So…you just dropped a hefty chunk of change getting your photos done with a professional photographer…what now? Well, in this day and age, the most popular option would be to buy the digital package so you can print your photos yourself and share with friends and family online. Makes sense, right? You want to save money…and it’s easy as pie to go to a one hour studio and have the print to hang on your wall that night! We’ve all done it (myself included.)
Well, that way is not always the best choice. I have seen this “post” done by several photographers on their blogs… but I was always skeptical. I always thought “oh yeah, that’s edited.” Well… I decided to try it for myself…and let’s just say, I am REALLY shocked. I have heard how bad consumer labs can be…but now I have seen it for myself. I can promise you that these are the prints in their true form. I have not done ANY editing whatsoever, other than just scanning the photo onto my computer and adding the lab name.
Each lab took their different spin on the photo…but ultimately, even the untrained eye can see what is wrong with each “version.”
Here’s another example. This time, I chose a photo with an “off white” background, just to see how the labs would work on that.
As one of my friends told me “It looks like a rainbow!” and it’s true! It personally makes me sad that THIS is how my work may possibly be displayed…especially since you (the client) spend hard earned cash on the experience of a professional photo session and are left with these as keepsakes (and the fact that they may be passed on to future generations!) and that I spend HOURS upon HOURS working on your session for it to turn out like this! yuck! It’s hard for me to swallow because as you can see…these examples are NOT what my work looks like…so if you order these prints, and you see how it comes out…it’s NOT ME! I promise!!!
Obviously these labs are great for printing snapshots where you don’t really care about quality…but if you are going to spend money on a great photo session that you can pass on to future generations, why waste it? Just some food for thought.
ADDED NOTE: Lab results will vary based on location. If you do decide to still print through these labs, be sure to click on “do not color correct” so your print gets as close to the photographer’s work as possible. Also…this post is not intended to “bash” these big box photo labs. It’s meant to educate…and show my clients the method to my madness! Also…if you do decide you do want to print the photos yourself, check out www.mpix.com. Although they aren’t going to get their colors EXACTLY with the photographer (it’s best if THEY do the ordering, that way they can take it up with the lab if the prints are off) they’ve been the best I have noticed from experience.
Edited to add (January 24, 2014)
This post was intended for my client’s eyes. If you are a photographer wanting to learn more, please feel free to contact me 🙂
Want to see another example? Check out my friend Lindsey over at Feather Blue Photography’s post!
This is very well written…I have wanted to put something like this together for a while now and this is a great example. I think you did a wonderful job of making your point.
I would like to say that I think making your print prices attainable for your clients is a must….I find that some photographers mark up their prices so much that by the time the client pays for the session they struggle to have the funds to buy a print. I certainly don’t want to “waste” my time taking pictures only to have them sit on my computer because the client couldn’t afford the images. Some places locally charge $400 for one digital image…$100 for an 8×10….I’m sorry, call me crazy but I think that is a joke. Value yourself as a photographer but don’t get too caught up in yourself that you forget the point…if someone can’t even enjoy the image, why take it?
I wholeheartedly agree! I’m all for the professional photography and prints but have been truly appalled at the mark up for the prints by some photographers ive emcountered. I’m willing to pay the photographer fairly for the time so please don’t try to raise that cost through the print cost–that’s just deceptive. To all the others that play fair–thank you for that and for your
professional work/prints!
The mark up on prints is how you pay for a professional photographers work.
You are not paying for professional quality paper. You are paying for the art work, retouching time, verifying the tone of the prints and beautiful packaging.
A sitting fee doesn’t cover the time to process your order it only covers the time it takes to pose you and capture your good side so you will pay for the images.
I actually still prefer to do my own printing. I agree it’s hard to find anywhere except for WHCC and other pro labs that do a good job. I catch a lot of grief for not giving out dvd’s for client’s to make prints from. Not really anywhere local that I would be willing to do printing for me. I’ve been doing my own printing since the darkroom days. I bought an Epson 4880 and while kind of expensive to begin with it allows me to produce great work. It also allows me to custom print for other photographers in the area. I can’t understand why photographers would want there work printed by Wal-Mart ect… It could really ruin a reputation fast.
Thanks Mike
Great comparisons. I love mpix.com for my clients.
Thank you for posting this, I have shared your link as it sums up exactly what I try to explain to my clients who have purchased a CD of all their images 🙂
MmeShutterfly | Melissa Crannie
You’ve got bad drug stores near you. The ones near me are excellent and actually have someone go through and check color and everything. Not all drug stores hire hacks with home-printers. All the ones I’ve seen around here are definitely professional to the point that professional photographers I know recommend a certain WalGreens.
The thing is with drugstores is that they are ALL going to be hit or miss. You may have a great drugstore near you…but what about the one in the city over? The point of this is that if you order from your photographer, you should have less of an issue with your photos looking like crap and in turn, wasting money.