Image display: Printing versus the web

There is a huge difference between the two forms of presentation–web display and a large print on a wall.

You can get away with a lot if all you do is post 72ppi images to Facebook, SnivelPics, or whatever is the latest social site. When you start printing, though, you’ll find that the physical thing that is a real photograph can look spectacular–and some images simply print better than others. A 13×19 print at 360 dpi will quickly reveal the weaknesses in your capture and post-processing techniques. I now have a special folder for finished, full-sized TIFFs of my best images that also print well.

I also need to emphasize that a computer monitor image simply does not compare to the tactile experience of holding in your white-gloved paws a fresh, 13×19 (or larger!) monochrome print on Epson Exhibition Fiber paper. The very tangible weight of the paper…the richness of the tones…the smell of the paper itself… It is all a much more fulfilling experience than staring at a small, quivering, backlit picture on an old, bread crumb-covered Dell laptop.

Here is an image from 2011 that I liked but just couldn’t get to print very well. Finally, I changed my vision a bit and turned it into a complete silhouette. I like this variation–and it prints a lot better than my original attempt. Can you find the third pigeon?

Wings. Barcelona, Catalunya, 2011