Professional Printing

When selecting a professional photographer to take your photos, you expect your photographs to be of a professional quality.  You've hired a great photographer that takes amazing photos, so the photographs should reflect the work.  That's why I use a professional print lab to print my pictures.  I trust their quality and experience.  They are printed on a thicker and longer lasting paper.  But most importantly the trained technicians that work in these labs know how to adjust the quality of the photos and the chemicals used in creating them.  That way when a print is delivered, it looks as it did in the online gallery when you chose it.

When a client chooses to purchase a CD of the images, they most often will run down to the local drug store or Wal mart to get them printed.  I understand the temptation and ease.  I mean hey, it's only a few quarters/dollars and an hour and you can have your pictures.  But what you'll get is what you paid for.  The quality (coloring of processing and paper) are poor.  You may look at your photos and realize that they don't look the same, nor near as great as they did on your computer monitor when viewing them in the online proof gallery. 

One of my worst fears is that my images would be printed at a local processing center and the poor quality of the processing would be interpreted as poor photography to the untrained eye or uninformed client.  It could give a photographer a bad rep, without it being their fault.  As a photographer I can't take responsibility for those photographs; they don't reflect my work.

Ultimately, I want to encourage each of my clients to order prints through me so that they are receiving photos that they expect.  However, I like being able to give my clients options when purchasing their images.  If they really want the digital files, then yes, they will be sold to you.  However, I think it's very important to inform and educate my clients when they choose to purchase their own digital files.  I encourage every client when going this route to carefully choose a print lab to process their photos.  That way they get the quality of image that they expect and want.

Check below for examples of cheap processing vs professional labs.

Left-Target / Right-Professional Lab (Arika Reed Photography)

photo from Ms Z. Photography