On printing

What do you do with your photos after you take them?

Digital photography is wonderful, in that you can share photos online with many people simultaneously.  You can post your photos to Facebook or Twitter, or perhaps you have a Flickr or Photobucket account.  E-mailing attachments may seem quaintly old-fashioned, but it also does the job.

There is something magical, though, to the printed photo.  Looking at a print, be it in an album or a frame, is a tactile experience that can’t be reproduced online.  Printing is also a good way – and perhaps the only way – to share photos with people who aren’t computer-literate.  (My grandmother falls into that category).

Printing your photo at home

Photo printers are cheap and plentiful, and most will do a good job printing a basic 4x6 photo for your album.  When printing on your home printer, here are some items you should pay special attention to:

• The paper you choose.  A quick trip to an office supply store will reveal many different types and sizes of inkjet photo paper you can choose.  It usually comes in packs of 4x6 or letter size.  Choose dedicated inkjet photo paper; the store brand will likely be fine and you can save some coin on the purchase.  I choose letter size and trim my photos to fit; this gives me more flexibility in printing my images.  If you only want 4x6, buy the smaller paper and save both money and resources.
• Printer settings – your paper.  Your printer settings will have options such as “glossy photo paper,” “matte photo paper,” and “plain paper.”  Your printer lays down ink differently on glossy than on matte or plain paper; selecting the correct paper will deliver a better final result.
• Your print settings.  You should see options to print as draft, good quality, and high quality (sometimes more) when you set up your print job.  I always print at the highest quality; why bother making excellent photos if you’re not going to show them off at their best?

Printing your photos at a store

Unless it’s a one-off job, I prefer to print my photos at an online store.  It saves me time and money, in that printer ink is expensive and printing at home can be time-consuming.  You can upload photos to several services and have them mailed to you at home; alternatively, many places will let you upload photos, then you can go to a nearby store to pick up the images. 

• Snapfish – online service.  Mail to home.
• Ritz Camera – camera store chain.  Can pick up at local store or have mailed to you at home.
• CVS/Walgreens/Wal Mart – Pharmacy and big box store chains.  Can pick up at local store or have mailed to you at home.

My strong personal preference is for Ritz Camera.  Their printing is uniformly good and I enjoy the convenience of picking up prints an hour after they’re uploaded. 

Photo albums and photo books

Once you have your prints, you can put them in a photo album to keep them clean and safe.  This is the time-honored way of keeping most photos.  If you pick an album, try to purchase one with acid-free paper; it will last longer and won’t discolor your prints.  Albums sometimes have pockets to slip your photos into; these are fine.  Scrapbooks are an artsy way to display your work, and give you another creative outlet.

The printing services above also let you make photo books.  These are bound prints with your photos printed on the paper directly.  They’re durable, and when you take care to select your photos and layouts carefully, are attractive and unique.

Framing and displaying

You can also frame your prints and display them in your home.  My personal preference is to have a frame with a matte; this keeps your photo from touching the glass and protects it from damage.  The matte also sets off your photo, giving the resulting presentation a more finished look.  If framing and displaying several photos together, matching frames and mattes make for a nicely coordinated look – a decorator’s touch.

I choose plain frames and light-colored mattes for most of my photos.  Simpler frames are attractive, less expensive, and less distracting to the eye.  IKEA is a wonderful source for inexpensive frames and mattes.  Your local art store will likely have a wide and varied collection to choose from as well.

A carefully-selected, matted and framed photo also makes a lovely gift to a special person.  If you’re sharing your photo and want to add an artistic touch, you can sign the matte with a light pencil or pen for a “signature” piece of work.

The photo at the start of the entry cost less than $20 to print, matte, and frame.  It was a unique and wonderful keepsake for a good friend, and a memento of a fun afternoon in the sun.

Conclusion

Even though your photos may be digital, don’t overlook the satisfaction that can come from seeing your photos printed.  It’s the ultimate in portability and, when printed professionally, should stand the test of time.

When less is more

I went to New York this past weekend.  In addition to selling some old gear at Adorama, I was able to spend most of Sunday walking the streets of the city, visiting the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, and shooting photos all along the way.  Selected photos are posted on my Flickr page.

