Canvas, Photo Books and Frames...

One of the reasons why I take pictures, is because I do like how some of them end up looking hanged on a wall. I have used not a lot of them out there but some services such as Canvas On Demand, ImageKind and Shutterfly. Here are my experiences with them and some samples. Hope this helps.

Canvas on Demand

They have a very substandard website when it comes to features and functionality, there is only a selection for choosing the sizes, where to load you picture and that's it. Their sign on process is a little bit different where they ask you for a link to your site with some sample work , and a business tax id (which is not required to submit the web form) after a few hours I got an approval email granting me access to the ordering part of the website.
In this example, this was a custom size print, and they couldn't offer a frame, just the classic gallery wrap.

They have an excellent Customer Service department. If there is any questions on the order they call you directly within 24 hours to get any clarification also contacting you via email. They are also the cheapest I believe for canvas printing. On the downside they dont provide a lot of variety of frames to choose from. I have added here some samples to show you the type of frames which I think they are plain. After my first order I received an email invitation to take advantage of their pro discount. 40% off if ordered 3 canvas and the name of the studio should appear on the face of the print. On this example you can see the "Studio Sample" legend added by them.

The quality of the print is excellent, I have attached a full shot of a canvas made from them based on an HDR. Their shipping is excellent, I would say sometimes a little too much cardboard but by far they are the best deal around.

ImageKind

I found out about them trough flickr. So the nice thing about it is that they can import your sets and collections from them directly. They also provide some pseudo-hosting for them to be a store front to sell your images, I havent used this functionality yet.
I have used them for framing prints, and once for one canvas.
They have very good variety of frames, I have added a couple of samples here of the framing quality they provide. There are tons of options but It can very pricey very quick. My largest print with them (32X23) cost me around $100.00 with a nice frame, mat and matte materials and custom size. They also do very nice odd size frames. I have put together 3 pictures (55.5X20.6) panoramic and they came out pretty good

They do everything online, and you can see previews of your print with the different framing options. Their process is quite efficient, I have never had to call them as they do everything pretty much "a-la amazon.com". The paper and quality of print is top notch, no complaints there. All around they are very good, but it can get quite pricey. I dont see a lot of promotions coming from them, even tough they have a special going on right now due to the Olympics. Their canvass are quite good, the quality of the print I would say is around the same as canvas on demand. But they have much better variety of frames as mentioned before. My largest canvas is from them (35.3"X25.5") with a nice frame it cost me around $217. I have added a couple of samples.

Shutterfly

I have only use them for printing books and posters. The book quality is quite good, the paper and the online software to create the book is quite acceptable. You can preview the book online with your pictures, there are tons of options for the layout, color, styles and templates of the book. Their service and shipment are good. So I would recommend it for books printing needs. I dont have anything else to compare it against, but I am very happy with the quality of both the print and the book itself. It has survived a couple of dog bites from my dog lulu, and that is good enough. Here are a couple of pics from some books I orders trough them.

I have spend lots of $$ printing and using different companies, so if you have any questions, drop me a line. The only good advice I can give is make sure to color calibrate your monitor, and also do a cheap run of prints with somebody like Target just to get a small preview of what you will be getting.

Enjoy

Fantastic LR 2.0 Tip -Workflow-

Going trough my Photo related RSS feeds I bumped into one that caught my eye and wanted to share. This guy develops different presets for LR. I haven't read his profile in detail but seems pretty knowledgeable, more than me anyway. His suggestion on workflow seems a very simple approach to leverage the new smart collections functionality in LR2. Give it a shot, I have been using it for the last day or so and it really simplifies the workflow process, leveraging more of the tool and less on my memory. Probably every digital darkroom workflow is

different but I think this provides a good head start, you can customize your collections and smart collections to suit your flow. I have taken a screen shot of my smart collections folder and the link to the source collection that creates the folders is here. Read his entire post and will shed more light on this. All resides on the concept of a dummy collection (0.0) where the pool of your work needs to transferred. After this the rest of the smart collections work his magic. The only thing you need to do is import the catalog with the single picture he has (you can delete that later). Any questions, leave a comment! Enjoy

del.icio.us Tags: LR,Lightroom,Workflow,Digital Workflow,Photography,Adobe,Smart Collections

Camera Back Pack Reviews

Other than my camera and lenses, I have spent the most time researching and buying camera bags and equipment storage. Here are my 2 cents on some of the bags I own..

National Explorer NG 5162 Construction is very nice, the best thing about this bag is its versatility. I have been able to fit an E-3, the Sigma (Bigma) 500mm, the 2.8 50-200mm Zuiko and my E-410 with the wide angle lens. On top of that on the back it has space for a laptop. It says it can fit a 17" laptop but is very very tight. I was able to fit a 17" Lenovo. Lots of pockets to put all your other stuff and a nice feature is that it has a top compartment that you can remove the bottom and connect to the camera storage area. Its very good for carrying a small tripod on the side (I carry a Manfrotto 190X). Downside is that it can become very heavy and in order to access your equipment you have remove your bag, put it on the ground and access your equipment. Very good for travel on an airplane as well.
Lowepro Slingshot 300 Very nice for small treks and city walks, it has a ton of space. Was able to fit the same or more equipment than in the NG but without the laptop. Problem is it can become very heavy and problematic for your back as the entire weight is being carried on a single shoulder. Is great for quick access to cameras. I sometimes carry my 2 cameras, hang my E-3 around my neck and leave the 410 for wide angle shots inside the slingshot
Lowepro Fastpack 350 This is by far the best compromise between the slingshot and the NG. It can fit at ton of stuff, Both my camera bodies with their lenses and an extra equipment. It can also fit a laptop, I have carried a Lenovo 17" with it. Is carried as a backpack but it allows the same quick access that the slingshot offers. I have had this bag for 4 weeks and is great to travel and carry around. Only piece missing is a good spot to hang a tripod.
Storm Case Im2500 This is where I keep my equipment at home, the one I dont use very often or that is not readily store on my Fastpack. Is great for keeping your equipment out of the dust, lots of space and you can buy accessories. It comes out of the box with the foam that can be shaped for fitting tightly with your equipment or with the Velcro dividers that are also customizable. Also other accesories can be purchased for the inslide lid. This is great for home storage or to move all your equipment in one go.

del.icio.us Tags: Lowepro,camera,bag,review,slingshot,National Geographic,NG,Camera,Bags,Backpack,analysis,Storm Case,storage,mobile,laptop