Where should I print my pictures?

I get asked this question alot.

My answer:  It depends on what you're using the pictures for.

I know most professional photographers will say to only get your photos printed at a professional lab.  The only time I disagree with this, is based on your answer to the question, what are you using the pictures for?

If I am printing pictures 5x7 or smaller and they are intended for an album, like Project Life, I print my photos at Costco (if I want a white border around them or if I need them quickly).

Keep in mind when printing anywhere, what you see on your screen isn't necessarily what you get from the printer (unless your monitor is calibrated to that specific printer).  I have learned that Costco prints tend to be a little "dark".  So before I send them to Costco I lighten them up a little (bump up the exposure).  All of the photos in this wall collage I did are from Costco.

OR I print my 4x6 photos at York Photo online.  If you google "free 4x6 prints" a code for 100 free prints to york photo should pop up.  You can use that the first time you order prints from them.  They also have sales on their prints all the time so I have a folder on my desktop with pictures I want to print and I wait until there is a sale and then send a batch of those pictures in to be printed.

If I am printing bigger than 5x7 or printing anything large that will be hung on my walls, I use Pixels Foto and Frame (for the Utah readers, it's on 90th S. and State Street in Sandy) or online I use Mpix.  These are both professional printing labs with affordable prices.  And their customer service is killer!!

I use pixels for regular prints (they'll do custom sizes which I love to do) and I also use them for matboard prints like this one:

Mpix has a bunch of novelty photo items like calendars and photo books and cards along with regular prints.  I also use them for printing stickers and business cards.

Any photos I print I use a matte or lustre finish instead of glossy.  Makes them look better in my opinion.

If you have never printed somewhere before and don't know what the prints will end up looking like, just send a few photos to be printed.  Then if you like how they look, you can send a bigger batch for prints.

I have also printed at Persnickety Prints in Orem, UT.  They do printing for Instagram pics (square photos) as well as Project Life album sizes (3x4's).  I also love their polaroid type prints.  Hoping to get a lot of those for a wall display I have in mind.  The printers at Persnickety have a different color than what I see on my monitor, so if you plan to print there, do a "test" print first to make sure it looks the way you want it to.  (For anyone who cares, my monitor reads an RGB color space, and persnickety does heavy stock prints which are CMYK color space.  Different from photographic prints which are RGB)  Regardless, the prints still look awesome!  I'm sure I'll be posting more about Persnickety in the future.  Killer customer service and response time!

I personally would never print at Walmart.  For anything.

Uniquely awesome photo display.

The walls in my home are sacred space.  Whatever goes on them is something we'll see every.single.day.  So I'm pretty choosey about what gets a spot on those walls.

Which is why many of the walls in our home are still bare.  Just waiting for the perfect thing to hang on them.

The wall in my office is one such space.  I spend a fair amount of late night hours on my computer.  And I wanted something inspirationally awesome to go on the wall I see the most while in there.

I've held out.  And I finally found the perfect thing.

It went from this:

To this:

It took a little longer than anticipated to get on the wall.  And I didn't finish during naptime (which created some challenges with a two-year-old who will remain nameless that was eventually banished from the room) or before my girls got home from school so they sat on the floor and watched me finish.

While I carefully selected photos out of my rather large pile, the girls commented on the photos.  The things they said were unsolicited.  I asked for no commentary on what was going on (because usually by that time of day, I'd like to give my ears a time-out).  I was in full concentration mode to hurry and get those things on the wall before the previously mentioned two-year-old sabotaged the entire project.

Mya:  "Whooooa.  I can't believe you put so many photos of just me.  All by myself.  I must be special."

Jaida:  "Mom, I'm really glad you can take such good photos of us"

And my favorite (and most gratifying since I have an intentional purpose for taking SO many photos of our everyday lives):

Mya:  "Wow, Mom, you sure do take a lot of photos"
Me:  "Why do you think that is, Mya"
Jaida: (without a pause) "Because you think we're awesome!"

Intentional parenting for the WIN!

I got the photoclips at fotojojo.com 

I went back about 4 years and looked through all our pictures, picking out some of my favorites.  I printed them at Costco (I know, gasp--but when I'm only printing as a 4x6 and I'm printing THAT many, I just use Costco).

I started with a block of photos put together first.  I taped those to the wall, and then added pictures one-by-one directly onto the wall.

There probably was an easier way to do it, but this worked for me.  Eventually.

It took a few hours.  But it's my favorite spot in the house right now.  The kids too.  We've all spent a lot of time gazing at that wall, reminiscing about a lot of really good family memories in our home!

I ended up with 153 photos on the wall.  At some point I may go down the wall further, but for now, I have to keep the pictures out of reach of certain little fingers who like to destroy things.

And the view from my desk now.  I dig it.

 Of course it looks cooler if the photos are good quality.  So if you want to do this in your home, learn how to improve your photo skills.  Not just the quality of the photo, but also the type of pictures you take.  You won't regret it.  One of the best investments you'll ever make.

What kind of camera should I buy?

What kind of camera should I buy?

I get asked this question a lot, so I figured it warranted a blog post.  Let me be upfront and say I am by no means an expert on cameras.  There are a bajillion cameras out there these days and most of them are probably pretty good and will do what you need them to do.  This is all MY opinion and what I would do if I were looking for an entry level digital camera (dSLR--camera that can change lenses).

