[pbancr]

We have a bulletin board in the bedroom where we tack up fun 4x6 prints of places we’ve been and things we’ve done. Replace and update them around twice a year. Large metallic prints get made up and hung throughout the house and switched out once a season.

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Last edited by pbancr; 10-12-2019 at 08:38 AM.

[ffking]

I don't have a good enough printer to print my images satisfactorily, but I do sometimes trawl through the archives and put together a selection for a book printed by somebody like Vistaprint - if you can get one of their 50% off offers and go for the biggest photo book, it's worth treating yourself, IMO, - it can be very satisfying just doing the selecting and layout and captions - just producing a nice thing that is all your on work - and extra copies can make nice gifts for people who like what you do

[BrianR]

I have a couple dozen frames that are matted to hold 8x12's. A few hang around my home (we don't have much wall space), and every year I try to do a public display somewhere (libraries, art coops, camera shops, cafes, anyplace that has a dedicated 'art wall'). The process of selecting and printing new stuff each time around is a good one. Occasionally something sells, and when I no longer have enough frames put on a show, I'll start printing the next size up (my printer is 13" wide, while 13x19 isn't massive).

Every year I make an album of 200 4x6's with hand written captions for my parents. This is the only physical thing I make for sitting down and thumbing through, which I always do when I visit (they live across the country).

I make photo cards out of 4x6's to sell at art shows and farmers markets (I'm at farmers markets anyway with other stuff). It's not big money, but it pays for photography stuff and it's pretty fun talking about the things I like to photograph in person.

I've also been doing 6 or 7 talks per year that feature my photography. These are generally nature talks about the stuff in my photos, and are another good exercise at organizing a collection of photos to go together. Obviously it's a fair bit different from a printed display on a wall, but it's always nice to have a use for your work besides taking up hard drive space.

[OldPentaxFan]

I do a combination of prints (ranging from 8x10 to 13x19) that I have around the house and at work along with, for lack of a better term, curated slide shows that I'll have running on my TV to music when I have groups of people over.

The slide shows give me a chance to showcase what I've done at a minimal cost compared to printing, although it doesn't encourage a more focused attention span since it's not static.

[Walkingwolf]

I have larger (from 8x10 to 24x36) printed pics on my walls that I took back in the film days. Unfortunately there’s not enough wall space for more!
Well digital came along and I thought “great- now I can view my images on the 46” TV screen and my lack of wall space would no longer be an issue”. That was a stupid assumption for sure because my photographic skills really improved over the years and now I have thousands of pics I really like, and not enough time / opportunity to view them regularly.
In fact, just yesterday the wife and I were looking at a set from 2012 that we had forgotten about!
How ridiculous is that?
Well the old printed pics on the walls get seen daily...

[stevebrot]

I make a few prints and give them to any friend that likes them.


Steve

[veato]

A few photos of the kids have made it up on the wall. A few photos I shared on Unsplash and have seen them used on some websites. And one photo I entered in a work photo comp and is now printed and hung in the canteen. Apart from these kinds of rare uses most end up on the computer and/or shared online.

[Wingincamera]

I seldom print anymore, but I have been thinking about starting again. Wall space will be a problem, one of my wife's hobbies is painting, which take up wall space.

[aslyfox]

I seldom print anymore, but I have been thinking about starting again. Wall space will be a problem, one of my wife's hobbies is painting, which take up wall space.

my advice

don't get the boss made

[Des]

Good thread topic. I'm finding all the responses interesting.

Unlike some, however, I have little nostalgia for film, and little desire to return to it. If anything, digital has liberated me and my photography. Whether it has made people at large more appreciative of accomplished photography is another matter. (Phew, this has been a pretty deep walk down Memory Lane. Feels almost like a confession. )

Confession is good for the soul. And you've given me the comfort of knowing I'm not alone.

I've got slide containers and lots of albums of prints from film that are tucked away in boxes. I find the digital ones much more accessible.

I have been banned from printing any more wall prints because our place is too cluttered.

