What do you do with your photos?

[Round Tuit]

I've recently printed one of my photo at 12 x 18 inches, framed it in a nice 18 x 24 inches frame and stuck it on a wall in my house. It looks good but... I would rapidly run out of wall space if I were to print even a fraction of the photos that I've taken. Beside, many of them would not blend in the decor.
In all honesty, I enjoy the time that I spend taking and processing photos and even if they all stayed on my computer it wouldn't matter. I am curious though as to what the non professional amongst you do with your photos.

Andre

[Manfred M]

You should see my walls... Lots of shots from various trips and excursions, but you are right, the fewest actually end up there and I regularly rotate them our as I gather new materials. Some are matted and framed, but the majority are mounted on boards (Costco Photo).

Most of my images are stored on my backup drives.

[dje]

Yes it's a good question Andre. It's so easy to make lots of photos with digital but do we really get to appreciate them all ?

Another option is to make photobooks that you can flick through whenever you feel like it and of course you can share them on the web (Flickr etc) if you are so inclined.

Dave

[Dave Humphries]

I used my better ones as the rolling wallpaper and/or screen saver on my work computer, when colleagues saw them, they'd often ask "did you take that?" and it was great to be able to say yes and talk pictures for a short while.

You could always get an electronic photo frame for house use, or perhaps re-use an old LCD panel TV and redundant old (slow) PC to scroll through them.

Other than that they are available on 'my website', the pbase one linked in lower left corner of my signature below, have the most recent.

I must get back to doing it though, you'll find most there date from 2013 or earlier

[Geoff F]

As previously mentioned. A few go on my walls and get changed from time to time. Quite a few are for public viewing on my P base galleries. A lot of my wildlife shots are put on a disc and given to various organisations who run the reserves where I take the photos. Others go to organisations who use them for publicity work etc.

[James G]

Just done a check.

I've 2463 'processed for print images' which I refer to as my Rag Bag set.

They are secured offline on 2 separate hard drives.

Approximately 500-600 have been printed (size mixture of A4/A3, but mostly A3) and are stored in boxes and a number of display albums. Currently, ten A3 prints are mounted and on display around our home. This is a relatively recent innovation since my wife chose them. I am still concerned about this since in nearly 50 years of practicing my photography I have never 'hung' my images.

My digital image 'raw' archive is approximately 28000 images captured over 10-12 years.

I have a small number of close friends who are both critics and advocates of (some of) my images. My real satisfaction is the number of prints that they have accepted from me over the years. I would estimate that I have 'given away' 100-150.

Going back to my 'Rag Bag' of images, I have a slide show of all 2463, which plays continuously on my computer, in my study/digital darkroom. I estimate I get to see all the images at least once every 6 months.

(I spent 5 months in Ireland a few years back, and my computer was in the lounge. Various visitors and relatives, when they came seemed to quite enjoy the slide show )

As regards my pre digital photography, I have no idea how many negatives and slides (B&W and Colour) that are in store... I have checked and counted 26 photo albums of prints, mostly B&W but I'd guess about 10% are colour prints.

[Donald]

For me it's about pushing your standards higher and higher and only printing those that meet the highest standards (mine). That may be be too high for some people and not high enough for others. But it's a standard I feel comfortable with.

I've got a long short list of about 50 images that are on my print list. Coincidentally, I was at my framer today collecting 14 that have just been mounted and framed. I took a pic for him to let him see what I've done so far in terms of hanging them. He also wants to show my stuff in a gallery he's just about to open and 'represent me' (sounds very grand) and sell my stuff online.



By the way, tis is what you can do at 11mm with the Canon 11- 24 f4 L on a 5DS body. This is a jpg out of camera.

[Tronhard]

With the development of very cheap quality LED screens, I favour putting a couple of them up on my walls and using a USB, SD or CF card, or network connection to run a slide show: or just have them static and change when the humour takes me. Not only does the cost rival the that of mulitple framed images, but on the screen the backlit image has much more impact. Some LED screens are super slim and rival the compactness of conventionally-framed photos.