When I select which photos I’m going to share, I use a short list of criteria to winnow the selection down to a workable number:

1. Identify obvious quality issues.  Anything that is out of focus, has incorrect focus, or is too under- or overexposed gets tossed. 
2. Eliminate obvious duplicates.  Most of the time, your viewers only need to see one shot of a particular item.  Six photos of your dog peeing on a fire hydrant, from three angles, is overkill.
3. Identify problems in your remaining photos.  If it’s something you can correct, do so.  If you can’t fix it, discard the image. 
4. Tell a story.  I then go through the remaining photos and put them in an order that helps to tell a story.  If you find your “story” dragging at points, you have too many similar photos and need to cull some more. 

My reasoning is pretty simple:  If people only see your best work, they won’t know you take bad photos.  Nobody has to know how often your photos are blurry.  Nobody has to see your finger in front of the lens. 

Which brings me to the point of this blog entry.  Repeat after me:  You should only show your best work.

This seems like a simple idea, but too many photographers dump all of their photos – either onto their computer, a USB drive, or directly to the Internet – without taking the time to really look at them and make decisions.  This is the digital equivalent of having to look at somebody’s vacation slides.  Usually there are too many of them, too much repetition, and the truly exceptional photos in the bunch are drowned in an ocean of mediocrity.

I took more than 160 photos when I was in New York on Sunday.  My online album contains the best 16 of those photos.  In choosing which photos to share, I ended up picking about one out of every 10 shots.  That’s a pretty good ratio. 

In general, the better your photographs, the more people want to see, and it’s always better to keep your fans wanting more than to give them more than they want.

Simplifying

I learned photography using a 1970’s vintage Canon SLR.  When the Base Newspaper Office where I worked upgraded to new Canon EOS bodies, it was like a quantum leap in photography for me. 

Even though most of my photography these days is done digitally with my DSLR, I’ve been keeping film cameras around.  I enjoy shooting a roll of film now and again; it teaches me to slow down, to concentrate on the process, and makes me think very hard how to capture the moment I want to capture – film definitely does not offer the instant gratification of digital, nor the chance to shoot several hundred images and cherry pick the best right away.

That having been said, I’ve collected a few vintage cameras over the years.  They’re gathering dust for the most part, stored in a bin, not being used.  And that’s a shame. 

My partner and I are going to New York this weekend, and I’m taking advantage of the opportunity to visit Adorama and divest myself of some of the little-used cameras.  I’ll keep a couple that I really like – my very nice Canonet GIII QL17 and my banged-up, well-used Nikomat FTN spring to mind – and see if I can recoup some money from the others that aren’t being used. 

I still intend to shoot a roll of film now and again, as the experience helps me remember that making a good photograph isn’t always so simple.  A little history lesson now and again can only benefit my work.

Back to Basics!

I’ve been shooting digital images for a while now, and I’m beginning to see how they make me a lazy photographer.  When you have instant feedback, can correct your stuff immediately, or even post-process it extensively, it’s difficult to really get into the process, using the craft, and taking the time to make every shot count.

Additionally, every professional photographer in the city uses digital, and people are learning to expect instant results.  Impatient people get inferior products.  With that in mind, I’ve decided that my niche needs to be a more sedate, studied process.

That’s why I’m returning to the basics:  I’m going to do daguerreotypes. 

The business model is sound.  There is not a single working daguerreotypist in New England, so there’s no competition.  People must be aching for a return to simpler times.  Imagine, if you will, the fascination in little children’s faces as you set up your large daguerreotype camera at their kid’s party.  The anticipation of waiting hours for the results, and only having the one chance to get it right, will undoubtedly add a new and exciting facet to the typical dog-and-pony show that young rich children call a birthday party.

Or theme weddings.  The thrill of being captured in your finery, being held stock-still by special neck clamps as you wait for the 45-second exposure to complete.  This is perfect for those special occasions when only a finely-crafted image on glass will do.

Daguerreotypes are permanent in a way that no film-based photography can be.  Film degrades, but daguerreotypes are glass; unless you break them, they will last for centuries.

