Show off your prints!

[saladin]

I've started some very basic printing , just to get a feel for it. It's certainly nice to hang something you've taken on a wall.

One thing it has shown me is that noise is largely overstated in print. It's the digital medium that shows it up, but on paper and at useful viewing distances it seems to vanish.

Anyway, below are a few crappy phone pics of photos I've framed .


Hobart Harbour, Gx8 with 15PL. It's a cheap 30x20 frame, I sized the photo in 16x9 ratio and simply set the canvas size to 30x20 for a straight print.

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Train Station. G85 with 30/1.4 Sigma (iirc). This is an ikea frame, somewhat weird sizing. The print is a 50cm x 40cm.

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Creek flowing. A recent one with the Em5iii and 75/1.8 . I need to print this again with the whole thing boosted by roughly 1/2 stop, it printed darker than I expected and whilst it looks great once you get up closer, it doesn't quite jump at you from a distance. Again, same unusual print size as previous one.

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Old Shack. G85 and Sigma 30/1.4 . This one was previously in the creek frame, but we wanted matching portrait orientation and monochrome. I really like the oversaturated colours in this one. So I need another frame. It's resting on a new 20x30 frame (same as the Hobart Harbour) but I haven't decided what to put in it yet.

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All up, they probably average around fifty dollars each. The challenge for me is finding/taking photos good enough to justify spending more on them. I'm often not that happy with my results, lol.

 

[John King]

Nice, Jason.

@saladin Only extreme noise shows in print IME.

Monitor noise comes from the fact that even high resolution monitors are very low resolution output devices.

Mine are 1920x1200 and 2560x1440 PPI. My Epson R3880 is 2880x2880 dots per square inch.

Because of this massive difference in resolution, transitions between pixels/dots appear as noise on the monitor, whereas that gradation is extremely smooth on a print.

 

[saladin]

Another 20x30 print with the subject in 16:9. It's going into a cheap frame, but the print looks great. Em5 Mark iii and 40-150 kit zoom.

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[ABFoz]

So I started printing again after a few years of pause.

Door hinge for scale:

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The size of the larger image is 11"x14". I like this size for the 4:3 aspect ratio because there isn't much cropping.

Manfrotto Amica 10 for scale:

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This one's A3, which accommodates the 3:2 aspect ratio well with minimal cropping.

Everything is printed on Fujifilm Quality Dry Paper, care of Warehouse Stationery.

I like the overall feeling, although, I would appreciate everything more with total controllability that can be experienced with my own printer.

 

[John King]

Good on you.

I prefer to do my own. Too many variables/problems with commercial printers if you are picky, and I am.

It's more expensive to do your own.

 

[jayweh32]

Good on you.

I prefer to do my own. Too many variables/problems with commercial printers if you are picky, and I am.

It's more expensive to do your own.

DIY prints can be done relatively cheap. Canon pro 100 used to be able to be had for $150 especially on the used market. Buy an extra set of canon ink when they do their paper sales and you are set for roughly $250. I have 200 sheets of 13x19 over 2k sheets of 4x6 and 200 sheets of 8x10 all for around 250$. I now use precision color inks for added savings. That's not too bad for DIY but it is not archival ink. I do have prints from roughly 7-8 years ago that still look great.

 

[ABFoz]

Too many variables/problems with commercial printers if you are picky, and I am.

Totally agree. There isn't that much that can be done with commercial printers, especially with the one in my area. I also want to get that maximum satisfaction feeling when I do the printing myself.

DIY prints can be done relatively cheap. Canon pro 100 used to be able to be had for $150 especially on the used market. Buy an extra set of canon ink when they do their paper sales and you are set for roughly $250. I have 200 sheets of 13x19 over 2k sheets of 4x6 and 200 sheets of 8x10 all for around 250$. I now use precision color inks for added savings. That's not too bad for DIY but it is not archival ink. I do have prints from roughly 7-8 years ago that still look great.

I am on the lookout for bargains now.

I saw a good print by a commercial printer but the owner of the photo was charged NZD95. At that rate and level, DIY printing is the way to go for me. Cheers.

 

[John King]

Totally agree. There isn't that much that can be done with commercial printers, especially with the one in my area. I also want to get that maximum satisfaction feeling when I do the printing myself.

Yes.

I am on the lookout for bargains now.

I saw a good print by a commercial printer but the owner of the photo was charged NZD95. At that rate and level, DIY printing is the way to go for me. Cheers.

That's what I found too. 16 bit, wide gamut print on fine art paper, and the price went through the roof! Cheaper to buy my AUD$ 2,000+ Epson R3880 and do 20 prints on it!!

And it is pigment ink, so archival quality.

 

[ABFoz]

Cheaper to buy my AUD$ 2,000+ Epson R3880 and do 20 prints on it!!

I will also have a look at that model. Cheers!

 

[John King]

I will also have a look at that model. Cheers!

I don't know if it is made anymore. The Rx880 series are about 10+ years old now.

Have a look at the other Epson A2/A2+ pigment printers, perhaps.

Or (risky) look for a s/h R3880.

 

[doady]

If I want to do an archival pigment print on OBA-free fine art paper, one lab in my offers Epson Hot Press Natural and Cold Press Natural at 16x24 inches for $42 CAD and another offers Hahnemuehle Museum Etching at up to 20x24 inches for $65 to $110 CAD. Another lab used to offer Hahnemuehle William Turner and Bamboo at 20x24 inches for $110 CAD but not anymore.

In comparison, Epson P900 costs $1450 CAD and papers are limited to 17 inches wide (so no 18x24 inch prints). Canon Pro 1000 costs $1600 CAD. Either way, lab or home printing, is going to cost a lot of money.

For me it's the choice of papers as much as the prices that's the biggest problem. I'd like to try out papers like William Turner and Bamboo and Agave. I have some ICM photos that might look good printed on canvas as well, and no OBA-free canvas options from any labs here as far as I know.

But my photos mostly are not colourful or cheerful, not really the kind that's suited for hanging on the walls. I started buying photography books lately and it made me wonder if I should make a book instead. And of course that is not something I would be able to do at home.

 

[John King]

@doady, I personally find that A2 is pretty much a Goldilocks size for me. Big enough to show beautiful detail, etc, but not so big as to take over.

These things are very much personal.

Really big prints will have to be done at a printing shop, regardless. Most of us haven't got an R9880, or similar!