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It seems such a waste to purchase a large printer only to make a smaller image on a more expensive large piece of paper - but damn it, the images look so much nicer if we are handling the prints, pinning them to the wall, placing them in a folio or just thumbing through a stack. With my 13X19 prints and larger I normally use about 2 inches of white on the long sides, more on the ends - obviously depending on the aspect ratio of the image.
For me, a nicer print beats a larger print. What are your thoughts?
Musings on photography, the art of creating images, technical talk, useful tips, rants and ravings of a published photographer of 40+ years experience.
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- George Barr
- I'm a part time working fine art photographer, full time family physician, and occasional model railroader.
4 comments:
I do agree the prints look nicer with a border, and they're easier to mount and frame. It also gives you a good place to sign the print if so inclined, as well as the option of using a floating mat (I think that's the term).
I've never really considered a borderless/full-bleed print to be a fine-art print but am curious what others think.
With my 17" printer, 16x24" prints are a natural choice and this at least gives me a little bit of border (not really enough to sign, though). But I'm not sure what I would do with a 24" printer: print 20x30" with border, or print 24x36" borderless?
Really large prints tend to be matted and framed so the border issue isn't quite the same - more of a handling issue.
George
Absolutely - the right amount of white space is essential to the proper appreciation of even a hand held print.
But it's a bit of a 'high end problem' - I think the a more basic issue is getting beginning photographers weaned off digital presentations and present more on "real" prints.
I've enjoyed viewing prints of my work almost since I got "serious" about my photography, but I've only recently come to really appreciate just how much difference the size of the print makes to the viewing experience - the first time I saw one of my images at 30"x45" was a real eye-opener, so to speak. I now have a 24" printer, and print up to 20"x30" for gallery wraps and 24"x36" for mounted & framed prints. (Or longer for panos, too.)
Of course, not everything gets printed large - smaller prints are also enjoyable, and a different experience to hold, view, and share...
- Jack
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