Do you shoot ,to print?

311

Just wondering does anyone take every shot with the resut being printed in mind?

Sebzy

Not a chance I take every shot in the hope it shall look good without photoshop thats all.

magicbastarder

nope, i take every shot with the enjoyment of the photography itself, rather than the end result, in mind. if the shot is good, i enjoy it even more.

GristlyEnd

I'm a no as well. Like others I shoot for the enjoyment of it. If it looks good then I may print it. I have a few shots that I would love to get done on canvas though.

JMcL

No from me too. I tend to cull rigorously and batch up what I consider the best few to send off to foto.com. Everything would have some postprocessing work done before print (I always shoot raw anyway, so contrast at least always needs a bit of work)

311

I'm a no myself ,wasn't sure if it was a basic discipline though.

mikedragon32

In the 4 years that I've had digital cameras, I'd say I've printed maybe 100 shots, and framed maybe 15.

As I've yet to get any photo editing software, I don't tend to think that if I fu<k up a shot then I can just touch it up, so I do try take some care in composure of the shot.

Still learning my new camera's settings, so I find myself dumping a lot of pics after reviewing them on my PC.

elven

I've started to feel recently like I'm only doing half the job by working them up for screen/web and not actually printing. It seems a little bit like an anti-climax. Of course I don't go out shooting with the intention of printing every shot, but I'm hoping that from now on, if I try to consider the objective of making a print then it will encourage me to be more scrupulous about what/how I should shoot, like knowing that I can get away with underexposure or blown highlights on the screen but when I try to print it, it looks like crap.

I think something has been lost as well in the digital thing, not having an actual photo that you can hold in your hand and look at in different light, or see on different paper at different sizes. I want to bring back some of that tangible result to my photography, even if it's just an album that I put away for years only to bring it back out in 2015 and say 'my god, look how crap that is...'

It's also given me a chance to think about the direction that I want to take with photography. If I don't want a print of a picture, doesn't that mean that I don't like it that much? If I couldn't live with a copy of it tacked up on the wall in front of my desk, shold I be out there shooting something that I like more?

Sorry, I may have hijacked the thread a little, but hope maybe someone has a similar idea. Or I'll shut up with all the philosophical crap and just go take some pictures.

mikeanywhere

elven wrote:

Or I'll shut up with all the philosophical crap and just go take some pictures.

Nah, I like reading your shizzle but take some pics too, you are allowed you know

magicbastarder

elven wrote:

I think something has been lost as well in the digital thing, not having an actual photo that you can hold in your hand and look at in different light, or see on different paper at different sizes.

even more so than a 6"x4" print, there's a lovely feeling to looking at a 6x6 transparency on a lightbox.

Wez

I print all of my b+w myself, so when I'm shooting that, I have every consideration of how it's going to look printed, and how I'm going to work it afterwards.

When I'm shooting digital, I think of how it can be edited easily afterwards (although I'm now pushing to try and extract them straight from the camera and be happy), but now I'm starting to print my digital colurs for use in portfolio, so yeh, I'l be considering that now for colour too.

kuroino

I shoot to kill.

I mean apart from "family/friends" situations, more than 50% of pictures I take go straight to the bin. About 99% of the rest goes for web/screen browsing only. I am definitely not thinking of printing when I am shooting.

Although I frequently consider how the picture may look on the screen.

CraggyIslander

hmmm, I'd be a yes. Probably coming from my 'slide' photography background, which was very expensive for a 15-16 year old lad.... had to be very sparse with no of pics taken and hence spent lots of time on getting the shot just right (trying to anyway).

Even now with an 8Gb memory card installed, I still only take 3-4pics max from one angle and concentrate on composing the picture.

Not every pic I take will be great or even good (in fact it's more like 1 out of 10 is good and 1 in a 100 is 'great', rest are so-so), but I will always try for the great/perfect shot that I will print postersize and hang on my wall.

Sebzy

I was thinking all digital in my last post. but just noticed when using my Mamiya 645 I always think of the dimensions of a 8x10" as the film has to be cropped.

When shooting digital 4/3rds it's not a concern as I print A4 which only takes a tiny bit of cropping so it's all about the image and geting it to look the best.

magicbastarder

Fred C. Dobbs wrote:

hmmm, I'd be a yes. Probably coming from my 'slide' photography background, which was very expensive for a 15-16 year old lad.... had to be very sparse with no of pics taken and hence spent lots of time on getting the shot just right (trying to anyway).

this is the best way to work anyway, if your subject allows.
i've always found limited ammo makes you concentrate much more on your aim.
it's much more satisfying, it feels less "disposable".

311

elven wrote:

I think something has been lost as well in the digital thing, not having an actual photo that you can hold in your hand and look at in different light, or see on different paper at different sizes. I want to bring back some of that tangible result to my photography, even if it's just an album that I put away for years only to bring it back out in 2015 and say 'my god, look how crap that is...'

Thats along the lines of my thinking ,plus the fact for me that a printed picture in mind aids in composing a shot.
Theres places I would like to see prints of ,that I wouldn't necessarily want to just have on my screen.

Fenster

Shooting to print really brings out the perfectionist in me, as you need to get it right first time - any sloppy camera or editing work will stick out like a sore thumb when the photo goes to print.

magicbastarder

Wez wrote:

I print all of my b+w myself, so when I'm shooting that, I have every consideration of how it's going to look printed, and how I'm going to work it afterwards.

also, with b&w shots, you know you can theoretically print the shot as it appears on screen; with colour, you can't until you convert to CMYK.