Our fridge is covered in small prints of loved ones (people and animals). Once I learned to suspend my judgment of the technical quality of the photos, I get more pleasure from seeing those every day than any of my other images.

Like Brian, I've printed a number of photos as greeting cards (although not to sell). People seem to like a personal touch. Same with calendars. I do a week-to-a-page diary each year with a photo on each page for my partner and her brother - they really enjoy them. Photo mugs too.

The theme is: small prints can provide a lot of pleasure.

[mattt]

I use Blurb to print an annual photo book as Christmas gifts. I print a few favorites and I print snap shots to send to my mom since she doesn’t see my boys very often.

I use a canon selphie for quick 4x6’s and I print 8x10’s etc on my Epson Sure Color P800. When I sell larger prints I send them out. Recently I did a 24x36 of Niagara Falls for a happy client.

[tvdtvdtvd]

As a result of my "fateful" decision, my old slides - some of them, for instance, covering my only family holiday in England - have sat largely untouched in their boxes for years (decades?). Digitalizing them has never seemed a compelling-enough option, as the time and money that I would have to spend on any serious solution, and the results I could expect, just don't match with my digital-age quality standards.

Had I gone with negative film, I could still get some decent looking prints today and in the future.

OK, I get that, though I think the potential is nonetheless there for getting good scans, which could then be either viewed online or printed.
I too have many slides, along with negatives, which sit unviewed and need to be scanned. No regrets, though, as the slides were mostly
shot out of necessity and that was the option at the time.

Unlike some, however, I have little nostalgia for film, and little desire to return to it.

I'm definitely with you on this point. I have fond memories of working with film but absolutely no desire to go back and replicate
that workflow. I still do hope someone will someday bring to market that ultimate snipe of a product, the 35mm digital back, but
I'm not holding my breath.

[amstel78]

If I took a really great picture that has commercial worth, I'd do my due diligence regarding copyright and IP protection.

As for printing, I used to own a large format Epson where I could easily output 48" wide prints on whatever media I wanted to. Sold that years ago when I transitioned from medium format to digital. During that period, I had practically unlimited access to a drum scanner though. Not anymore...

Rarely do I every print nowadays. Most of my work gets posted to my website. The images I do print usually gets done at home with a Canon Pixma printer. I'm limited to 8x10 with my current setup so anything larger goes to a professional printer.

Most folks are happy with on-screen proofs these days though...

[Madaboutpix]

Confession is good for the soul. And you've given me the comfort of knowing I'm not alone.
I've got slide containers and lots of albums of prints from film that are tucked away in boxes. I find the digital ones much more accessible.
I have been banned from printing any more wall prints because our place is too cluttered.
Our fridge is covered in small prints of loved ones (people and animals). Once I learned to suspend my judgment of the technical quality of the photos, I get more pleasure from seeing those every day than any of my other images.
Like Brian, I've printed a number of photos as greeting cards (although not to sell). People seem to like a personal touch. Same with calendars. I do a week-to-a-page diary each year with a photo on each page for my partner and her brother - they really enjoy them. Photo mugs too.
The theme is: small prints can provide a lot of pleasure.

So much humanity and pragmatism here, and some possible paths to photographic redemption. In fact, my wife sometimes uses images of mine for wall calendars for herself and our son, which I take as a compliment on their quality. (She has even begun to complain about how comparatively crappy some of the images on bargain calendars are looking. Well, ...) Otherwise, I try to make sure that she doesn't force them on the family unless people have expressed they care.

At any rate, I'd like to stress that I have never had as much fun with photography as in the digital age. To me, big prints are an acquired taste with today's possibilities, but I also get a lot of kicks from seeing my images carefully processed and at full resolution on my SmugMug website.

[35mmfilmfan]

I tend to create a PDF file (or more) of images that still please me a year or more after taking them - unthemed, often just in date order of taking, then burn to CD. I am also one of those who does not re-format cards, preferring to treat them more like negatives, even after backing up to various drives. And in the fullness of time, the whole lot will go to landfill, no doubt. Ephemera seems to last for a very short time these days.