There is a reason why you have set aside time and money to have your images captured by a professional photographer. It’s because you want some really, really good images. You want to preserve a time in your life. You want to create a legacy of and for your family or you may want to memorialize an incredible milestone or achievement. It might be that your only daughter is getting married, or maybe your son will be graduating with the first PHd in your family. Whatever the reason, you are planning to invest time and money for the incredible juncture that you’re about to experience… perhaps even one that can never be repeated.
Why on Earth would you want to look like an alien?
If you’ve gone the extra mile to hire a professional to take these images, why would you then take those images to your local discount store to have them printed? Orange Skin? Green skin? Lack of Detail? Maybe it’s the solid black pool of ink that is supposed to be your hair?! I know, you favor the extra dark circles under your eyes! They’re so flattering!! NOT!
Let’s back up in the process and discuss what happens before the professional printing takes place. In the photography world, all light is represented by a Kelvin temperature. There’s sun light, fluorescent light and tungsten light. There’s filtered light through shade or clouds, and then there’s light you create with a flash. All sources of light are different and range cool to warm. In order to take an image that accurately records color, a photographer will set a white balance. This eliminates the possibility for orange skin or a pinkish wedding dress. A professional photographer will also calibrate their monitors for a consistent color and brightness. This ensures the image displays exactly as created and will then print as intended. This ensures the colors will be correct… provided professional printing is used.
Some labs never received the white balance memo. When a lab is used that doesn’t calibrate to industry standards, all sorts of crazy and unpredictable results occur. You get orange, alien skin or green skin. Brown wood turns red. Your hair appears as a black hole on your head. The possibilities are endless.
While cost, convenience and a one-hour service may be the real reasons, please know that there is a distinct difference when you print your treasured images at a professional lab. A professional lab uses better materials. They calibrate their machines to an industry standard so that if you print a copy of one image in February and a second copy in November, they look identical. If you like your images at all… if you want them viewed by family members 100 years from today, take advantage of professional printing!
The downside is that most professional labs will only print for professional photographers. So, in order to access these top-of-the-line prints, you have to order prints through a professional photographer. However, I have a solution and I will share this with you next week. I want to ensure that your images look real, accurate and beautiful! I don’t like people with orange skin. They scare me.
On the mere chance that you couldn’t tell, every image on the left in each of my examples was printed by the discount printer. Don’t forget to be photographed, but please don’t appear orange.
(Unless you’re also a photographer, chances are your monitor is not calibrated to an industry standard. If that’s the case, the examples I’ve used in this post may not display true-to-life for you. Believe me when I say they are horrible. If you’d like to see the examples in person, just let me know!)
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I am a San Antonio-based wedding and senior photographer who started Ata-Girl Photography Co., LLC in 2010. As one of the up-and-coming San Antonio wedding photographers, I am also available to shoot in Austin, Houston and Dallas and the surrounding areas. I am also available for destination weddings worldwide. Ata-Girl Photography Co. offers an amazing wedding photography service that you won’t soon forget. As a professional photographer, my sole purpose is to provide you the absolute best photography experience.
I am a professional photographer who enjoys documenting the important milestones and captivating moments in people’s lives. I firmly believe that the unique set of circumstances I have faced in life has prepared me to take a personal and genuine interest in my photography clients. When I’m not photographing a wedding, family or high school senior, I enjoy watching my daughter play softball, hiking, cycling, reading, and listening to Elvis!
The post, Orange People Scare Me!!, first appeared on Ata-Girl Photography Co’s website and blog. Please feel free to comment here, or share this post with your friends via Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. Please email me if you have any questions about this article or want to share a neat idea for a future blog post with me.
