I was talking with a friend/colleague about the rapid demise of ALL the Pro Labs in our "networks"...
We surmised that most picture sharing is done online now and there simply wasn't enough printing to support them all anymore.
We both shoot a fair amount of weddings each year so traditional prints are still a part of our day to day business...(NOTE:I actually have a wedding package that does NOT include any prints...Discs only!)
Other than the wedding work...neither of us require a Pro Lab very
much these days.
We guessed that WAY less than 15% of our work (not including the weddings)
actually gets printed...
How about you guys?
The question can be taken different ways. From your answer, I assume you are qualifying this to photographic prints as opposed to tearsheets or press runs.
Unfortunately lot of the "print" has been taken over by digital viewing and home inkjet printing. Does this include any paper/reflective output? Or are you limiting it to strictly lab/outside service output?
Previously it was either a projector or a print. Now the world has changed. Only exhibition and display images may need to be "printed".
I once calculated that only 0.5% (half of one percent) of all my images taken (each single shutter actuation) were ever used. At that time, it meant that it was on a press or in gelatin/dye transfer print form. That includes personal and work images.
billy badfinger wrote: What % of your work actually gets printed???
It depends on what category the work is:
For Real Estate, Architecture, Interior Design, Product Photography, Industrial Applications, etc... almost all my works end up as published in a magazine, periodical, catalog or even ad flyers.
For Fashion, Modeling, etc., I have no firm idea, as the agency does that bit, but for my personal files, almost none have been printed.
For my artworks for sale, every time an order for Poster comes in, that sure is printed and makes me smile...
For specialized work (my specialty), it never gets printed... but is distributed as a digital file for instructional or presentation use using AV techniques.
Here is a sample of an image I made showing traffic in the rain, the effect of which cannot be conveyed if it were printed...
Raoul Isidro Images wrote: It depends on what category the work is:
For Real Estate, Architecture, Interior Design, Product Photography, Industrial Applications, etc... almost all my works end up as published in a magazine, periodical, catalog or even ad flyers.
For Fashion, Modeling, etc., I have no firm idea, as the agency does that bit, but for my personal files, almost none have been printed.
For my artworks for sale, every time an order for Poster comes in, that sure is printed and makes me smile...
For specialized work (my specialty), it never gets printed... but is distributed as a digital file for instructional or presentation use using AV techniques.
Here is a sample of an image I made showing traffic in the rain, the effect of which cannot be conveyed if it were printed...
V
V
V
V
V
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that's not an image. it's further towards if not a video/animation.
Virtually none. Models don't want prints anymore, I don't need them. It was a pain to make the prints. Now if a model wants some, I edit the images for them, burn them to disc, and give it to the model.
In my head...I understand that "print is dead"...and in certain ways that's
a good thing...trying to find a lab that really understood what I wanted
and consistently delivered on that promise was a trying and ongoing experience!
AND...my business is quite a bit more profitable because of "Digital Delivery"...
Not to mention faster turn around times!!!
BUT...
I DON'T like spending soooo much time in front of my monitors!
billy badfinger wrote: In my head...I understand that "print is dead"...and in certain ways that's
a good thing...trying to find a lab that really understood what I wanted
and consistently delivered on that promise was a trying and ongoing experience!
AND...my business is quite a bit more profitable because of "Digital Delivery"...
Not to mention faster turn around times!!!
BUT...
I DON'T like spending soooo much time in front of my monitors!
Print is not dead for those of us who make a living (or a portion of it) selling prints. Print may be dead in retail photography or for hobbyists (not entirely true as many great fine art printers do it as a sideline), but for those shooting commercial or fine art work, it is very much alive.
The biggest complaint I hear from gallerists is that most photographers don't seem to know how to make a fine art print anymore. Those hoping to sell in galleries need to take the time to learn printing (either traditional or digital) and, if necessary, locate a good printer.
DAN CRUIKSHANK
Posts: 1,645
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
I shoot with the intention of printing large fine art prints. I’m just getting started and have only gotten a couple proofs printed so far, but in the near future physical prints will become an extremely important part of my business.
Taking into consideration that 90% of my work is catalog material, very little is NOT printed.
When it comes to weddings, albums are in the package, so most of those "sessions" get printed.
Agency portfolio material: straight to 9x12s and compcards.
MM test shoots with non-signed models: I offer prints, but most seem to lack a folio so they ask for web files instead (I provide some high res., just in case).
billy badfinger wrote: ...trying to find a lab that really understood what I wanted
and consistently delivered on that promise was a trying and ongoing experience!
Printing from negatives was an art form.
Printing from a digital file is all about quality control.
billy badfinger wrote: In my head...I understand that "print is dead"...and in certain ways that's
a good thing...trying to find a lab that really understood what I wanted
and consistently delivered on that promise was a trying and ongoing experience!
AND...my business is quite a bit more profitable because of "Digital Delivery"...
Not to mention faster turn around times!!!
BUT...
I DON'T like spending soooo much time in front of my monitors!
I have calibrated monitors, and provide files with printshop-ready profiles.
That might be the reason why I have had a very different experience.
i haven't had a print made of any of my work in at least two years now... nobody seems to want prints made of a shoot of them, or prints of any of my other stuff... It could just be that nobody wants any of my stuff or that nobody wants prints anymore. I even have a section on my website where you can buy prints directly off the webpage, but even with all the traffic I get to my site, nobody's ever bought a print...
It's a shame that events like weddings/family photos don't get printed- a DVD will be ancient media in as little as 10 years, requiring the client to dig out some defunct tech to do anything with them. But there are still a few people doing well selling prints, you just need to hit the proper market like anything else.
Edit- a hint: figurative stuff has the smallest market
i'd say about 27.3% of my work is printed. I am a nature freak and about that much is printed. Since I started prohotography as a side project, things go better when I'm behind the camera in my opinion haha.
I wonder how many people who don't make any prints (or almost none) just had to get that new Nikon 39MP D800 body for its amazing 800 pixel 72dpi images...
seniors tend to buy some wallets and maybe an 8x10 for the wall. otherwise we're mostly digital these days (and i assume that our customers are getting some prints made from those). sometimes a book for a maternity shoot. a few canvases. so far our wedding couples haven't purchased any products.
basically with products i feel like we would need to bundle them into a package in order to sell very much.
Laurence Moan
Posts: 7,034
Huntington Beach, California, US
AJScalzitti wrote: I wonder how many people who don't make any prints (or almost none) just had to get that new Nikon 39MP D800 body for its amazing 800 pixel 72dpi images...
Good point.
Prints are where the money is. If you hand over the files you're only making money once and the value of your work is diminished to $.13 per 4x6, $.75 per 5x7 and $1.99 per 8x10.
billy badfinger wrote: I was talking with a friend/colleague about the rapid demise of ALL the Pro Labs in our "networks"...
We surmised that most picture sharing is done online now and there simply wasn't enough printing to support them all anymore.
We both shoot a fair amount of weddings each year so traditional prints are still a part of our day to day business...(NOTE:I actually have a wedding package that does NOT include any prints...Discs only!)
Other than the wedding work...neither of us require a Pro Lab very
much these days.
We guessed that WAY less than 15% of our work (not including the weddings)
actually gets printed...
How about you guys?
40% of weddings get printed (I print 20% in-house)
80% of commercial work is printed the rest is for web
10% or less is printed for models. most of them seem to be moving into iPads
60% of portrait work is printed
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