The importance of art - part two

Last time I posted about the importance of art, I kinda got off topic with what I really wanted to write about.

I'm doing something completely different:

I will no longer be offering digital negatives.

I have learned in the last few months the importance of good quality products and prints. Especially when it comes to displaying my art properly. I hate to say it, but Costco's printing lab just won't cut it for me. My prints are to be cherished, special, art-worthy, wall-worthy, and above all my prints are to be printed correctly. I have software that I use that calibrates my computer monitor SPECIFICALLY for printing through my professional photo lab. It is fine tuned to reflect the correct colors and edits that I create the photo to be.

I know that it is scary and different (especially in St George, Utah). Almost every photographer that I know offers digital negatives. I just don't trust other printing labs to create the high quality image that I strive for. I know that I would cringe if I saw a print that someone made that didn't reflect the image I created because of the not-so-good, consumer level printer.

Please trust me that I am doing this for the good of my client and my artwork.

I am currently setting up a proofing site that will allow you to view your images and make purchases of those images easily and effectively. I want the pricing of the prints to be affordable and worth it to you. I will offer a CD of all the images in low-resolution and watermarked for your use to post on facebook, your blog, and to email to family and friends.

So let's be honest here: you want prints of your images. You will get them printed anyway. You may as well get them perfectly printed with high quality photo paper. Leave all the work to me :)

Aside from prints, I will also be offering some other options. These options include Canvas Gallery Wraps and neat print mounting options! I'm so excited!!!

Thanks for your support!

To demonstrate the difference in consumer printers and paper vs professional printers and paper:

Digital image:

Printed Images:

There will be some differences in the digital image and prints. Printed images are comprised of CMYK coloring, whereas the digital images are comprised of RGB. The digital images are also being lit by a computer screen, so they will seem slightly brighter than a printed photograph. So taking a look at the above photos, the first thing I noticed when I examined the prints was the coloring. If you look at the color of the tree trunks, it looks nice and pleasant in the professional lab print. All of the other labs printed the images with more blacks and contrast. Not something that I'm loving. I noticed that Costco increased the brightness, blacks, and saturation of their images. If you look at the little girl's hair in the image, it is much more bright in the Costco print. Walgreen and Walmart's images look almost identical, but I can tell that Walgreens image has slighlty more contrast and blacks than Walmart. But WOW they really messed up the original edit, didn't they. The grass looks more dead than alive.

Okay, here is another example. I wanted to do a closeup of a face to see the differences in color and wow was I amazed at the differences in all labs!

I'm sure that first off you are wondering about Walgreens and if you will ever get prints there again. Doesn't that look absolutely atrocious?! I promise I did not enhance or change these images when I scanned them in.  I used to think Walgreens was a decent photo lab. Not anymore. Walmart has a lovely pink/redish tint that is applied. Not only can you see the overuse of pink/red saturation in his face, but also in the backdrop behind him. Costco kind of did what Walmart did but instead of pink, it's orange/brown tints.

I'm not a perfect expert at printing and labs and color, but I will tell you that the results speak for themselves.  

Thanks for your support in this new fun change of Teria Photography!

Photo Cards

I absolutely love to design. Just ask my husband. When I get involved in a project, I'm in the "zone" and can create for hours. Yesterday I got a call from a family member asking me if I could quickly design something for a baby shower she is throwing. Here is what I whipped up in about an hour:

She ended up choosing the second one. Which I like a little better. They are both turned out great. 

Here is the invitation I designed for my son's 3rd birthday party last month:

So ya! I just wanted to share and let you know that I can do custom photo card design for whatever occasion you can think of! I also have a high quality print lab that I work with that offers photo cards on high quality durable photo paper, so it's not just a print. 

I have taken graphic design courses the last year and I've learned a lot about printing and design. I use Adobe Illustrator to design these vector cards. 

Thanks for looking and contact me to make your next card!

Heritage Days - A Desert to a Dream photos

I am apart of the Southern Utah Photography Guild. We have monthly meetings and at each of those meetings we have a theme and are supposed to bring a printed image that is relative to that specific theme. I was able to go to my first meeting a few days ago. I didn't have even time to print but I was looking through my photos, I think I would have decided on this one for the theme of "Reflections":

Apart of the Southern Utah Photography Guild, I am participating in the Heritage Days Arts Festival. It will be help on Saturday January 14 at the Art Center. I'll be there from 10am-2pm so come by and say hi! Here are the images I am getting ready for the festival. 

and here are my runner-ups:

Pricing Changes. Let's PRINT!

I've recently changed my pricing!

I am realizing the importance of professional lab quality prints. Much better than Costco.
With that in mind, I am wanting to make prints be apart of the Teria Photography experience. I won't charge ridiculous prices for prints. The prices will be fair and reasonable. And I guarantee and that you will be impressed with your prints from me than the prints you get at a store like Walgreens or Walmart.

So check out my new pricing structure! Here at my website:
http://teriaphotography.com/t/pricing.php