I also need to add the disclaimer that I shoot with a Canon camera so I'm only familiar with the Canon brand.  I'm not looking for a debate on which brand is better.  Canon, Nikon.  They're both good.  My dad bought me a film Canon camera in high school and when I switched to digital, I stuck with Canon so I could still use my lenses (since Canon lenses fit on any Canon dSLR camera).  And I do not get paid by Canon to promote their products (although that would be nice).

When I first started out, I bought a Canon Rebel and started my business with that camera.  They have changed that camera around a bit since I bought one.  But here are some things I would look for. 

Don't get fooled by megapixels.  People think that a camera with more megapixels is a better camera.  Not necessarily true.  All megapixels means is that you can make larger prints.  So higher megapixels means you can make bigger prints.  You don't need a 20 megapixel camera unless you're planning to print pictures the size of billboards.  Seriously.  :)  

The lenses for a camera are almost more important than the camera itself.  I talk a bit about this in my "tell my story" class, but the lenses that come with a camera aren't that great.  In the class, I talk about  different lenses you can get after you get the camera and the lens that comes with it.  So when looking at different lenses, you'll see a number like 18-55 or 18-200.  That tells you how far the camera can zoom.  So the larger the second number, the farther you can zoom.  

If you see an "IS" that means Image Stabilization which helps keeps shots in focus if you don't have a very steady hand.  

I looked on Costco's website and some of the camera's come with 2 lenses.  If it were me, I would just get a camera body and one lens that comes with it (looks like 18-55mm on most of them) and save my money to invest in a better second lens instead of another "kit" lens.  Or you could even just buy a camera body and then buy better lenses than what come in the "kit". ("kit" meaning lenses that come in a kit with the camera body)

A GREAT lens to get is a 50mm 1.8 which you can buy for around $100.  I would 100% invest my money in that before I got a camera from costco with 2 lenses.  The 50mm doesn't zoom so you have to physically move closer and farther away from a subject, BUT, the 1.8 is the aperture number.  That number determines your depth of field.  That is the kind of lens that allows you to take pictures where someones eyes can be in focus and by the time you get to their ear, it's out of focus.  This is the kind of lens that makes pictures look much more professional.  It also helps in low light situations.  So it's great for taking pictures inside your home.  Most of our houses don't have tons of natural light in all the rooms or areas of the home so this lens helps to be able to take pictures without your flash on (cause flash is ugly).

Here's a link to the 50mm on Amazon:  

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Standard AutoFocus Lens - Gray Market

Or, if you have the money, buy a 50mm 1.4 which is anywhere from $300-$350.  This is the lens I use about 90% of the time during photoshoots and 99% of the time in my home taking pictures of my kids.  It looks similar to the other lens, but it's much higher quality and "faster" meaning it does even better in low light situations.  

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Standard & Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras

Again, I go into great depth in my class about why that is the case.  Takes more explanation than I can do justice in a blog post.

These lenses are called prime lenses.  Meaning you can't zoom in or out.  So if you want to get closer or farther away from your subject, you have to physically walk closer or farther away.  Takes a little getting used to, but it's SO worth it.

Here are some examples of what the 50mm lens can do.  Keeps the subject you want in focus, and the rest blurry.  

These lenses are key to "telling a story" with your photographs.

And when you buy any lenses, make sure to get a UV Protection filter to go with it.  I have one on all my lenses so if I ever drop my camera (which of course I would never do, but juuuust in case), the UV filter breaks instead of the actual lens.  Anytime you buys a lens, you should automatically buy one of these as well.

Another thing to look for is HD video.  I use the video capability on my Canon all the time.  The cool thing about video on a camera, is that you can switch the lenses around and "mix up" the look of your videos.  You can also get shallow depth of field (only part of the frame is in focus and the rest is blurry) so it draws attention to the subject.

I would only buy cameras from a trusted source and I would never buy used.  You never know what people do to those cameras.  How many times they've been dropped, spilled on, slobbered on.  You get the picture.

I would stick with Amazon, Costco, BandHphoto, Pictureline (in Salt Lake), Pixels (in Sandy), or Allen's (in American Fork or Provo).

If I were to go out and buy an entry level camera (meaning you're not looking to go Pro with that camera), I would buy the Canon T3i.  It has HD video as well as the capacity to shoot in low light situations without using a flash (because flash just looks baaaaad).  The ISO in a camera is one factor that can help you shoot in low light.  The higher the ISO goes on the camera, the darker it could be.  (Also something I discuss in class).  The T3i can go up to 6400.  For comparison, the camera I started with (Rebel) only went to 1600.  And at 1600 it looked really bad.

If you don't have that money in your budget, you could still get a Canon T3 and have a great camera.  The differences seem to be megapixels, the swiveling screen, and better video quality.

Here's a link to the T3i on Amazon. Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens  

Another thing to look for is a camera bag.  Get a good one that will protect your camera AND hold all the gear you'll have.  They can be pricey but if you shop around, you can find a good deal.

Another thing you can consider is getting a camera coat.  These things are awesome.  Lots of times I just want to take my camera and one lens (almost always my 50mm) and I don't want to haul around my big bag but I don't want my camera to get "hurt".  Camera coats take care of that.  Check them out at www.cameracoats.com (These make good gifts too).

photo credit: Camera Coats

If you have more specific questions, please feel free to e-mail me at ltross17@yahoo.com and I will do my best to answer them.  Again, I'm not an expert.

Good luck and Happy shopping!