I really think I’ve come up with a unique business idea that will make me rich!

Oh, and HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!

Pots and Pans

One thing I’ve discovered among people is that they believe that a more expensive camera must take better photos.  It’s like eating a truly excellent dinner and telling the cook, “you must have great pots and pans.”  The very idea is absurd. 

I always take pains to point out that it’s not the camera, the lens, the light, or the subject that makes a photograph great.  The single most important element in making a good photograph is the photographer.  Surprised?

All things being equal, a good photographer will make good photos with poor equipment more often than a poor photographer will make good photos, whatever he’s using.

Case in point #1: 

This photo, of a bracelet by jeweler Keith Monsour, was taken at the spur of the moment, on an overcast day, with an iPhone.  Keith arranged the bracelet on a stone he’d found on the beach, set onto a field of clover, and I composed the shot in the viewfinder and snapped it.

Case in point #2:

This photo was taken by a friend of mine, using my digital SLR and a very good zoom lens.  Note that the background is in perfect focus, but the subject is not.  If the expensive camera were better, this photo should have been better.

So how does a poor photographer become good, and a good photographer get better?  Practice.  So go make a great photo today!

About Perspicacity

Since I’m not posting a Photo of the Day every day, I decided a name change was in order.  Since the URL uses the word perspicax, the Latin root of the word perspicacious, it seemed a good place to start. 

To be perspicacious is to be discerning.  Literally, it means to be “clear-sighted,” which has an extra meaning when applied to the practice of photography.  A photographer who intends to make good photographs needs to be clear sighted, to have goals, and to know what differentiates a good photo from a mere snapshot.

I’ve been thinking hard about how to proceed with this blog.  My Photo of the Day project was fascinating, but it was mostly successful because it relied on regular – indeed, very regular – posting behavior – on my part.  I have to decide how this will carry over with the name change.

My current goal is to use this blog to talk about photography.  It won’t give photography lessons, per se, but instead will go into the whys and wherefores of how I come to make an image.  Obviously, I’ll be relying on my own experiences, and perhaps the experiences of my photographically-inclined friends, to decide what to blog about. 

I’m open to suggestions as well.  If you have questions, please post them in the comments, or e-mail me with them.  If I can answer them intelligently, I will.

Meanwhile, I’m going to get to work on my first “new” blog post.  Wish me luck!

Returning to the blogosphere

I'm back.

I did pretty well keeping up with my Photo of the Day project for most of last year. The onset of multiple stressful situations did that project in late in October, two months shy of its completion, but it accomplished a lot of goals. It made me more aware of my surroundings, and though the pursuit of the daily photo led to some questionable choices, it did keep me thinking.

I have to retitle this blog in the near future. I'm going to work on posting more interesting photos as they happen. I won't be posting every day, but I hope I can put something up once a week or so.

I may also wax on about the philosophy of photography from time to time. Not often, I promise; I don't do philosophical well.

Meanwhile, here's to blogging again on a regular basis.

October 22

As fall approaches and the birds have had all summer to fatten up, these fat little birds -- house sparrows, perhaps? -- are all over Boston. They're a little comical to watch, as they hop around the ground looking for bits and bobs to snack on. They look so rotund that they shouldn't be able to get airborne. It makes sense that they fatten up for their journey south, I suppose. It's a long flight and they burn a lot of calories.

Last summer, a family of house sparrows took up residence in our front porch light. I was a little concerned that the eggs might be hard boiled, but the light acted more like an incubator than oven coil. My landladies moved them, nest and all, to a purpose-built little box high up on the corner of the porch, as they worried that the naked bulb might set the nest on fire.

I know, intellectually, that house sparrows are an invasive species in North America, and that they smash eggs and steal nests from other birds. Still, after the little family shared our home last summer, I feel some affection for the little pests.

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October 21

Surprisingly, it wasn't the foliage that caught my eye when I decided to take this photo; it was all the birds on the surface of Jamaica Pond. Alas, little birds on the big pond from a car hundreds of feet from said waterfowl doesn't lend itself to brilliant shooting, so this is the best of the bunch.

