Traditionally, there are two camps in photography – Team Digital and Team Prints & Products. Some photographers offer only digital files and leave it up to you to print and display your photos while others are all about creating wall art and only provide premium print products rather than digital files.
Now there is no right or wrong when it comes to either of these two kinds of photographers, you just need to make sure you know what kind of photographer you’re booking based on what you want.
I’ve always been a team digital photographer because I feel in the digital age there is a big want (and need) for them. Personally, I have family all around the world (and I myself am originally from South Africa) that whenever I look for a photographer the first thing I ensure is that they supply the digital photos because that’s how I’ll be sharing the photos with my parents.
I’m an all-inclusive Melbourne photographer
While this is true for who I photograph (everyone is welcome in front of my camera) what I’m really meaning in the above line is that I include all digital files that I have edited in your gallery (a lifestyle family or newborn session gallery is usually around 70-100 images). Therefore, the entire digital gallery is yours to download and own and is included in the price of your session.
A full digital gallery suits my style and reason for being your photographer – to tell your story beautifully and authentically! Your Family and I put our heart and souls into your Melbourne lifestyle family session. I take a lot of photos, then I choose the best from your session to edit. I want you to have them all and have priced myself so you know upfront what your all-in cost will be for the digitals.
Digital images can be displayed
Just because a picture is in a digital format, doesn’t mean it can’t be displayed. In fact, having the digital files usually results in the picture being shared all over the world – via private family groups in WhatsApp or various social media platforms. In addition, idle TV screens, IPADs and the likes of google nest homes make for great digital photo frames.
I even make a curated digital slideshow of my favourite moments from your family photography session so you can share the photos beautifully with those both near and far to you.
Printing your professional photos
The real beauty about digital images is that they can also be printed (over and over)! But in saying this, where you print your photos can have a big impact on the look and literal feel of them.
Before taking up photography I really had no idea that there were different print qualities. To me, a photo print was a photo print and the cheaper I could them the better. When I looked in to offering prints for my Melbourne preschool photography sessions it was only then that I realised that not all prints are equal (and that you get what you pay for).
So what makes one print a superior quality to another? Well there are a number of factors including the type of paper and ink used as well as the colour accuracy and calibration of the printing machines. Calibration is so important when printing a photo, to ensure that the colours are accurate. Far too often the chain stores don’t pay attention to this which results in prints looking too cool (blue hue) or too warm (yellow hue). This means that printing your carefully edited and colour corrected digital files from your photographer can still be hit and miss.
While cheap prints at chain stores have their uses (such as arts and crafts that aren’t meant to last a lifetime), these should be limited to things you don’t need to cherish!
I offer premium quality fine art prints and products at affordable prices for all the images I take
So, am I switching camps? Not quite, I like to think I’m finding a happy medium between the two!
Ultimately, I want you to hold your photos but I want your prints to feel special in your hands. I’ve done my research and have put together a curated set of bespoke products that I feel compliment my style of photography and will showcase your memories beautifully. My suppliers are three small independent, Aussie-owned printing businesses who’s customer service and attention to detail are second to none.
Fine art prints and albums
Fine art photo prints are printed on a special cotton rag paper, have the highest archival quality pigmented inks and are ultra matte and have no sheen what so ever. When they are manufactured at the printers (and only specialised, non-chain store printers offer these) they need to be left to dry - just picture that, the richness of the wet ink being left to dry on the cotton rag paper…
They feel amazing, are premium quality and they are the perfect match for you professionally taken photos! Personally, I love a deckled edge (torn edge) as it adds an extra nostalgic layer to the image, however they can also have straight cut edges mounted in a matte board (gallery board).
Fine art prints are for those images you want to display beautifully in your home and as amazing as they are to hold in your hand, it’s just not affordable to print the entire gallery this way. And so for my durable, everyday photos, matte lustre prints are my next go to. While these are more along the lines of the chain-store prints, the paper and ink used to manufacture the prints are of the highest quality. In addition, these small businesses maintain their high quality printers and calibrate them regularly to ensure the colour of the prints are consistent over and over.
While I mentioned that individual fine art prints are not an economical way to print your entire gallery, fine art albums are! These beautiful albums have a lay-flat design enabling one photo to be printed across two pages with no distortion or loss of the image due to the seam running through the two pages. This allows for creative and bold designs of your album. I highly recommend printing an album if you are like me and struggle to choose only five photos from your entire gallery to print! It’s the most beautiful way to showcase your gallery.
Contact me today to book your Melbourne Lifestyle Family or Newborn photoshoot
When hiring a photographer you are hiring them not only for their ability to take a nice set of photos, but also for the way they edit, which accounts for the colours, tones and feel of the images in the gallery you receive. I hope that by offering these affordably priced photograph prints and a variety of unique products you’ll be able to showcase your beautiful family memories in a truly special way!
All my sessions come with a print credit that you can put towards fine art prints.
And for clients who lock in their 2021 Melbourne lifestyle family or newborn photography session before the end if January, I’ll be gifting them three fine art deckled prints and easel to display them, valued at $130 (session just to be booked by end of January but can take place anytime in 2021).
Make 2021 your year to remember by booking your photoshoot today!
Gill
xoxo
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