Best printing techniques

First let me apologize if this question has been asked.

So I wanted to get some advice on what is the best way to print my underwater photographs. I am not really concerned with price as much as quality. The size of the prints are going to vary but most will be very large. I shoot with a d800 so I'm not worried about pixelization. I'm looking for what is going to make the picture jump out.

Does anyone have any experience with printing on glass? Or better yet if you are familiar with Peter Lik how about something similar to his technique.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Lik's work appears to be HD and/or highly saturated.. Very nice if you like that type of out put.

I print our images on an Epson 3880 and am satisfied with the results

If you are cost constrained then try Costco. They do very good work for the price on Fuji paper.

Other wise, take your files to a custom printer and discuss having them color corrected and balanced.

When displaying your prints do not hang where sun light can hit them.

Also have them illuminated with lights about 4500 to 5000 *k according to your taste.

We use spring backed brass frames with a neutral charcoal matt and change out the prints about every 9 months!

You may also like prints on aluminum. Highly reflective.

Cheers!

UW images really pop on aluminum or metallic paper. just watch your highlights!

I believe the peter lik process is big metallic prints behind acrylic and optimized lighting in the showroom. nothing that can't be done by us at home.

First let me apologize if this question has been asked.

 

So I wanted to get some advice on what is the best way to print my underwater photographs. I am not really concerned with price as much as quality. The size of the prints are going to vary but most will be very large. I shoot with a d800 so I'm not worried about pixelization. I'm looking for what is going to make the picture jump out.

 

Does anyone have any experience with printing on glass? Or better yet if you are familiar with Peter Lik how about something similar to his technique.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!!!

I've become a big fan of the aluminum prints; white high-gloss works best for underwater in my opinion, despite the reflection potential. Image Wizards is one outfit that used to be mentioned here (I think Eric and others involved with WP used them) but cheaper alternatives now exist like Aluminyze, who is also the vendor if you order aluminum prints thru AdoramaPix.

Pros are extremely good color saturation, sturdy, fairly durable (they'll still fade in harsh UV if hung outside, but pretty slowly), and since they come with pre-installed 'float mounts' there's no need to matte, frame, or glass over them. The print price itself is it. Cons are that the dye sublimation printing is slightly less crisp perhaps than photo papers can be, and you have to be pretty picky about processing. I know Aluminyze does offer color profiles but they're CYMK which can't be used in LR; the one time I've had to send a print back to be redone it was because I failed to specify no adjustments please and they made some changes that resulted in overly warm tones.

Get on either Aluminyze or AdoramaPix's mailing lists and keep your eyes open for sales. The list price for a 16 x 24 rectangle is in the $85-105 range, but watching for sales I more typically pay $55-60.

There are a couple of glass printing outfits I've become curious about - one just prints on the backside of the glass, the other actually fuses the pigment between two layers of glass - but they're so much more expensive I haven't justified trying them out yet; I need some really stellar shots before I go that route (I print only for myself and occasionally as gifts, btw, not a pro by any means so take my opinions in that vein as well).

I've used Aluminyze and wouldn't recommend them. By far the best images I've gotten on Aluminum are done by Bay Photo. They know what they're talking about, they react quickly to any issues. I was commissioned to do a mural for a local company that required 8 panels of 27" x 48", they were done using the matte aluminum finish, no base coat. This effect gives your image a near 3d quality similar to the old Fresnel photo of the winking girl (I'm showing my age!). As you walk around the print, the light will catch different colours and those colours will pop out. Rather striking effect.

S.

what do you mean by very large and what do you mean by printing on glass. At Glasstec there were several companies that make printers for glass but pricing is ridiculous and mounting can be very problematical. Prints on Aluminum are great, and I can recommend Bay. 40x80 from them are about $700 or so.

For our use at LAUPS, we print on metallic paper (great look) and frame behind glass. Highlights are indeed an issue but colors are really cool and you can get really big prints if you have the right printer.

Bill

Sorry it's a bit late. But what aluminium finish is best for underwater images.

I got great results from whitewall. Print directly on dibond (not the brushed alu) with size up to 1,80m wide. No problem with files from either my D7000 or my Em5. Prints as easy to hang, you dont have to worry about the light. I use them regularly for exhibition.

... what aluminium finish is best for underwater images.

Has aluminium ever improved a good image? I know I'm talking like a pompous purist, but a heavy matt white paper and only moderate colour saturation is my preference for a good image.

 

Has aluminium ever improved a good image? I know I'm talking like a pompous purist, but a heavy matt white paper and only moderate colour saturation is my preference for a good image.

Tim:

I think that for many underwater images, particularly with significant blue water in them, the metallic papers definitely improve them. For our recent LAUPS exhibition at the Long Beach Scuba show, I printed some of the same pics on various media for people to evaluate and for most of the pics that I printed the metallic paper was a definite crowd favorite. We also did some aluminum (I don't know what aluminium is :-)) and they definitely had a "look"; whether or not you like it is another story.

Bill

 

Has aluminium ever improved a good image? I know I'm talking like a pompous purist, but a heavy matt white paper and only moderate colour saturation is my preference for a good image.

I doubt aluminum (we outnumber you now...get with our spelling. ) is going to 'improve' an already good image. But I just like it as a print method in general. No wrinkling/warpage. No need for matte, or glass that gets dusty and sneezed on, or frames. Integral hanging float mounts, no wire cables. Nothing between the viewer and the ink but perhaps an invisibly thin layer of some sort of clearcoat, depending on the vendor and the chosen finish.

Matte vs. gloss is of course a matter of taste and sometimes the style or desired emotion of the image, same as 'texture' on photo paper, canvas, etc. And you can do moderate color saturation on aluminum if you want...they still print what you processed, especially if you tell them 'no adjustments'. You can make it all sepia and low-contrasty too if you miss the days of only four or five stops of dynamic range from yellow glass lenses and no coatings to prevent sidelighting from screwing the contrast.

I love the look of a good old stone-cut, three or four-color lithograph on finely grained linen paper with nicely muted colors, too, as art (showing my age, I have actual Michael Parkes lithos, not just 'posters') But I wouldn't want my (already substandard) photography printed that way, unless it was something I was going for an old-timey desaturated look (antique old cars weathering in the sun and the like). You're no purist...you just have a particular taste. If poor spelling... (aluminium, really?)