On the plus side, it was a great day to go for a ride with the windows down, even if I was rushing madly to get everywhere I needed to get and do everything I needed to do. I managed to travel distances in the city that I wouldn't have believed possible in an hour, and still made it to work on time despite having to make a detour to West Roxbury -- the precise opposite direction from work.

Yesterday was busy but felt unproductive. Today was busy but very productive -- I got a lot done -- and it feels really good!

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October 20

Today was inexplicably frustrating for me. I was working on stuff all day, I got stuff done, and I was on schedule, more or less, but I'm still behind and it feels like I haven't accomplished jack-@*$!.

(I noticed that my speech today has become approximately five times more scatological than usual as well.)

I felt a little better after accomplishing something concrete. We're giving away NaNoBoston 2009 stickers in goody bags this year, but we had to create them ourselves. This involved cutting them out of the label paper. It was laborious, but it felt good to just slice the crap out of these things -- and was productive as well.

I have about two dozen more things to accomplish before we assemble the goody bags on Friday -- not least of which is designing the ML nametags -- so I will be plenty busy. I'm living by the calendar, and it's working (more or less), but I don't have to like it!

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October 19

This little urban oasis is located near the Longwood Medical Area on my route to work. It's a little amazing to me that I have lived as long as I have and never realized that vines turned colors like other deciduous broadleaf plants.

It was such a beautiful day today; it's hard to believe that 24 hours before this photo was taken, Boston was getting a wintry mix of freezing rain, sleet, and snow. With the temperatures tomorrow getting into the high 50s/low 60s, it should be another lovely autumn day. Which is both pleasant and welcome -- I'll take all the respites I can get before winter sets in.

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October 18

My friend Keith and I had our dinner at New York System in Providence tonight. Even if we had only gone for this, it probably would have been worth the drive in the rain, and the drive back in the snow. I don't recall snow in October before. Once in May, sure, but never in October.

But I digress.

Keith needed the lift to visit a unique craft store in Warwick, and his lure was to offer me dinner for driving him. He introduced me to Coneys in Fall River earlier this summer, and New York System weinies -- don't call them hot dogs! -- are similar. They come topped with meat sauce, mustard, onions, and celery salt -- and I think the toppings outweigh the pork in the hot dogs.

Still, they're delicious, and there is a tradition -- a mythos, even -- around their consumption. Since they're small, they're often consumed in multiple units; six is not unheard of, though that's usually a weinie-only meal. As I only had two weinies, I also got a small order of truly outstanding french fries. (Note: a small order of french fries at New York System is a dinner plate full).

And then there was Norman, the loquacious and colorful weenie cook. He was entertainment all on his own, telling stories of his 20-plus years there.

All in all, it was a great day, despite the weather. I'm going to have to haul my photo walk cronies down there some weekend next spring.

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October 17

It was a brisk but pretty day in Roslindale today. I took a little walk, camera in hand, to run a few errands. I had the idea of getting photos of the foliage -- it's becoming a hobby of mine -- though this photo of the flag hanging from the pole caught my eye. (American Flags have been another thing I've been noticing of late.)

I managed to get a couple of frames from the Treasure Chest for a song today -- I guess I'm going to do some printing soon to find something to go into them. It's something to keep me busy on these cold autumn days.

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October 16

It's gotten chilly in Boston recently, with lows in the 30s and highs barely getting into the high 40s. I'm doing my level best not to complain about the weather -- really, I am -- but when it's this cold and this wet, it's difficult.

That's why this one lone rose hanging on to a scrawny rose bush made me smile. I was putting away the garbage can and spotted it there -- that bright color really stand out. It's kind of inspiring to see a little bit of summer hanging on.

If this little flower can tough it out, so can I. I think that's a good enough life lesson for today.

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October 15

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals runs the Angell Animal Medical Center in Jamaica Plain.

I drive by this sign almost every day. The iconography is great on it, and was what originally caught my eye. I found it surprising that an animal hospital rates the "hospital" sign (H in square), but when I thought about it, realized it made sense. It's easily the largest animal hospital in Massachusetts, as well as the best emergency medical option for a sick pet.

