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No Comments Swimming against the tide…
As Bev is away from her desk due to the passing of Tim’s mother, the blog for this week is re-printed from one of our Coaching Community Workbook articles. Enjoy!
Tim and I were watching TV the other night and on the PBS channel, there was a special about the White House Photographers who worked with the last few presidents. They were recounting stories that were the highlights of their years photographing and documenting the president, his family and staff. One part stood out head and shoulders above the rest to us and it fortified our heartfelt belief that imagery needs to be printed and displayed for its full impact and enjoyment.
The documentary confirmed this when they described the changing of the photographs on the walls that occurred several times each year and said it was the HIGHLIGHT DAY out of all of the things that happened in the White House. All of the staff came from near and far to see the new images-it was like an unveiling of a famous art piece. These photographs were large, framed images that the photographer picked out to be displayed on the walls. People milled around, chatting, laughing and commenting on each image. You could see the joy and excitement on their faces. Isn’t that the reaction we want with our images? Can you imagine if the White House photographer brought these images in on his iPhone or iPad for the unveiling? The contrast is quite stark!
So, this brings me to the same conclusion we have been living, breathing and teaching for many years and that is that images need to be printed, framed and hung on the wall for the ultimate personal enjoyment. Thinking about my own experience, I love walking through our den, seeing the images of our girls with our bulldog, Rock, who passed away several months ago. What memories! Then I walk to the kitchen and see the portrait of our girls that photographer Michael Taylor took while he was here. Megan was not married at the time and Michelle looks so young! In the dining room, we have their Senior portraits hanging in formal frames. My, how different they looked at the same age. In the living room, I remember how beautiful Megan looked in her bridal gown as I enjoy her “framed and printed” bridal portrait. Continuing up the stairs, I get to the top and see my mom and dad’s image and it gives me pleasure to see how well my dad looked as he is now in a nursing home. Memories…. in our bedroom, the images there celebrate our marriage of 34 years with images of the two of us at various times in our lives.
Each time I look at these images, the pleasure I receive is immeasurable-priceless. That is the intrinsic value of a printed piece versus a digital rendition. Do we have digital images anywhere in our home? Actually, we have a digital frame in the kitchen, rotating our snapshots of Ireland and Italy. For us, that is where digital imagery fits…it helps us display our snapshots, but it will never take the place of beautifully printed and framed portraits of our family.
We feel that the step from digital file to a physical print takes as much skill as the capture itself and is part of our artistic process as fine art photographers. We take great care in our printing process and it adds to the final image in ways looking at it on an iPad cannot even come close to doing. That is why we stress the fact that we call ourselves “print artists” again bringing the focus back to our printed pieces as the finished output at our studio.
We have taken it a step further in the studio by adding the initials “DRPA” on the bottom of any image that is digitally rendered for social media such as Facebook or our blog. When our clients ask what it means, we tell them it means “Digital Reproduction of Printed Art” thus reinforcing the message that we are a print studio, not a digital studio. We do not sell or give any of our images to a client on a DVD unless it is a business portrait and we have filled out the Copyright release form that gives them limited rights of use that we determine beforehand. We charge appropriately for them to use our imagery for business purposes only and they may not print from the disc for personal use.
Another aspect of this issue is the fact that technology is changing so rapidly that jpg or psd files that are saved to a DVD today may not open in any program in the future. Although we do the best we can to save our clients’ files in the most up to date formats, we cannot guarantee them they will open 5 or 10 years from now. However, nobody knows what the future holds in this arena. Anyone remember floppy disks and zip drives?
Note: Adobe recommends the DNG (digital negative) format as the best long-term storage option.
We had to draw the line in the sand, so to speak, on this issue several years ago. Our decision back then is still the same today. We do not offer our images in a digital format. We are a “printed art studio” and we make sure we have this message printed in our literature. It is important to layer the message via printed pieces, emails, blogs, Facebook and also, face to face. We don’t often get asked if we offer our images on a DVD, but when we do, we simply say we don’t and explain why. Our clients don’t get angry or leave. We have already established good relationships with them and they understand our position.
This is an issue we all need to resolve within ourselves and then draw boundries. What are yours? Think about how your decision will affect your business long-term!
Have a great week everyone (and hug your moms)-
Bev
Note: Tim and Bev Walden are the founders of the Walden Coaching Community, an online educational resource for photographers. As photographic educators, they realized the benefits of putting their immense knowledge and expertise online would be a way to share with photographers far and wide from their home base in Lexington, Kentucky.
You can check out their Coaching Community at www.timandbevwalden.com. While there, visit their Store for specialty products they have produced to benefit all photographers, whether beginners or seasoned veterans.






















