Digital images just aren’t as tangible as a real photo. Regardless of whether a photo was shot with an old Kodak instamatic or a Nikon D3, there’s something special about holding a photo in your hands even if there are things like Flickr, Multiply or even Facebook. Some people have taken this a step further by putting together a darkroom at home, setting aside either a bathroom or storeroom for this side of their hobby.
There are some downsides to this, of course, but those really into printing have remained undaunted. Forget the chemical and other material costs. There just is nothing that compares to seeing images you shot yourself come to life on a sheet of paper that was also processed by your hands. Some see this as taking part in the entire process because shooting is supposedly but half of the experience.
But how is it for those who don’t do their own printing? There will always be the neighborhood photo shop and, as we’ve mentioned in the past, there’s this service now that allows you to have your rolls of film developed and when they are, you have the choice of just getting prints or having the images scanned immediately to a CD. The best part of this is that these people also deliver.
There are, however, some things worth considering when you get things printed in a shop especially if it’s one that you’re considering to be your regular.
First is the treatment of the negatives. These strips of plastic are really more important than the prints themselves. Funny how so many people seem to take this for granted, giving all the importance to the prints. You really should try to have a few rolls processed just to test things out. Make sure that there isn’t anything that important to you on the film. This part is really meant to let you see just how careful people are in the shop. Look out for dust on your negs and maybe even scratches. What’s even really disappointing sometimes is when a shop, in an effort to save some change, will cut film into strips of five frames each rather than four so that there will be fewer rows film sleeves (that piece of plastic sheet where the negatives are put before they’re given to you) consumed. What happens is that there’s this frame in each strip that sticks out and is therefore left vulnerable to dust, scratches and whatever else. Also try to observe if the people in the shop handle negs properly, that is, they don’t hold the negs by touching the frames. Fingerprints are very hard to remove and even if they are, chances are, the negs have already been damaged.
Next, try to remember just how you shot each of your frames and compare this with what the printer does. When we say “printer” here, what we mean is the person who operates the printing machine. This person, whether it be photos coming from film or digital, is really very important. Some try to second-guess what you want and, basing all decisions on his/her personal preferences rather than yours, will tweak your photos in ways, possibly, that you do not want. If that happens, talk to the printer. If the person gives you a lame answer or tries to weasel out of the argument, find another printer. This is a person we’re talking about here and it really pays to get to know him/her. You have to be familiar with each other well enough so that person ends up knowing how you want your photos printed.
Does this also apply to digital? Yes, of course, since the printing stage involves both film and digital. With digital, however, there’s the added dimension of your being able to edit your own photos using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or something like the open-source software package known to its users as Gimp. When you do this, it really pays to remember one of two phrases: “Do not edit” or “Print as is.” That way, the printer just lets the machine communicate with your digital files. This can really alleviate a lot of frustration especially if you really edit your photos diligently and meticulously and don’t want anybody messing this up.
Okay. Back to the negatives. You really must take care of these and one way is to collate all of these strips in a central data bank, of sorts. This can be an old shoebox, a metal moon cake box (works very well) or even a biscuit box with a rectangular lid. It will also help to label each strip with maybe even just a permanent marker. Just make sure that the negative is out of the sleeve when you do this.
Finally, find a decent album. It really pays to find one that’s acid-free because this ensures that your photos will last longer. Some plastic contains acid and this will serve to degrade your prints. Can you keep your photos in an old shoebox? No law against it and it does make storage a bit easy. All you do is stack one on top of another once the first box is full. If truth be told though, this is just too unwieldy in the long run and will make things very frustrating when you need to find just one photo.
The final note for this week is this: Do have prints made regardless of whether you shoot with film or digital or, when you shoot with film, whether you’ve had your frames scanned to a CD. Do this regardless of whether you’ve bought one of those digital picture frames. For one thing, you can’t keep on of those in your pockets. Oh, and for the vindictive, nothing says, “You’re out of my life” better than a photo with one person cut out with a jagged pair of scissors.
What’s a good way of keeping track of digital images and manipulating them? If you have a Mac, be sure to check here next week. There’s something we have to talk about.