Search This Blog

Online Photo Printing Recommendation

Posted
AdormaPix - my recommendation for online print servicesIf you are a little more serious about your photographic prints these days like I am, you will want a photo printing company that is a cut above the rest. "The Rest" is a crowded group - it seems that everyone is trying to get you to use them for your online prints: Shutterfly, Snapfish, Flickr, Kodak, Costco, Target...and the list goes on.

When it comes to printing my photos, the very first thing I look for is a print service that prints from tiff files. If you're a serious photographer you won't want to be printing from jpeg files as this is a compressed file format that discards a lot of your image information. Remember that the jpeg file format was devleoped for displaying images on the web in the days of 8kb dialup modem days. Sure, its fine for your 7x5 snapshots, but when you want to go to the next level in both image quality and size, you will not be printing from jpeg files. So if you're using a service that only accepts jpeg files, move on, I say.

The next thing I look for is a print service that provides a good selection of quality archival papers. You want to be able to choose a paper type that compliments the photo you are printing. If it's an artsy image with colors that are "grungy", then you will want to print on a paper that has some texture and isn't too shiny. But if you have a colorful image that you want to pop, then you'll probably want to print it on something that has good reflective qualities.

Next, you want an online photo print service who has a user-friendly website for uploading and ordering your prints. And since you will be printing from tiff files, you will want a site that offers a reasonable amount of free storage space, and that will accept quite large files.

And last, but by no means least, you want a print service that offers exceptional service. Timely turnaround, and packaging that gets the prints to you in great shape.

Over the years I have tried several online photo printing services, and I am happy that about a year ago I found the equivalent of "Nirvana" in online photographic printing. And that's New York City's Adorama photo lab known as AdoramaPix. I use them all the time for my printing now and they are just exceptional in all the qualities I listed above.

They use Kodak papers exclusively and I recommend that you try the Kodak "metallic" paper for any prints that are colorful and which you want to really jump off the paper. I have almost all my prints done on the metallic paper. You'll be astounded by its glass-like sheen.

Use this link to the AdoramaPix website and place just one order and I'm sure you'll be hooked too. From time to time they have excellent sales too. And while you're there, be sure to check out all the great camera stuff at Adorama.com too.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Young at Heart: The Active Seniors Collection + Massive Redbubble Sale!

Posted
Ollie Grandpa Stepping into the freedom of retirement after a long, 45-year career completely shifts your perspective. You finally have the time to let loose, hit the road, and truly embrace the fun side of life! That joyful, unrestrained energy is exactly what I wanted to capture in my newest Redbubble collection. I'm so excited to introduce my new " Active Seniors " series, featuring designs that perfectly embody the "young at heart" spirit. The series features a vibrant, adventurous little old lady tearing it up, and a matching active grandpa catching some serious air on a skateboard or cruising on a bright orange motor scooter. Complete with flower-adorned helmets, flying striped scarves, and big, beaming smiles, these characters are a tribute to everyone who refuses to slow down. These make fantastic graphic tees, travel mugs, or stickers for your own "Fa...
Image

Book Recommendation for Digital SLR Cameras

Posted
Note: This post was originally published in 2011, when digital SLRs were still relatively new for most amateur photographers and the question of how to learn them was genuinely fresh. The book recommendation below dates from that era. The post is preserved here as a record of a small, lovely coincidence — two friends asking the same question in the same week. Mallard duck. Photo by Chantal Manseau, taken at her local lake with her new digital SLR. An interesting coincidence happened this weekend: two friends had recently upgraded to digital SLR cameras, and both asked me — within days of each other — for recommendations on books or resources for learning how to use the features on their new cameras. Chantal's Email My friend Chantal emailed me first: I wanted to ask you about photography... How did you learn? Do you have a good book to recommend? I'm reading through the camera's manual...
Image

Step Into an Alien Landscape: The Huntington Library Desert Garden

Posted
Huntington Library Desert Garden — Golden Barrel Cactus Landscape There are gardens that feel gentle and manicured, and then there are gardens that feel like you've stepped onto another planet. The Desert Garden at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, is decidedly the latter. Spanning more than ten acres and home to over 5,000 species of cacti and succulents, it's one of the oldest and largest collections of mature desert plants in the world — and walking through it is an exercise in awe. Capturing the Drama The sheer density of life there is overwhelming. It's not just a few potted succulents — it's a towering, sprawling landscape of architectural shapes and incredibly sharp textures. In taking this photograph, I wanted to capture that sense of dramatic scale. My eye was immediately drawn to the massive clusters of Golden...
Image