In this era of digital media, seeing your work in print is getting harder and harder. Magazines are getting scarce, and online media sources are very popular for displaying your work. We love being able to show images on our iPhone at dinner or on Instagram. But what about printing your image? Unless you live in a tent (which I did for years!), you probably have some wall space just waiting for you to hang a favorite image. And printing is a great end to the creative process. You plan your big shoot, endure all sorts of challenges to get the shot, and finally hit the shutter. Then you go home, work on your image in Lightroom and Photoshop for hours, and you are finally ready to share your work. Why not enjoy seeing the image everyday at home without looking at a screen or monitor? Imagine a beautiful metal print hanging in your room.
We just moved back to Alaska, and part of the process was decorating our walls with art. We decided to make a new series of metal prints, and for that we turned to Bay Photo. I should mention we are not sponsored by Bay Photo, we pay the same price everybody does. But if you ask us where to get your large prints made, I highly recommend Bay Photo. I have used them for years, and their printing has always been top notch. That said I’m sure there are other great printing options, I’ve just never had a reason to look elsewhere.
To start the process, you set up an account with Bay Photo so you can keep track of your order. Then, using their simple step by step process, you decide on what paper or material, size, frame, border and hanging options. You upload your image to the site so you can see how it will look. They offer a huge number of traditional sizes as well as custom crops like panoramas. If you have questions, just give them a call. Their site goes into detail on how the process works.
One of my favorite bear images from last summer was a sunrise bear at Lake Clark. I used my 400mm at F2.8 to create the super soft bokeh, and had my camera a few inches from the ground. When the bear lined up with the Bokeh ball triangle, I took the shot. Above is the metal print in my office, 30″x45″ (don’t mind the reflections on the photo). I have printed all the way to 40″x60″ using files from my Z9 and the metal prints look incredible. Bay Photo gives you guidelines on file prep, but basically they ask for an 8 bit jpeg file. No need to res up your images to get a great print.
The long winter is approaching here in Alaska, but I will be reliving my summer every time I look at that bear. What images will be hanging in your house this winter?