To print or not to print

Should you print your wedding photographs? This is the question…

As a wedding photographer, I obviously have tens of thousands of photographs backed up on hard drives. As a husband and father I also have thousands of photographs of my family, kids and friends. Like most people, I also have a ton of these on hard drives and mobile phones, so why bother taking them if not to print them and look at them?

I try to make sure my couples understand the benefits of having your photographer print the photographs of their wedding day.

“But they will be on my socials, so why bother?”
The benefits of digital files are obvious, fast easy to share on social media, they can fit in your pocket and be shared endlessly. The downsides however, are long lasting. The files can be corrupted, the system or phone you use could break or be superseded, even if you go that extra step and back up to the cloud, theres no guarantee that they wont be all just lost in the ether.

“I can print my own”

Yes you could, either at home or at a supermarket booth. If you are happy with less than perfect finishes, printed on cheap paper with cheap inks by someone who doesn’t care if there is an error or blemish and if you don’t mind that they wont last a year hanging on a wall before fading.

The benefits of printed wedding photographs, printed by your carefully chosen expert, namely me.

Prints are physical and like albums, can last generations. They are a fixed in time hard copy, that if looked after will outlive us all.

Imagine your great grandchildren asking your grandchildren what they remember about their great grandparents, now imagine the joy and wonder that those kids will experience looking at wedding day prints from over a hundred years ago, imagine how outdated our flashy mobile phones and computers will seem to them… Anyone use a floppy disk anymore?

In short, yes print those wedding photographs. Not just for you, for your children and their children and their children’s children…

As someone who deals in images and works on photographs every day, Im always looking to improve. I take as much pride in the printing aspect of my work as I do when taking the photographs. I have used many different printers over the years for many different reasons and still use tried and trusted printers year in year out, why? Because I trust in the quality of their work. They, like me care deeply about delivery the highest possible calibre of products and I know my wedding couples do too.

I am always searching for the best printing partners and as such I recently switched to a new system of print delivery, one that makes it easier and cheaper for my clients to order prints yet offers the best finishes possible. I have a found a new vendor and although its early days… Wow, Im really impressed.

Not only is the ordering process simple and intuitive, the turnaround time is so fast. The colour reproduction, which for me as a wedding photographer is paramount is spot on and the print quality is excellent.

In summary I am over the moon with my decision to move to this way of working and I hope that all of my clients feel the same way.

I will be adding new wedding album packages to my offerings over the nest few days, in the mean time I cant stop ordering prints of my family and friends, I think Im going to need some more wall space…

Above – example from the private, clients print shop 

When you book me as your wedding photographer you will have your own private (if you wish) online album that allows you, your family and friends, the option to print in many different formats, finishes and styles, whether mounted, unmounted or as albums.

I am over the moon to be able to add this new wedding print service to my offerings and I hope your will be too.

 

Get in touch if you would like to know more…

Pro wedding photographer kit list

What is the ideal choice in kit for a wedding photographer?

Thinking of downsizing my camera gear for weddings…

Ok Ill admit it – my back hurts, my camera’s are heavy, very heavy…

But I love my Canon 5DMk4 it just rocks. Can a smaller lighter camera system give me the results I expect and just as importantly can the new systems from the likes of Sony or Fujifilm be reliable enough for me to relax, not worry about the tech and allow me to just take pictures.

Since moving to a full frame camera with the old Canon 5Dmk2, I don’t think I could go back to a smaller sensor, so that should help with my decision to jump ship and cut down the many options to only full frame sensor cameras.

It used to be that if you wanted a full-frame camera, you only had one option, a DSLR, but now, with Sony’s introduction of the full-frame mirrorless cameras, all that has changed. The benefits of the Sony system is that its light (which is great for carrying all day), and you can shoot silently (ideal when in quiet churches and for not ruining the atmosphere). The Sony A7S II is also famed for its lowlight capabilities.

Full-frame sensors can cope well with low light, tend to have the most detail, and create beautiful shallow depth of field effects, also its now possible to use my existing canon and sigma lenses via a lens adapter, cutting down on the cost of buying a new set of glass.

First world problems or what?

I think the way forward is to hire a Sony for a couple of days and put it through its paces. Watch this space, I will report back and let you know how it went and if I will indeed be jumping ship!

My System as it stands
Canon 5dMk4
Canon 5DMk3

Lenses
Canon 24-105
Canon 100-400
Canon 100 Macro
Canon 50mm
Sigma 85mm
Sigma Art 35mm