As you know, there are tons of photographers out there. In my opinion, some new or part-time (and some full-time pros) will just shoot your photo regardless of quality, shove it through some third party software to "enhance" the pictures, burn them to a CD/DVD and sell them and the printing rights over to their clients to do whatever they wish with them.

This might sound like a great option for some clients out there. You may feel like you can get a better deal on prints from some online printer or local Walmart. If you are one of those that would be perfectly happy with this, let me plant a thought in your brain - Your intent in hiring a photographer for $200 - $3000+, to shoot pictures of you, your family, an event/wedding, etc, was to capture a moment in time that is special to you, that you want to last. Forever.

Don't you want your pictures to look the BEST they can? Assuming your Photographer does take pride in their work (as many do), ASK what lab/service they use to PRINT those photos!

These are some serious questions that you should be asking yourself AND your potential Photographer! Say you get your images on a CD, and you get them printed at your local Walmart/Target or maybe a cheap online printer. You might not notice the color shift or lack of sharpness. You might have your “mommy goggles” on and think that picture of your child is the best picture ever. And when your friends see that picture, they’re going to tell you,

“OMG! I love it! "Joe Smith" Photography did such a good job!”

You know what they’re saying inside?

“Ew, why is it green? Who took that picture? I hope she didn’t pay for that.”

And do you know who ends up looking bad? The Photographer. Not to mention, your prints just lost that photographer future business.

I'm not about to let anything like this happen. I care. I take a lot of time to shoot, edit, and process images to show my style and quality. I take pride in my pictures, and I stand behind my work. When clients come to me for their photos, it’s because they want special images and high quality prints and wall art, and I intend to deliver exactly that.

As for the actual prints themselves, not all printers are the same. Not all 8×10′s are created equal. Some of you gasp at the cost of prints by a custom photographer. You know Walmart charges $2 for an 8×10, so how in the world can "Joe Smith" Photography charge $40?! But let me give you this answer: Quality

This blog isn’t about the extreme expense that goes into running a legitimate tax-paying business and offering personalized service to you, or the amount of time and skill that goes into creating your images, far beyond the one hour you see the photographer shooting. Believe me, there’s a lot more that goes into it than you see during your shoot.

Professional photographers use professional print labs. I don’t mean the camera store at the mall with pricier prints than the drugstore. Wolfe Camera is a good consumer printer to use for your vacation photos, but it is not a professional print lab. Professional labs offer higher quality photo paper, higher quality inks, and special coatings that ensure your images are resistant to finger prints, dust, and fading. "You get what you pay for." is an adage that the photography industry is not exempt from!

So...enough talk! Lets see exactly what I'm talking about!

"Awe, how cute!"

Right? (I'd say so! But then again, I may be a little biased.) As you may have read on the caption, this is the file of the original image I created. Lets take a look below, at what we got back from the printers.

Now, TRY your best to look at each print as an individual. Doesn't look TOO bad, right? But as a whole, you can clearly see that not all labs are the same! Even the Pro Lab that I tried, took some liberties with processing my picture. They ended up increasing the sharpness and saturation of the background. It does look pretty good, but is not what I had created. The sharpening and extra color, produces a much more "harsh" and distracting background. The original is much more soft and gentle.

As for the other four...where should I start?!

Walgreens - This photo would be the next best acceptable in my opinion. The only problem (yet unforgiving) that I find with this one, is the crazy "Hulk" tint Hannah now has. Maybe some of my inner geek is coming out and makes me think "What would my daughter be like if she were the next She-Hulk?"

Walmart - Well, what can I say about this one? My best guess? The color saturation is about as jacked as Mark McGwire during his record breaking season! This print also seems to not be as sharp of a focus as the original.

Target - As much as I love Target...this picture just isn't doing it for me. Colors have become muted and now have a orange/red hue to them. Focus is better than the Walmart print, but still. Not how the picture was shot.

Sam's Club - This print is pretty bad. the exposure is super high. Color is washed out. There is almost no detail left in the fabric of her shirt and the top side of her face. It is also blurry and well...blah.

In addition to all the print problems that I have quickly pointed out, I am willing to bet that the prints that were done at big box/online stores just simply will not last. I was at a friend's house a couple weeks ago and noticed a large canvas print of her family that she had hung over her mantle. She has very large, open windows in that room and should have made the picture look amazing. But it didn't. Something was off. As I commented on the picture, she was quick to explain that she had ordered and received the print from an online store just a few months ago, and it had already begun to visibly fade.

Even from the cheapest printers, canvas prints aren’t cheap. Now her investment in that print has gone to waste. She can spend more money and get a print from another lab/retailer, and try her luck again, but what if she couldn't? What if she somehow had lost the file and was unable to get another from the photographer? That moment is now lost. Even after the money she spent on the photographer, the cost of the print, etc. Gone.

SO! If I haven't been clear enough with you...Use these other places for your iPhone snapshots that are already out of focus and crooked because you had one too many beers on the sandbar! Please please please get your quality shots developed by a quality lab!