Photography as a hobby or profession offers so many layers of personal enrichment. For a landscape or astrophotography it’s outdoor adventure and the successful planning and execution of images you’ve long held in your imagination as well as the happy accidents that occur along the way. Nothing tops it all off quite like creating a beautiful physical print. Several years ago, I had a few prints made for an art show I was participating in. They were done by a well known printing lab and while the results were satisfactory, there was something lacking. For one thing they were printed on metal, as were the majority of the images on display at that show and nearly every show I’ve participated in since. What I noticed that day, is that it was the images printed on paper with complimentary matts and frames that looks the most professional and exhibited the feeling of being crafted. I decided then that doing my own prints was the direction I needed to go. Now there’s no shortage of people on the internet that will tell you that home printing isn’’t economical and fraught with technical pitfalls. To be sure, there is a learning curve, but once you mastered the basics, the results are beyond rewarding. With so many paper choices available, the mood or vibe of an image can be further enhanced in way that gives more dimension to the story a photographer is trying to tell.
