Sizes to print

What sizes do people print out their pictures?

Being encouraged by some positive remarks to my attempts at photography on the forum I am going to join the local photographic society (Leamington Spa)and have a shot at some of their competitions. The guy there said that I should print on A4 or A3.

Are these the "standard sizes" for competition or does it vary by society?

Cheers,
Andy

Depending on the competition rules some like A4,A3,10x8 even 9x6.

The standard specification for the L&CPU (Lancashire & Cheshire Photographic Union) to which our club is affiliated, may be typical and relates more to the mount size than the image size.

Mounts should be 40x50cm, which means that an A3 print would be ideal for the purpose.

As a club we adhere to that so that anything we want to send to the L&CPU Annual Competition is already the correct size and doesn't need reprinting.

Having said that, sometimes we have an A4 competition, as we are doing tomorrow night.

Mostly A3 but i have some A3+ at the moment because it was going cheap.Also print 10x8's

The only 'print' competitions I've entered have been A4 prints.

But for personal use the size varries from 4 on an A4 sheet up to a panorama at 6m accross or a single frame from K20D at 2m accross.

In a print 2m accross a single pixel from a K20D is still less than 0.5mm square and given that large prints are viewed from a distance there is little visible pixelation in the print

I think that Photographic Societies are great organisations and its good to think that you are joining.

The Leamington Spa society is in the Midland Counties Photographic Federation (MCPF). It is usual with MCPF affiliated clubs, that the following sizes of print are acceptable for general competitions, interclubs and exhibition entries:-

Print Size from approx A4 up to A3+

Mount Size 50 x 40 cm.

I base this information on my experience of 4 different MCPF affiliated clubs.

Individual Clubs may have some novelty Postcard Size Print Competitions, but these are not mainstream.

I hope you enjoy your experience with print competitions. Listen to what the judges say but don't take any critism personally. Stick with it until you advance and beyond. Good luck.

I'm really looking forward to it because I want to get better and can't see antoher way of getting unbiased opinions on my photographs.

Posting them on here is great but poeple are obviously very nice and you don't get that brutally honest view of someone who has no relationship with you whatsoever.

When I show them to my friends and family they are always impressed but the images are so much better than they are used to seeing due to the quality of the camera.

So, looking forward to finding out how I sit in the world of photography!

Mounting - is this glueing the print to a piece of card?

Cheers,
Andy

If you want an appraisal such as you might get from a judge, post a picture in Your Photos as make it clear that's what you're asking for.

I'll put on my L&CPU Judge hat and be happy to oblige.

Ah ha - will do!

Mounting is usually either:-

Fixing the print to a 50 x 40 cm Mounting Board, using Spray Mount glue (red tin).
or
Fixing the print to the back of a window mount using tape. You would need to cut the window mount, using a mount cutter.

For details of Mounting Board, Mount Cutters, Spray Mount and other associated materials and equipment, have a look at the Lion - Birmingham web site.

Mounting Board is super quality cardboard and is available in different colours and grades. The current vogue is for white or cream mounts. Colour mounts can be a problem as they can compete with the photo for your attention.

Can I just repeat from the above the critical point - use Photo Mount (red tin) as mentioned and not Spray Mount (blue tin) otherwise your prints will embarassingly peel off whilst the judge looks dismally at a blank piece of mounting board....

I've watched it happen.