Printing and Framing My Street Photography
The Wedding Party
I have had a really nice and unexpected thing happen to me this month. I submitted pictures for a competition to be in a Gallery showing at the Preston Hotel in Nashville. Two of my photos were selected. I truly did not believe I would ever have the opportunity to participate in a Gallery showing. Now this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if you do not actually enter competitions, which is my instinct. This time I got over that formidable hurdle, although I submitted practically at the last possible minute. It took a lot of coaching from me to me. My apologies to the good folks who were managing the entries. It is patently unfair to be overwhelmed by last minute entries.
“Cowgirls Get Tired”
The five images posted in this blog were submitted for the Gallery competition, Life in the South. Two were chosen. Which two would you choose?
You might be surprised at the source of my reluctance to enter gallery competitions. It is not the downside. My psychological profile correctly identifies my great ability to manage life’s hardball curves. A little disappointment in not succeeding in places where I want to succeed just acts as a catalyst for greater effort on my part. That quality, by the way, made me a very good Subway restaurant owner. Running Subways was a constant test. Nope, in the gallery competition, it was not the possibility of losing that got to me, it was the possibility of having entries accepted. What if I actually got a picture into the Gallery showing? So here I am. Giddy at the opportunity, but challenged by the requirement that I now have to figure out how to print and frame these pictures.
There was some drama submitting the digital images for the competition. My preference is to post process in Snapseed. I rarely use Lightroom these days except for its database that keeps track of the stored the images. Unfortunately, the file size on the Snapseed jpegs is rather small and the saved images are 72 dpi instead of the needed 300 dpi. I had to post process, completely starting over in Lightroom, but I knew what the desired look was, so it was not a difficult task. Long ago and far away I had created a preset that would save the jpegs in the maximum possible size and with 300 dpi. It all worked out.
“Broadway Celebration”
The time between the date of being notified that two of my entries would be a part of the Gallery and the date the framed prints were due was about three weeks. I had planned a trip out of town, so effectively I had about two weeks. Honestly, it was a blessing because there just was not that much time to worry. As I saw it three things had to happen: I had to buy frames, get prints and get custom mats made. In the end, those proved to be very doable tasks.
I settled out the issue of the frames before I left town. My two accepted entries thankfully both had a 5x4 aspect ratio. It seemed to me a 20x16 frame would be just perfect. That frame size is very available.They often come with 14x11 mats. I had no idea how to print a 5x4 as a 14x11 so I decided I would have to have a custom print size and a custom mat. It would have been handy at this point if I had already overcome my reluctance to print. Let me just say that I now know it is easy to print a 5x4 as an 14x11, but I figured that out after the fact. There was absolutely no time to go out frame shopping. Amazon had the frames I needed for a reasonable price and with an acceptable delivery date. I ordered them up. Getting the frames was easy enough.
“Ooh La La”
Printing is fairly problematic for me. As much as I want to print, and can see the value of printing, I have not persuaded myself to get over my printing hurdles. I absolutely have not come to terms the Lightroom Printing module. I have an Epson printer, but I do not use it enough so the ink dries and clogs the jets. I think it is safe to say that the only function this huge device will ever be capable of performing is the scan function. I spend money on a Costco membership just to print, but they have shut down in-store printing and, in any case, they do not prints 4x5s which is exactly what I need. This acceptance into the Gallery has helped me push past these issues. First, I now know of a marvelous place to do printing in Nashville, Safelight Imaging. I was so glad to be directed to them. I had decided I needed 15x12 custom prints to go into my 20x16 frames. Safelight Imaging will print custom sizes for a very reasonable price. Also, they turn around orders really fast. That was a big plus. In addition, I finally got the small prints I want to use when making decisions about my Nashville Playing project. And maybe most important, I got prints to give my shoeshine friend on Broadway. They have been promised a long, long time. I made two one-hour round trips, the first to do the ordering and the second to pick up the prints. I am going to tell you, I was thrilled to see my pictures beautifully printed. I have wanted to do this for a long time. This part of the process was much easier than I thought it would be.
Getting a mat for a 15x12 print is always going to be a custom affair. I could imagine that getting a custom mat made could take two weeks, but no, it took about 5 minutes at my local Hobby Lobby. I took the frame and the prints to the store with me. Both were needed by the person cutting the mats. I also bought non-acidic artist’s tape to secure the print to the mat.
“Oh Lordy, It Is Hot”
The putting together of the prints, the mats and the frames went fairly well. I did have a do-over because the first print was not positioned properly in the mat. I noticed this, of course, after I had it all taped down and in the frame. The tape came off easily enough. All in all, the printing, matting and framing went better than I dreamed possible.
I got to thinking about print sizes after everything was put together. I used a 15x12 print. Really, how different is it from a 14x11? So, I did the math. A 15x12 scaled to the 14x11 aspect produces a 14x 10.3 or a 13.75x11. That means I have to crop off a little on the side or even less off of the top. I would say in 100% of the cases that small crop difference will never matter, especially since you can take it off vertically or horizontally. The 11x14 is my new go to aspect. Wish I had thought of that just a little sooner. I would have saved money on the custom print and the custom mat.