as some of you will know due to the
lockdown situation I'm currently running
a one-time special offer on my prints
which helps to support my business
during this turbulent time importantly
though it's also been a truly enjoyable
and enriching process to spend time
turning my hard work into something
physical that's hopefully going to be
enjoyed for years to come once it's
framed and hanging in our own home or
perhaps even somebody else's home I
produced a video back in September 2018
where I talked about how why I like to
print my photographs there's a multitude
of practical benefits such as a
heightened appreciation for light
colored detail and texture there's also
some intangible benefits that we perhaps
aren't always consciously aware of but
can have a significant impact on our
sense of fulfillment or motivation and
our sheer drive to be out there and be
creative there's nothing better than
having our own work hanging proudly on
the wall to serve as a constant reminder
of who we are as a photographer what we
love and what we're striving for all the
work of other artists as a source of
inspiration or perhaps something to
aspire to you know living with printed
work helps us to appreciate the
qualities that are needed to want to
live with a photograph for a lifetime so
with all that in mind I'd like to talk
through a couple of photographs the
paper choice but also the packaging of a
print every little detail in each step
of the process says something about us
you know who we are as a photographer
and the image that we want to portray so
I think it's important to keep it
personal aligned with our own style of
photography but also with the same level
of consideration that we had when we
actually made the image I'll try to show
you what I mean
so a first stop have an old favorite
called the dysfunctional family which is
an image I made during my very first
youtube video I just love this grouping
of trees and superb interaction and
conversation in the center of the frame
we have these fantastic curvy members of
the audience the bald and a strong
parent figure the frill members of the
family to the right and even this um
look in the distance at staying well
clear of the argument all this has been
helped massively by this beautiful soft
light coming from the right and in
concentrating in the middle for me this
simply has to be on a high-quality matte
paper
fact all my photographs and now on a
matte paper the image has a softness and
a mood that doesn't want to shout too
loudly but has a subtlety in quietness
about it and I also think the trees have
some lovely texture which is
successfully lifted and become something
that you can see and feel when using a
textured paper and that's why I opted
for the photo speed platinum itching 285
which has some really nice texture to it
but also some warmth which I think suits
that warming mist and some of the subtle
greens in the scene it's the same paper
that I've used for prints such as this
one which is a beautiful scene that I
came across while scouting for workshops
in Turin and I think it's the scene that
again is suited to that slightly warm
paper and I love the fantastic effect
that the texture pippick gives to those
patches of mist drifting through the
trees you might recognize this scene
from the video that I made in February
last year interestingly I was actually
quite quite hard on myself when I made
this image I loved the composition but I
had some uncertainties about the light
on the trees but when it came to editing
I realized that everything was much
better than I originally imagined so
let's have a closer look the tree detail
lifted quite nicely against the sunlit
snowy mountain and the thin light in the
shaded subjects served to emphasise the
cool Graham blue from the shout Frost
the height of the mist in the Glen
offers some fantastic separation and
atmosphere and I think it shares some
similarities with the dysfunctional
family in that we can pick out all the
family members including those that have
passed and those that have been born I
see a story of generations which is why
I've called it family tree in contrast
to the dysfunctional family it's cool
it's crisp and so it's well suited to a
bright white paper so I chose photo
speed natural soft textured bright white
I love this pair before my wintry scenes
or anything we're preserving cool tones
is important it also has a gentle
texture which I think adds a subtle but
appealing quality to these areas of
beautifully clean space the contrasting
warmth of the Sun
mounting canned then come forward and be
present
I'd like the subjects and details to do
the talking in my prints and it's my
personal feeling that the matte peppers
allow the tree scenes to do so gently so
you might have noticed that all my
prints have a decent-sized whiteboard
and that's for a couple of reasons
really firstly I think that
aesthetically it looks a little bit
better but also it just makes it a bit
easier for your framer to mount the
print without sacrificing any of the
print area but also I have a border at
the bottom which is bigger which allows
me to number and sign the print and it
still looks balanced and I'd do that
with a soft 4b pencil and I think it's
important to to sign in the border so
then the person who's bought your print
can then choose to hide that behind a
mount if they prefer a much cleaner look
everything is printed to the original
aspect ratio of the photograph so that
always means some trimming is involved
for that I use my every precision
trimmer which gives me a nice clean cut
and I think about this one from Amazon
so I'll pop a link in the description
below the packaging I use these slim
black presentation boxes to help protect
the print but they can also be used for
storage firstly I wrap the print in
acid-free tissue paper before placing it
in the presentation box and then
something that I've started to do
recently is take small pieces of framers
tip fold over the end to create a tab
and then lightly fix the wrapped print
to the box this is to ensure that the
print doesn't shake around inside the
box and potentially get damaged the tabs
should allow the tape to be peeled away
from the box quite easily
now here's the next edge which I
absolutely love which completes the
package but I also think is very
important for not only showing care and
consideration but reinforces your
message style and identity as a
photographer so here's a print that's
actually waiting to be trimmed which is
of an image which I'm sure many of you
will recognize it's called a frayed of
time now this location subject and
photograph is very important to me for
reasons I'll get into on another
occasion but I wanted to keep that
connection flowing through my work and
for it to inform some of my choices a
symbol if you like so I asked a friend
to create a vector graphic of that tree
and then that graphic that became part
of my business identity I used a company
here in the UK called bowls ins to make
me a heavy-duty embossing stamp that
incorporates the tree and uses to seal
my certificates of authenticity these
certificates include the addition number
but other useful pieces of information
such as the captured printing dare to
paper type etc nothing for see just
clean and simple on a matte card
the SIM card is used for my thank-you
cards which incorporate the treat
graphic on the rear set against the
earthy green colour that sits well with
a woodland feel the theme is continued
on my short story cards which offer a
little anecdote or insight into the
photograph it's just another touch that
reinforces the identity by offering not
only something personal but a little
snippet about what makes me tick and
gets me excited in photography for the
final touch if the print can be sent
flat I bundle together a business card
that thank-you card the photograph story
card and the certificate of authenticity
into these nice brown craft style
envelopes and just continue in that
whole kind of natural wooden woodland
theme with the choice of colors and the
choice of materials so now I've got this
next natural twine and some leaf effect
on as well just to tie this together and
why not
emboss the envelope as well so just a
nice little package that people can keep
together with the print and and there we
go that's it all done I hope you found
some of our interesting or useful when
printing and packaging your own work but
either way I hope what's become apparent
is the consistency thinking and theme
that runs through each stage of the
process your own connection to nature
and how it informs your choices doesn't
start and stop when you take the
photograph it's fundamental to your
reasons for being outdoors and can keep
on flowing to influence how you process
your choice of paper your embossing seal
the identity on your stationery and how
you choose to present your work each
step of the process says something about
you so keep it 100% you your voice your
message you know we work hard to create
images that we care about so it's
important to share a piece of that
passion with anyone who's kind enough to
buy our prints as I said live with
prints
judge them enjoy them daily learn from
them be inspired and motivated by them a
print to be proud of for a lifetime
is one of the most fulfilling things we
can achieve as a photographer so that's
it for this episode as I said I'm
offering 40% of my prints at the moment
this is a
one time offer I won't be doing it again
it's just because of this lockdown
situation so I'm going to run the offer
for one more week from the moment that
this video was published so please take
a look have a browse any support is
massively appreciated but thank you very
much for watching this episode and as
always I hope to see you for the next
one
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you
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