Photos online - versus live

[AcadieLibre]

I am enjoying my DSLR immensely but I have come to conclude I hate looking at them on my computer once the post processing is done and really want to start printing more of them. This then has other issues and one of course is cost, but I think I can swallow what I need to for the printing of a few. Then the other issue there is only so much wall space and the viewership is very limited. It was one of the reasons I contacted the Church I liked the photo and would have had it sit on my hard drive to viewed occasionally by me or friends or family and thought what a waste.

I know I can upload them and share some online, but this is what I am finding out, viewing them on a computer kills so much of the detail that I see in my printed copies. I have sold a couple of my prints, this past one was the first I gave away and would consider offering a few others away for free also just so they don't sit on my computer or online where 90% of the people run at resolutions or their monitors are not calibrated and that I think just ruin photos, but monitors,video and calibration devices can be very costly so I get it. And even then most computer users have don't even do a basic calibration to their monitors.

So right now I am at a point on what I want to do, selling them would obviously be the best solution but my stuff just is not that good to sell more than the odd one. I am going to probably cover my house in as many as I can but stilll again only so much wall space. So here is the question rather than just have them sit lost in bits and bytes on a hard drive is it worth offering them as donations to auctions, hospitals so and so forth. This last print was gifted and no cost to me for frame and mounting. I can do my own frames and mounting, glass there are a ton of places around who will cut it and sell me it really cheap. I just think it is unfortunate that mine, yours or anyones who has some decent shots just get lost on their hard drives.

After that very long and irrelevant rambling what do you all plan to do with your photos that you just really like. The ones that you look and say, I really took that?I am not in this for the money I have a job, well my wife says that might be a stretch lol, but I just want everyone to see them, even if it is just a glance, I want them viewed but not online, in print where they really show how they were meant to viewed. Opinions, comments?

[Marko]

It's an interesting change we are undergoing with digital photography and it has some similarities and differences.

I cannot tell you how many thousands of Negs that I have lying around in my closet. I have TONS of contact sheets from those negs where only one or 2 were printed with several others STILL waiting to be printed. In that way it's similar to having stuff just sit on a hard drive.

I do know EXACTLY what you are talking about with regard to photos on the web. It's totally nice and convenient, totally different and IMO an overall inferior experience. There is something just a bit 'more' special about holding a print in your hands or just seeing a fabulous print live. I think you are doing the right thing in offering your prints to places that will show them live. Whether they pay you or not at this point shouldn't matter since you are still learning - But the desire to have your prints seen in real life is good and it will challenge you to exhibit better and better work over time. It's also risky on the ego so good on you with regard to the risk factor :D

(Hope you don't mind but I edited the title just to make it a wee more descriptive)

[AcadieLibre]

It is ok, I thought it was a catchy title and came to read it and realized it had changed, thought it was my old age kicking in lol. And my ego can take the rejections, its big enough to overcome such trivial things such as outright rejection lol. I know what you mean about having tons of negatives that should get printed but never have, still have all mine from when I shot film B&W and always plan on going through them, could be the problem I just plan it and never actually do it lol.

The good thing about doing it on a computer I am finding is I can categorize them and easier than working in a dark room but that also loses some of the charm of doing prints from a dark room environment. I am trying to get my photos into maybes in one folder and the for sures in another and the rest just lumped together for future perusal. Unlike Negatives your stuck with the whole strip and much harder even with contact sheets to go through them all. I just think photos should be printed in the end, or as many as you can get displayed printed. Not all of them will ever be done, I am sure like others you have far more than would ever be feasible to really print.

Displaying on a Computer has its benifits but the final product should be an actual print when possible. It is why I got back into the hobby to get quality prints out, not to just look at them on my monitor and say oh thats nice and click to the next. I am also considering down the road once I get where I want to be on the Digital Camera getting a film SLR and setting up a small dark room but for now that is at least a year or two off.

[tegan]

I think that any amateur enthusiast needs to be careful when either giving away, donating, or selling the occasional photo. The consequences may not meet your expectatins.

An owner of a private park asked for photos taken during an activity day so that she could print them out for the residents. They were snapshot quality rather than serious photography so the photographer agreed. Prints were made available by the owner to the residents, but the photographer in leafing through a magazine later found one of his photos used to advertise the private park.

A sports enthusiast taking photos of his own child in an event was asked by a neighbour to try and shoot his child as well. The photographer did so and gave the print to his neighbour. It appeared in a magazine without any photo credit and the neighbour of course was paid well for it.

Many new pros when they are just beginning make the mistake of not using a contract that specifies that the photographer retains all rights to the photo beyond the print that is being purchased. The result has sometimes been that the purchaser has re-sold the photo for more than the purchase price and then in one case it showed up in a major advertising campaign all without an credit or proper remuneration to the original photographer.

No matter what your intentions are, every photographer (I would hope) wants to retain credit for his/her photos, wants to be paid for major use, and wants to control the use of his/her photos. This requires a photo contract, even if the photo is given away. Otherwise the photographer stands to lose and many have become outraged and frustrated by the situations that they got themselves into through careless practices. Shooting yourself in the foot through your own stupidity is not to be recommended.

Tegan

[AcadieLibre]

Its a Church, I sort of trust them for some odd reason. I think it is a great way to get your works viewed and get some recognition. Even posting online you open yourself to some sort of theft of your photos. I am sure there are lots of reasons not to donate, offer services but each photographer has to be aware of the positive and the negative aspects of any decision they make pertaining to their works as with any artist.

A Pro runs the same risk as an amateur, nothing at all to do with level of experience. I am posting a relevant story to this topic, you must always be careful but where do you draw the line? Why take photos if no one will ever see them, it is a risk, it will remain so as long as there are dishonest people and as long as there has been art there has been copy infringements, nothing new and nothing that will ever stop.

My last donation has my name and date on the back and they are putting a small bronze plate on the frame with my name and date. I rather be trusting with those whom I meet than distrust any and everyone based on the actions of a few. I think you need to be aware, cautious, and just use common sense just as with any aspect of life. I also am aware that any photo I give away may end up stolen but I factor that into any decision I make and with some people or organizations I am just willing to give them the benefit of doubt, to have my work hang in that Church far outweighs any risk I am taking. I do this to take photos but I also want the world to see them, may not happen but I like to think big lol. Always sign and date your work on the back, put a copyright date and hope for the best, nothing you can do once it leaves your hand, just have to have faith.

I have a photo hanging in a Tattoo shop of a friend of mine, he could steal it, copy it, lend it, but I just choose to trust him. It is a photo that a lot of people want a copy of because of the subject matter and was a cool capture. (A short description, I was taking photos at night and on 4 of the photos there appears for no apparent reason a fire cross in the sky, just popular for that reason, I know why its there, and not photoshopped either but not the story I spin on it lol.) So he has a quality scanner and has had lots of requests for a copy and I have faith he will ask me first because we have discussed this same topic about him posting tattoos on his site he has designed and done and other shops lifting them. We are all at risk but we all need to use our common sense. Sometimes the joy of seeing your artistry being shown is worth some risks, nothing in life comes without some risk.


Link to the story I was mentioning.

http://lightchasersphotography.com/blog/events-organizer-steals-photograph/