At work, I've referred residents with sick pets here often. When Pogo, our dog, became very ill at the end of his life, we brought him here, where the vet on call was thoughtful and treated us with great sensitivity, helping us to make the difficult choice to have him put to sleep.

Dealing with a sick pet is very difficult. They can't tell you what hurts or what's wrong, yet you want to help them and make them better. The folks at Angell are wonderful at guiding pet owners through very difficult procedures and options, and helping you to make the right decision. That is invaluable.

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October 14

Cumberland Street in Boston's Back Bay is a tony little side street of single-family homes near the Christian Science Center. Being a dead-end street means that there isn't much traffic either.

I drive down Cumberland between Huntington Ave. and St. Botolph St. almost every weekday en route to work. With the foliage really coming into its own in the cooler weather, the scene is very picturesque. Since tomorrow there will likely be an overcast sky, I thought this might be my best chance to capture a pretty scene before the leaves turn brown and get blown away.

I'm usually not fond of autumn, as it heralds the end of summer and the inevitable winter storms that befall New England. This year, though, I have to admit that the beautiful foliage (following a sopping wet spring) has been remarkable.

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October 13

Lt. Charles M. Toole once lived at 68 Weld Hill Street in Jamaica Plain. He died October 1, 1918, 42 days before the Armistice. I can't find a lot more information about him, but knowing that explains why he has this nice memorial marker near Forest Hills Station.

This marker is right on the main drag. I can't find information on when the marker was placed, though the geographic proximity to his home makes sense. I suspect -- but can't confirm -- that the marker was placed by the local American Legion Post 76, which is about 50 yards away.

Lt. Toole must have been quite a remarkable person to have somebody go to the expense of raising this monument. I hope that the remarkable young men fighting today are remembered equally respectfully when they give their lives.

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October 12

So the sumptuous scene above was shot at the site of one of NaNoBoston09's write-ins next month.

Juiceboxartists is a writing group in Somerville. The founder, Deborah, has kindly agreed to let us use their studio as a write-in location. The studio, in a former industrial building, is richly decorated; I could only think to describe it as a salon, and honestly, what better place to foster creativity?

The space is both beautiful and functional. Plugs are abundant and easily accessible, for instance, and there's wireless access available for the wrimos so inclined. I'm very excited that we're getting to use such a beautiful -- and unique -- location for a write-in. It's certainly very different from a library or a fast food shop!

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October 11

With National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) coming up soon, and our participation (our region is called NaNoBoston), and since we were shopping for door prizes for our events, finding "Nano Glue" just seemed kind of prophetic. After all, when things are falling apart, you can use glue to hold it all together.

We have managed -- finally! -- to get everything we need to host write-ins, along with most of our door prizes.

Alas, venues aren't coming along as smoothly. We have one pesky write-in night that is proving tough to fill. Today's trip to Cambridge was unproductive -- our hoped-for location at B.Good near Harvard is just too small. Tomorrow we visit a dedicated writing studio in Somerville; this location is practically scheduled already, so the visit is mostly a formality. We have until Friday, when we announce our schedule. We have a plan ... it's just a case of that plan working out.

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October 10

A resident where I work moved out at the end of September, leaving what can only be described as a monumental desk in our loading dock.

Technically, they gave it to one of my colleagues. She accepted it, with the intention of giving it to a charity or other good cause. It was a laudable goal, though it didn't pan out. So when the boss threatened to bust it into pieces and toss it in the dumpster, I asked for the chance to find somebody to take it.

This desk is big; L-shaped, six feet wide by seven feet long, it would take 42 ft. sq. of floor space. I thought about taking it home myself, but there was no way I could shoehorn the damn thing in. I put it together in the loading dock, photographed it carefully, and set about posting the photos online, planning to advertise the thing on Craigslist and Freecycle. My friend Scott messaged me while I was doing this, so I asked him if he wanted a ginormous desk.

He did.

This is the way the desk looked once we loaded the heavy desk into his father's enormous SUV. I'm sure that we were quite the sight as we drove up I-93. Regardless, we got the desk to Scott's home, unloaded it, and managed to get it inside. I'll be sore tomorrow, but it'll be worth it.

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