In my lounge I have a 60in LED screen and use that to do photo shows when asked. I have a rolling desktop on my Windows 7 laptops so I get to enjoy my favourite images and memories as I work.

[dennybeall]

Karen and I each have a laptop, I have one running as a backup to my work computer and a computer running 24/7 at work. They all have screen savers cycling through the "Pictures folder"
Anything done for a client or for one of the local dog training groups goes to them with copies on my drives.
I'm retired so just piddling these days. I do really enjoy the photos folks share on the forums.

[IzzieK]

Dave -- You could always get an electronic photo frame for house use, or perhaps re-use an old LCD panel TV and redundant old (slow) PC to scroll through them....Humphries

Very good idea! I have an extra slim line LED TV and can use it as such with an old pooter...at the moment since I have a CISS for my Epson printer, I print some of my good ones and hang it on the wall too but with my husband's many certificates of whatever, I am running out of space too...

Thanks Dave...now I know I can take photo of Bill's certificates, take it off the wall, load it on the slide show and put my images to replace them...more space...

[Ndukes]

I have an ongoing goal to print at least one per month to 18" x 12" as I believe my ultimate skill objective is to convert the captured image into a quality print. This also has the added benefit of preventing my ink jets from clogging.
We have about a dozen printed to this size mounted and framed (which I do myself) hanging around the house. These are chosen by me and my wife who is my greatest critic and source of encouragement.
I also occasionally give mounted and framed copies to friends who express appreciation of my work.
I see images stored in digital media as being in a transition state mainly and in the long term I take the view that they will die with me. Having said that, I maintain my own website (www.ndukes.net) to share my work with a wider audience and some of my work has been published in books and other publications because of contact made via the website. The website contains roughly 250 images.
As regards security, I maintain a duplicate of all stored media on two storage devices using 'RAID' and an additional copy off-site.
I hold prints which I consider up to standard in physical storage. I am conceited enough to consider that, when they are going through my stuff after I have gone, they might 'discover' them and regard them as having some worth.
I value greatly the opportunity to share photo experiences and work on CIC and continue to learn more from others.

[Shadowman]

I have an easel setup in another room and I will rotate images that were printed.

[Mike Buckley]

I display my images in books, an electronic photo frame, slide shows and my website. I have one wall where I display about six prints dry mounted on a box. I've framed and matted in a formal style only one print.

[rpcrowe]

A large percentage of my images, lately, have been of the dogs from our rescue organization, Maltese Rescue California. We use these images to post on rescue Internet sites such as Petfinder.com



I also use the images to publicize our rescue dogs and new adoptions on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MalteseRescueCalifornia



As well as on our website:
http://www.malteserescuecalifornia.org/index.html



I also make a yearly calendar which our organization sells with each month having an appropriate image:



I am doing two calendars for 2016... One with standard images and one with a Puppy Fantasy Theme...



Additionally, I have printed versions of my pictures hanging all over my home. I also give oil prints as gifts. This one was for my daughters birthday.



Of course, I also post a lot of images....

[Max von MeiselMaus]

I have only printed mine when I needed them for a portfolio. Otherwise they stay in electronic format and get displayed in my DeviantArt gallery. One day I will do a proper website for them, but want some meaningful sets of photos before I launch into that. Something to aim for.

I like John's idea of an easel with a changing display. However, I have such strong ideas of what frames should go with each image that I would have a gradually increasing stock of odd frames, as well as the cast off photos. And I am a perfectionist so I would only be picking holes in my photos if I had to look at them for any length of time. Better for me to put other people's work on my walls.

[Round Tuit]

Thank you all for your very informative replies.

