be a worthwhile investment for something that could be passed down for generations.
Sue with a 16x24 framed print in my signature style
Javonn loving her 16x24 signature framed print
I am always impressed whenever I see these in an art gallery, and metal prints were easily my first preferred option when I started photography. Metal prints are robust, contrasty, self-contained, and elevate any image that's printed on them. Without a frame (unless you want one!) they are relatively well-priced in terms of square-inches per dollar, and a great option for high-detail high-impact images that you want to stand out. There are even options to weather-proof a metal print for outdoor display! With a modern, contemporary vibe, metal prints stand out from most other artwork and bring the beauty of analog photography to life in an unexpectedly impressive way.
A 20x30 vivid metal print, next to a cello for scale
Although 20x30 inches, this metal print could clearly still go larger!
Whether framed or not, stretched canvases are a popular way to present photographs as wall art. The textured nature of the medium means that images can be blown-up larger than perhaps other media would allow, without any obvious loss of detail. The flip-side of that is for more typical image sizes, high-resolution photos lose their details in the fabric weave. Canvas images might work best for large group photos in a landscape format, or portraits where the energy and vibe of the image is more important than technical perfection. Priced similarly to metal prints, it's really a case of figuring out which vibe would match your home decor the best.
This is a budget-friendly option where you're really only paying for the print itself, plus the value of your unique photograph printed upon it! You wouldn't price a Van Gogh based on the cost of canvas and paint used to create the painting, would you? Prints can be mounted or unmounted depending on how you want to frame them, and this does give you the option of funding a local framing solution yourself. I used to recommend this to my clients, as I incorrectly viewed the lab-based framing options as expensive and unnecessary.
A series of 16x24 self-framed prints
I now do NOT recommend unframed prints to my clients! While it's true that for basic photography there are many relatively cheap options on the high-street for framing, when you look into the really nice-looking options, or realize that you may have to trim or adjust your print to fit a particular frame, it can be quickly apparent that it's a false economy to try framing prints yourself. I was not happy with some of the prints I've framed for hanging at home over the years, where cheap frames warped over time or images would not lay properly flat. For portraiture it also devalues what is really otherwise a nice piece of art, and if you're going to end up spending money on proper framing services then it may as well come ready-to-hang from the printer and not require any additional leg-work from you. I will typically steer my clients to one of the other options for a smaller framed or standalone print over a larger unframed print.
Nicky holds a 16x24 unframed print
If you're considering a family album or a more personal portraiture collection, a luxury album is a fantastic way to get your images as prints to hold in your hands and share. With custom covers, a variety of sizing and page number options, and an infinite variety of layouts, you can present your photos any way you like! Albums are also very efficient in terms of how many images you can get for a reasonable price. Whether you create an impressive coffee-table book, or a convenient hand-held gift, I'll help you curate and plan the image layout to make the most of your photoshoot selection.
Custom album cover
Multiple images on a lay-flat luxury album spread
Be your own centerfold with every double-page spread!
Use a series of images to tell a story
With all of those options, I hope I've given you a taste of the kind of artwork that you should be creating from your photos! Take a look around the walls of your home, see what's missing, and then schedule a call with me and tell me how you want to be seen.