Getting Your Photography Beyond Your Screen--Page Orb

Ah, photography! It has changed the way you see the world. Since you became increasingly interested in photography you see complimentary colors in nature, and shapes and lines in cityscapes. Every direction you turn holds photographic opportunities galore. Enter digital technology and suddenly you can take as many photographs as your memory cards, computers, and or storage devices can hold—for free! You have entered an era of photographic gluttony and you should all revel in it. The downside to this golden era is the shear volume of photos you capture. Once they are downloaded the files are neatly stored away with the latest-greatest file organization systems that you've read about on the Internet or in Photoshop User. Half of these fine specimens of photography, if not more, will never see the light of your monitor again. This gluttony, as fabulous as it is, is resulting in creative waste. One of the most common questions I hear in workshops is, "What can I do with all of my images?" This is a do-it-yourself world and photography is just another area where there are ever increasing opportunities for lonely images.

Traditionally photographs have been matted, mounted and framed to be showcased. This continues to be a great way to display your images. It is relatively simple as well. First, you must print an image, which many people do themselves, but more and more outsourcing options are creating high quality prints for low prices. Many film labs have changed their focus to digital printing. Other services such as Costco, Mpix and Whitehouse Custom Colour are offering easy, online uploading of images and then they ship you the print. Not only are these online printing services time savers, but their quality is getting better and better.

Once you have your printed photograph, and you follow Neil's time proven advice on matting and mounting in the article below, the next question is where do the framed prints go. There is only so much wall space in a home and once you start framing your images you will see just how quickly your walls fill up. Don't be afraid to rotate your art. If you are printing common sizes like 8x10, 8x12 or 11x14 you can switch images out of the frames easily, changing the landscape of your living room on a regular basis. The other options of course are friends and family who are always looking for new art. This is a great way to start getting your art out of your world in into someone else's.

After beginning to produce physical renditions of your images, the questions that remain are "Where do I go to display my work publicly? Is there a way to get my feet wet or do I just have to dive in?" There is always a way to ease yourself into publicly displaying your work. Getting your images in front of an audience is easier then most people think. Just as your friends and family are always looking for new art, many restaurants, libraries, hospitals, etc. are looking to refresh the aesthetics of their business'. Start by looking around the restaurants you eat in, the coffee shops you frequent, even your doctor's office waiting room. Has the art changed since the last time you were there? Don't be afraid to ask someone if there is a submission process for displaying art. The worst thing that could happen is that they say, "No, there is no process. We don't accept submissions." No harm, no foul. Then again, they could always say yes.

Many people who ask about doing more with their photographs have no intention of displaying work publicly, but just want new ways to share their work with friends, family and fellow photographers. Again, there are so many ways to do this I will only scratch the surface. Most of the printing companies that I mentioned above also offer services such as printing your images on postcards, greeting cards or in calendars. These make great gifts for any occasion.

Another option is the ever-growing trend of self-publishing. After Apple developed the iBook in conjunction with iPhoto as a way to create your own books, there have been many up and coming self-publish companies whose goal is to make better quality books with a more user-friendly layout process. Blurb books (www.blurb.com) has an excellent product with a fairly easy-to-use layout program, Booksmart. The company offers many different products from soft to hard bound books, and seven inch square books all the way up to 11x13 inch books. These books are great for high quality vacation albums as well as a method of portfolio presentation. 

An area that some people tend to overlook is photo sharing websites. It may not be a gallery show or a published book but sites like Flickr (www.flickr.com), SmugMug (www.smugmug.com) or Picassa (picasa.google.com) are amazing ways get your images beyond your hard drive and out into the world. If you don't have a web site, or even if you do, these photo sharing web sites have extensive communities of photography enthusiasts that spend hours browsing photographs based on keyword searches or site suggested photographers.

The hardest part of getting your photography beyond the comfort zone of your computer is taking the first step. Once you have done that the rest is relatively easy and can be very fulfilling. Go ahead, share your vision with the rest of the world. 

Don’t Forget about the RMSP July/ August Newsletter Assignment!

Photograph like a Professional.
Neil experienced something that most photographers only dream of—learning from a Master photographer. While there may be opportunities to work or learn from your favorite photographers, for many of us this is not a viable option. In lieu of stalking your idol, you can learn a lot about a photographer by studying their photographs. When looking carefully at a collection of photographs from the same person, look for compositional similarities. The more you understand the style of photography that you are drawn to the more you will understand how and why you photograph. Try it. Go out and find a collection of photographs from a photographer that you like and figure out what you like and why. With the web at our fingertips and photography books galore, this is a pretty easy task....click here to download the full assignment.