Printing Photos

Why Printing Your Photos Is the Missing Half of Your Photography Practice
Video Tutorials

Why Printing Your Photos Is the Missing Half of Your Photography Practice

Every Sunday morning I take a photo walk around my neighborhood in Seattle. I shoot, I edit, I post. Then I move on. For years that was the entire arc of a photograph for me: capture, process, publish, repeat. It wasn’t until I started printing some of my favorite shots that I realized I had been cutting the process in half without even knowing it. That’s exactly what Peter McKinnon digs into in this tutorial, and it hit closer to home than I expected.

How to Brighten Your Photos for Print (Without Blowing Out Your Edits)
Video Tutorials

How to Brighten Your Photos for Print (Without Blowing Out Your Edits)

There is a specific kind of disappointment that hits when you pick up a print order and the image looks like it was shot in a cave. You edited it perfectly on your monitor. It looked rich and moody and exactly right. Then it came back from the lab dark, flat, and missing half the shadow detail you spent an hour coaxing out in post. I have been there more than once, and for a long time I chalked it up to “the lab” as if it were some mysterious force beyond my control.