Printing photos

I am currently printing a couple of photos to frame and hang in an exhibition at our local arts centre. They are part of the work done for my course there and are supposed to encourage others to take the course.

But it got me thinking - of all the thousands of photos you take how many, if any do you actually print out, whether to frame or stick in an album or to give to someone?

I have some of my safari photos framed and a few misty woodland morning ones, plus wedding photos and grandson photos. I also have printed a few as birthday cards. But mostly they stay on the computer and don't get printed, indeed don't get looked at at all.
When I get back from my hols I think i shall go through all the photos I take there and print some. I may even make an old fashioned album out of them!

Do tell me your printing habits

Edit: I should add I mean those you print out for non commercial purposes since some of you are professionals.

An embarrassingly small number, so far. I intend to get more prints done in future, but meanwhile, the cost and amount of experimentation required to get the results I want puts me off.

I've just counted all the prints I've made from the K10D and they add up to 37. I've taken 8809 photos meaning that I've printed (on average) 1 in every 238 shots. Of the 37 only two have found their way into frames and been hung on the wall.

This may sound poor but actually it's not a bad hit rate for me, previous digital cameras in my possession have had far fewer "printers" (pro rata) than the K10D has. Also, I've taken pictures for other people which they've arranged to have printed themselves and these probably make up quite a few more than the 37 I've done.

I tend to be very fussy and only print if I consider the picture to be "perfect" (in my eyes).

Answer: far too few

I usually get my printing done at ProAM Imaging... and given their price I should print and frame more (my wife tells me so!). I just never seem to get the time to sort out prints I really want

Matt

Bought a photo printer a while back and printed off a couple to test. They were lovely. Never used it since

The reason that my photo's are all widescreen and left uncropped (dimension-wise) is that I use mine for PC Desktop backgrounds. The OH does too (we have large monitors that show them off nicely) and friends and family say that they do the same with those of mine that they like. I guess it's a move to different forms of media to enjoy your art.

I print out quite a few of mine and use them as wallpaper in my downstairs rumpus room
They make a great conversation piece when we have people over. It makes me laugh watching people walk around the room like its a museum.

I am trying to clear a wall for all my bug pics but the wife has forbidden me

Here are some pics.

What a great idea Clarky. Now if only I had a rumpus room.....

WOW Clarky!
THAT"S a RUMPUS room!
love the photo wall paper, the motorcycle, don't dare ask why there's jumper cables hangin from the ceiling (why ask? there's what appears to be a bong in the corner, a photo in a yellow frame of the cop cars, jumper cables hangin from the ceiling...I'll just use my imagination on this one!! lol!).....I like it!
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I agree with keeping those images out there, not hidden. I have a few 8x10 (family) a few16x20 to 20x30 prints (if you want to sell it, you got to show it) and use my computers screensavers, as well as an apple tv and hd tv to show slideshows. on our movie nights, I use the computer slideshows on the projector also. Having aperture and iphoto makes this real easy to do.

Now there's a conversation / argument we've had in our house many times recently.
The Mrs would like to print all of hers off ( holiday snaps, kids sports day etc) to keep in a drawer to look at whenever she wants. I have suggested it would be better to have them on a DVD to display on the TV ( larger format ) when she wants too. She reckons, "That's not the same!".

None of my recent (since getting my digital) ones are printed, and none of my older ones ( from my Super ME) are on show.
Maybe I'll have to do something about that.

Ok Don i don't want you getting the wrong impression
Thats not a bong but my extra long beer mug. Chugged many of them over the years (hic)

The jumper cables are in fact solar powered trickle charges for keeping the bike battery juiced up.

And the cop cars are from the Movie World theme park on the Gold Coast. Its the Police academy show

So i am not a drug peddler with cops banging on my door every other weekend Nor do i lure people into the room and strap them too tables and torture them with electricity.
I hope i have cleared that up.

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ok...that explains it...
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PARTY AT CLARKY'S THIS WEEKEND!!!
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Maybe you should all try it sometime. I am really pleased with what I have printed for this show. The detail is astounding - I can see much more than on my screen (OK I don't have the best of screens but still.)
I am printing at A4 size. Can't print any bigger at home, and they don't want any bigger luckily. Not sure I would want to print Ds photos much bigger anyway.
If they'd given me more notice I would have sent them off to be done professionally but my newish HP printer is doing a great job. Only trouble is I have used up the grey photo cartridge already Have to get another one sometime. Luckily I have done all the B/W photos now.

I've printed off a few and as I enjoy woodwork I've made my own frames too - they make good gifts The last 2 years I've also made calenders for family and friends which have gone down quite well as christmas presents. My one concern - and it would appear from some of the photos in Clarkys rumpus room that I am not alone - is that some prints don't seem to keep their colour. My wife had a picture printed professionally a couple of years ago and it has faded a lot - to the point where it really should be binned. What have others found? Is this a deterrent to printing off your photos?

Steve

This used to be the case with old printer inks, and any photos in sunlight fade even faster. The modern inks and papers claim to be colour fast for at least 100 years. How they have tested this I don't know.

With fading being a known issue, I had a large print done professionally two years ago. It has now faded to the point that my rottweiler (black and tan) is just shades of green.

I have prints I made myself on good paper with 12 year old printer (with inks made prior to anti-fading hub-bub). No noticeable fading after 8+ years in hallway brightly lit with sunlight.
I also have prints on cheap paper done with a new printer with fade-resistant ink and all. They are fading in under a month under florescent lighting. (prints made with same printer, good paper sitting under the same conditions are not fading).

New printers and ink may help a bit, but go with the good quality paper. It makes more difference in my experience regardless of which printer I had used.