Recent Work & A New Lab!

I've recently switched to a new printer! I've been using Miller's Lab since the start of the year, and they have some gorgeous products and prints, but I decided to do a little test: I ordered the same five prints from three top professional printers, and compared the results. The three labs I compared were Miller's Lab, ProDPI, and WHCC. (Note: these are labs for professional photographers. For non-professionals, I recommend Mpix.com.) So what's the big deal-- why put so much effort into this? Working with a good printer is actually a HUGE deal. When I edit a picture, I work to make sure the color, sharpness, contrast, and exposure (to name a few) look the way I want them to look. When I (or anyone) sends or takes an image to be printed, there is NO guarantee that it will turn out the way it looks on my/your computer! In fact, more often than not, I'm disappointed by the quality of a print when I compare it to the original file on my computer. Having a calibrated monitor is a huge help in this matter, but even so, there still might be little differences in color, sharpness, and contrast in the print vs. the original digital file. Professional labs will generally send your a few free test prints when you sign up for an account with them to give you an idea of how your images will vary between screen and print. This is one reason ordering prints through your photographer is an EXCELLENT idea- hopefully he or she has this figured out and can offer you gorgeous, professional quality prints!  

SO, down to the fun part! The winner of the test was...WHCC! (I'll try to share photos of the test prints I ordered to show how I made my decision!) The prints were slightly cooler in color than the files on my computer were, but the difference was very slight. I also found that the prints from WHCC had amazing sharpness. I still plan to use Miller's Lab for a few of my products, but I can't wait to start a new chapter of offering all my photo prints through WHCC :)

P.S. These pretty ladies are three of the seniors I've had the chance to work with lately- so much fun and are they not all insanely gorgeous in their own ways?!  Check out my Facebook page for more samples :)