Alternative methods of presentation
I have considered the different ways in which the final images can be presented for Assignment 208 Principles of Location Photography Theme 1 Built Environment and Theme 2 Nature. The 2 main methods of presentation are:
Electronic, by displaying the images on my Blog and submission of all images on a computer disc for high quality assessment.
Prints, submission of A3 300dpi prints for assessment.
However there are other methods of presentation including an exhibition of framed or mounted prints or projected images, a brochure, website, books and albums.
These methods of display can be further divided by alternative processes.
Printing of images can be by the photographer or by a high street or professional laboratory either local or on line. If the photographer is doing the processing it can be by using an Inkjet or Dye-sublimation (dye-sub) printer.
Dye-Sub Printers
Dye-sub printers rely on a heating process to mix dyes onto a specially coated paper, producing a continuous tone print. An additional clear protective layer is added over the dyes, making them less prone to scuffs and smears when the print is handled. There are very few dye-sub printers on the market and they start at about £600 for an 6 x 9 inch print size from manufacturers such as HiTi and Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi CP-9550DW Dye-sub printer £735
Inkjet Printers
The majority of dedicated photo printers on the market today are inkjets. These printers spray discrete, but tiny droplets of ink onto specially coated papers via a printhead that makes multiple passes across the print surface.
Although these ink dots do not mix together before being ejected onto the print surface, they are extremely small; so small that they're measured in picolitres (trillionths of a litre). Complex dot placement algorithms known as dithering, along with paper coatings designed to maintain image sharpness and vibrancy, are capable of producing literally millions of colours with tonal gradations that appear smooth to the naked eye. Inkjet printers come in a variety of forms. With inkjet printers, the illusion of smooth, photo-realistic tonal gradations is achieved by using extremely small ink droplets and adjusting their size and spacing to produce darker or lighter areas of an image. A series of dots packed tightly together on the page will create a darker tone than dots of identical density that are spaced further apart. The problem is that if there is too much space between dots, so our eyes will pick them out as individual shapes. In the early days of the technology, a telltale sign that a photograph had been printed using an inkjet printer was the appearance of visible dots in the highlight tones of an image, where wide spacing of ink dots on the paper was needed to achieve light densities of tone.
So with today's more expensive and larger photo printers you often see not just the traditional colours of cyan, magenta, yellow and black but diluted versions, such as light cyan, light magenta as well as light black (otherwise known as grey). These secondary inks work in conjunction with the traditional primaries to make seamless transitions from darker to lighter tones. Because their density value is lighter, these secondary inks can be spaced close enough to hide individual dots from the naked eye, yet still yield the print densities necessary to create subtle highlight detail.
Due to inherent ink impurities, one of the more difficult things to do is to achieve neutral monochrome results by mixing colour inks. Therefore, printers most appropriate for black and white output will employ one or more additional black inks.
Canon iP4950 A4 printer £80
Canon Pixma Pro1 A3+ 12 colour ink printer £800
Canon iPF5100 A2 17 in 12 colour ink printer £ 1,600
Canon iPF9100 60 in 12 colour ink printer £15,000
The Canon inkjet printers above show some of the range available and that prices increase as the size of prints produced and the number of inks used go up. The A4 and A3+ printers are aimed at home use while the A2 and above are used by the commercial professional labs. Greater colour print detail and better black & white prints will be produced by the more expensive home or office printers and professional lab printers that use a larger number of inks.
Types of paper etc
Prints can be produced on a variety of surface finishes of paper such as textured, matt, satin velvet or gloss. The paper can be of various thickness or weight from thin copy paper at 80 g.s.m up to card at 350 g.s.m or higher. Textured paper and canvas can also be used for flat prints and frame wraps.
Types of paper etc
Prints can be produced on a variety of surface finishes of paper such as textured, matt, satin velvet or gloss. The paper can be of various thickness or weight from thin copy paper at 80 g.s.m up to card at 350 g.s.m or higher. Textured paper and canvas can also be used for flat prints and frame wraps.
Purchasing Prints and Frames
Prints can be ordered from large multiple photo stores such as Jessops or Boots or on line from labs such as Snapfish. These outlets are ideal for smaller prints that are required relatively quickly.
The larger print machines used by professional labs have a larger number of inks with lighter tones and hence better quality results. So if prints above A4 are required for display or exhibition higher quality prints can be obtained from professional labs. These professional labs can provide just the prints to various sizes or a complete print service of printing and framing. This complete service is provided by labs such as Print Lounge, The Image Box, Pro Am Imaging, White Wall, The Print Space and Genesis Imaging but prices can go as high as £206 for a 16 x 12in framed print from Genesis.