Like Donald, I will only display the very best so I am unlikely to run out of wall space anytime soon! The best of the rest I will put in an album for family and friends to enjoy. If Santa is in a good mood and I've been very good, there might also be an electronic photo frame under the tree next Xmas for the majority of my keepers.
Helping charitable organizations is something that I will definitely look into. As for sharing on the web, I don't see that in the immediate future.
I also considered making a calendar but the print quality of the ones I have seen leaves at lot to be desired. Still, it is a good way to rotate photos on the wall and can make an interesting gift for friends and relatives.

Andre

[DanK]

Andre,

A very good question.

Personally, I think there is no substitute for printing. Most of my images are never printed, of course, but I don't find having them online to be a real substitute.

I have some hung on the walls of both my house and my office, and when I get around to it, I change some of them.

I give a fair number away. I buy 11" x 14" frames (sorry, rest of world, about 28 x 36 cm), with pre-cut mats for 8 x 10 (roughly A4) photos, four at a time. When people express a lot of interest in one of my photos, I print them one and give it to them. Once in a while, I print larger for people. They make great presents, as long as you are sure that the recipients really want them.

I also print cards on 7 x 10 stock (roughly 18 x 25 cm, before folding). Even though actual molecular letters and cards have been mostly supplanted by e-mail, a surprising number of people still want cards for special occasions, both good and bad. We use them frequently (birthdays, sympathy cards, etc.) I also put them in boxes of 10 as presents for the occasional person who still writes cards somewhat often.

I also enter images in competitions fairly often, perhaps 6 times a year. so far, I have done this only with electronic images, but I intend to start competing with prints this year. I have hung images in a club exhibit only once, but I am going to look for more opportunities this year.

The biggest problem for me, other than lack of wall space, is figuring out what to display on my website. The problem is that the site has two different functions. One is that it is simply a repository of reasonably good images, including some images that only friends and family want to see. The other is to showcase the best of what I have done. One partial solution is that I have a lot of galleries on my website that are not publicly shown. They aren't protected, but you need to know the URL to find them. For example, if I take photos of an event, they go into one of these hidden directories, and I e-mail the link to everyone who has reason to want it.

The other problem is that the galleries that ARE for public viewing get too full. A good example is my "other bugs" gallery, which as too many photos of some kinds of bugs. Scott Kelby wrote years ago that the biggest problem many people make is showing too many of their images. So, I have gradually started culling these directories, moving some of the images into directories named "second tier" that are not publicly viewable. That isn't much of a fix. However, I do think it is important to keep the numbers modest, and this fall I plan to remove many of the images from my larger galleries. It's frustrating, because some are good enough that I want to share them, but having too many really detracts, I think.

[Geoff F]

Regarding calendars, Andre.

I have produced one each year for some time and print it myself for friends. Not cheap to do if you use decent paper but it does make a different sort of Christmas present etc.

There are various companies which will do it for you but there isn't much of a saving if you want good quality. The alternative is to get a larger print run and sell them.

The local History Society have produced a professionally printed calendar this year, which contains 3 of my photos. The print run was 1,000 and they sell for £5 each which, plus sponsorship, should produce about £2 per calendar profit for the association funds.

But this does mean having to spend a bit of time finding outlets.

An alternative which I do is to place the pages on a sharing site, such as Mediafire etc so anyone who is given the link details can download it one page at a time for their own use; and print it themselves, or do whatever they want.

[loosecanon]

The best I print and display;

Some I use in camera club competions or other club activities.

Some are part of an archive record, a selection of which are published in a Journal or newsletters, other go to a public archive.

Some are used on websites or in displays for a number of organisations

Some are used with illustrated talks I give.

Finally some I look at and bring back memories.

[RBSinTo]

I shoot essentially nothing but colour slide film (mostly 100 ISO, and for indoor use, the odd bit of 400 usually push-processed to 800).
The slides I keep are stored in plastic pages, and anything that I need to show at my photo club or to go to an internet photo site is scanned and stored electronically.