The winter that wasn’t and the joys of printing my own photos
It’s been a long time between posts and even longer between taking photos. So much for long term forecasts that predicted higher than average amounts of snow for Alberta. With a high today of 9 Celsius, it looks more like late October than the middle of January. It’s brown outside with spotty patches of snow in the trees. Blecch! However awful it’s been outdoors for taking photos, I’ve been busy indoors.
My website is over two years old and I’ve been playing around re-doing it. I’ve seen a few lovely and not so lovely webdesigns done by professional programmers and designers. How about this for cost? Convert my existing website to be able to sell prints from the site, two thousand dollars. Have my website designed from scratch, prices start at six thousand dollars. I’m not a programmer by any means but over my Christmas holidays a couple of years ago and reading tutorials from the web, I ended up with a website that cost me, here goes, NOTHING.
Before Christmas, I finally took the plunge and picked up a large format photo printer. This thing will print on any media, photo paper, watercolor paper, canvas, etc. I can print as large as 17×22. The largest I have printed so far is 13×19 and the quality is fantastic. This is so much better than how I learned to print in a wet darkroom. The control is incredible.
No longer will I be at the mercy of sending my digital images out and hope that I get back what I wanted. Yippee!
Some photos lend themselves better to black and white rather than color. This was one of them. I’ve been going through all of last years images looking at what will print well as black and white. The printer can do color and I have printed a few to see what the color fidelity was like. Wow! I had shot a scene of prairie wildflowers at sunset and the pinks practically jump off the paper. Believe it or not, I have never had prints of my own hanging at home. That changes as of today. LOL
Hopefully more winter like weather will be on the way soon. Until then…happy shooting,
Dan
Winter here in Northwest Ohio is the same. We have had very little snow so far this year. It is hard to believe you have never had one of your own photos hanging on your wall…..I’m not that good but I have a room with 21 of mine and another with another 9. I rotate prints in and out so I don’t get tired of looking at the same ones. LOL
Michael Shake said this on January 9, 2012 at 1:58 pm
@ Michael, I have a couple of days off and almost made the four hour drive to the mountains where there IS snow but decided to get caught up on all that is domestic.LOL
It’s not hard to believe that I haven’t hung prints because I am always looking forward to the NEXT photos I am about to take. Sometimes I find that I had completely forgotten what I had shot the previous year. At least there’s now one print hanging in the house.
Thanks for visiting and commenting,
Dan
Dan Jurak said this on January 9, 2012 at 2:05 pm
2.5 hrs south of you and we also have no snow. By the way, this image is excellent. Love everything about it.
Andrew said this on January 9, 2012 at 2:13 pm
@ Andrew, the Icefields is supposed to get a dump tonight but nothing east of Nordegg. Soon? I hope?
Dan Jurak said this on January 9, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Nice work as always, Dan. Hearing a review like that, I can’t help but ask: what kind of printer did you buy? I know you’re not one to be brand loyal or to push a particular product, but I’m thinking about investing in a printer and am always on the lookout for good recommendations.
momentusangela said this on January 9, 2012 at 3:00 pm
@ Angie, I’d been looking at printers for a couple of years. It was between Canon and Epson. Epson had a $300 rebate on their 3880 last month. That was all that I needed to see to make my mind up. If I was really, really serious about printing and making money from that I probably would have gone with the 4880 Epson but as it stands, 17×22 is plenty large enough.
Dan
Dan Jurak said this on January 9, 2012 at 3:08 pm
WOW Dan .. keep looking through you past work … fantastic shot … congrats on the purchase and I am positive you will put it to good use … this post is the proof ….. yes..yes print and hang … I have 5 of mine hanging at home …. I love walking by them ..it’s inspiring
I can relate to the no snow .. sad times it is
thanks as always Dan
Ray
Ray Rhodes said this on January 9, 2012 at 4:11 pm
hi dan, nice to hear from you again -
i really liked this shot in color, but it is also great in black and white!
do you just not shoot at all (macro, or other less-grand views) when the weather is not what you want for wide landscapes? i get antsy and then sometimes try some other direction than my usual wonderful ruts… or go take a nap!
marke
mbluephoto said this on January 10, 2012 at 6:53 pm
@ Marke, Hi and welcome back. Some photos lend themselves better to color, others to black and white. It’s not often one will work well both ways.
Once in a while I’ll shoot macros or tele shots but I prefer seeing “wide”. It’s just a personal preference. Not better. Not worse.
Dan
Dan Jurak said this on January 10, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Hi Dan, I know you don’t shoot a lot of Black and White but this shot is fantastic!
Vincent Piotrowski said this on January 12, 2012 at 11:04 am
It’s great to read a post again. I’d kind of figured the winter wasn’t creating your usual display of snow drifts and colorful sunrises.
Likewise, we haven’t any snow down this direction. I’m looking forward to spring already.
Rick said this on January 12, 2012 at 12:55 pm