A large range of frames are available from many suppliers including, Kenro, Superframe, Ultimat
The larger print machines used by professional labs have a larger number of inks with lighter tones and hence better quality results. So if prints above A4 are required for display or exhibition higher quality prints can be obtained from professional labs. These professional labs can provide just the prints to various sizes or a complete print service of printing and framing. This complete service is provided by labs such as Print Lounge, The Image Box, Pro Am Imaging, White Wall, The Print Space and Genesis Imaging but prices can go as high as £206 for a 16 x 12in framed print from Genesis.
A large range of frames are available from many suppliers including, Kenro, Superframe, Ultimat
Black ash frame from the Print Lounge
Frames by Kenro
Other methods of presentation
Photographs can also be printed into a book form by companies such as Photo Box, Bob Books, Snapfish and Albelli.
Brochures can also be printed which is a medium often used for product promotion. Brochures are available from many printers including Vista Print.
Albums are available from many suppliers such as Kenro in leather, suedette, vinyl etc. Albums can be very expensive and are mainly used for weddings and other such occasions.
Many professional photographers display framed prints for sale in a gallery. One of the professional landscape photographers that I have featured in my Blog, Joe Cornish runs two galleries in the Lake District for the display, promotion and sale of his and other photographers' work.
Choice of presentation method
I have decided to submit the final selection of 10 images for each of the two themes Nature and Built Environment for Assignment 208 as electronic images on my blog and also on a disc. The CD disc will show the quality of the images and both images before and after Photoshop processing will be included. The reason for this format of presentation is so that the images can be seen in a large size of A4 or above depending on the viewing screen used and expanded if required. Also as images before and after Photoshop processing will be included this will help with the assessment process. This method of presentation will also keep costs down as producing a minimum of 20 photographs of a high standard would incur a considerable cost.
However an opportunity for the course students to display two prints each in the offices of a local council was negotiated by one of the students. So I will be displaying one print from each of the two assignment 208 themes in the reception area of South Derbyshire District Council for one week from Monday 6th February 2012.
A number of professional printers and frame manufacturers were assessed for quality and cost for the production of our prints. It was decided from previous experience by the students that Pro Am Imaging produced high quality prints at good prices so they were used for the colour and black & white print production. Black 2cm deep 20 x 26 inch frames with white 16 x 12 inch mounts were ordered from Wilkinsons Ltd who offer good quality frames at very good value.
Exhibition Research
To help with my understanding of exhibitions I visited a local art gallery that was displaying the work of a local photographer. The gallery was the Riverside Gallery and Art Cafe at Mill Bank, Stafford and the photographer was Tony Winfield who specialises in landscape photographs.
Photographs can also be printed into a book form by companies such as Photo Box, Bob Books, Snapfish and Albelli.
Photo books from Snapfish
Brochures can also be printed which is a medium often used for product promotion. Brochures are available from many printers including Vista Print.
Brochures by Vista Print
Albums by Kenro Ltd
Many professional photographers display framed prints for sale in a gallery. One of the professional landscape photographers that I have featured in my Blog, Joe Cornish runs two galleries in the Lake District for the display, promotion and sale of his and other photographers' work.
Choice of presentation method
I have decided to submit the final selection of 10 images for each of the two themes Nature and Built Environment for Assignment 208 as electronic images on my blog and also on a disc. The CD disc will show the quality of the images and both images before and after Photoshop processing will be included. The reason for this format of presentation is so that the images can be seen in a large size of A4 or above depending on the viewing screen used and expanded if required. Also as images before and after Photoshop processing will be included this will help with the assessment process. This method of presentation will also keep costs down as producing a minimum of 20 photographs of a high standard would incur a considerable cost.
However an opportunity for the course students to display two prints each in the offices of a local council was negotiated by one of the students. So I will be displaying one print from each of the two assignment 208 themes in the reception area of South Derbyshire District Council for one week from Monday 6th February 2012.
A number of professional printers and frame manufacturers were assessed for quality and cost for the production of our prints. It was decided from previous experience by the students that Pro Am Imaging produced high quality prints at good prices so they were used for the colour and black & white print production. Black 2cm deep 20 x 26 inch frames with white 16 x 12 inch mounts were ordered from Wilkinsons Ltd who offer good quality frames at very good value.
Exhibition Research
To help with my understanding of exhibitions I visited a local art gallery that was displaying the work of a local photographer. The gallery was the Riverside Gallery and Art Cafe at Mill Bank, Stafford and the photographer was Tony Winfield who specialises in landscape photographs.
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