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Lesson Info
53. Reviewing Major U.S Printers
Lessons
Intro
1Workshop Intro
03:18Foundations
2Gear
12:14 3Gear - My Camera Bags
08:00 4Mastering Camera Settings
07:41 5Blue Hour, A How-To
10:45 6Photos That Move Us
07:19Visual Storytelling 101
07:51 8Endurance In A World Of Sprinting
06:27 9Keeping Your Ideas Fresh
08:31 10Building Your Story Arc
06:44 11Shooting More: Action Plan
02:01 12Conveying Emotions
07:52In the Field
13The Assignment: Himalaya Pre-Pro
12:08 14In the Field: The Himalaya Defender Shoot
20:29 15The Assignment: Canon Pre-Pro
10:25 16In the Field: Canon USA Shoot
15:06Editing
17Keywords & Organizing Images
06:42 18Commercial Grading
04:47 19Masking & Radial Filters
12:33 20Perspective Correction
05:39 21HDR (Hand-Held)
03:37 22Black & White Edits
07:00 23Before & Afters
01:33 24Moody Grading
13:15 25IG Export Settings
04:00 26Web Export Settings
02:44 27Clone Stamping & Patch Tools
05:51 28Grading in Lightroom
06:45 29Hand-Held Panoramas
03:41 30Radial Filters Pt 2
02:38 31Delivering Files to Clients
12:33 32Archiving & Organizing Images
10:15 33My Favorite Software
03:44Business
34Let's Talk Business
01:03 35Building A Desirable Portfolio
11:17 36How to Contact Clients
12:00 37Prospecting: Finding Brands That Fit You
04:16 38Getting Clients To See Our Value
10:16 39Paid to Travel the World
14:48 40The Art of Making Moodboards & Treatments
08:09 41Keys To A Fulfilling Career
07:40 42Three Things You Need To Know Before Pitching
06:19 43Finding Your Value Proposition
08:02 44Media Kit: A Walk Through
08:06 45How I Built My Audience
07:46 46Social Media Landscape
07:32 47Module Recap
03:08Bonus - Everything To Know About Filters
48Do You Need Lens Filters?
09:36 49Filters in The Field
12:40Bonus - Find Your Path
50Find Your Path
07:44Bonus - How To Print Your Work
51Why Print or Sell Photos
23:21 52Preparing Photos for Print
06:44 53Reviewing Major U.S Printers
06:57Lesson Info
Reviewing Major U.S Printers
So now you've seen how I edit my photo on the computer and get it ready for print. Now this is gonna be part two, and I call it "Which Lab is my Favorite." So I've sent the same image to five or six different photo labs across the country. The biggest ones, you know? So it's like Mpix, Shutterfly, Artifact Uprising, Snapfish, and Cell. So all major players, and I'm going to go over each of them, they're all right here, and share my feelings. So the criterias I'm gonna be using are first, overall feel. Because I've edited this image and I know it pretty well, I know instantly at first glance if it feels right or not. And I don't wanna be using a loop to look at a print. It's not the way you look at prints, right? Like this size print, you look at it, you know. Hands extended and that's it. So I'm not gonna be nerding about little, very small details. But overall feel for me is the biggest one. Number two, color rendition, the way the colors look like. Again, I know the print well, so I ...
can just tell quickly if the colors are right or not. Three is contrast, like does it have enough, is it rendered the way it should? The shadows and the highlights. That for me is big. And then last one, number four, price. So let's begin with number one. I think it is Shutterfly. Kinda sucks, to be honest. It got damaged into the shipping. Bit of a blue hue, bit faded, feels a bit flimsy, but it's eight bucks. So here here's that, whoa! Possibly the worst print of the pile, actually a hundred percent the worst print, Snapfish. Obviously we were in the middle of a plutonium war, because the sky is green and here it's just completely, I don't know what these colors are from. Not a big fan of it. It was eight dollars as well, which is way too much. I mean, just these, doesn't feel right. Next up, Mpix, pretty good, Mpix, even though the sky trying to be gray-green still, which I'm not a big fan of, bit of a hue, some sort of cast, but the contrast feels good. $8 as well. Not too bad, you know, it's just that the cast is a big greenish, that's it. Next up, Shutterfly, second Shutterfly. A more fancy one. This one was 20 bucks. The blues have gone a bit green, as you can see, why not? (laughs) Shadows are okay. Actually quite faded, to be honest, not worth the price. Oh, look at this one. This one feels right, Artifact Uprising. This one was expensive, though, 30 bucks. Shadows feel good, just feels balanced, first impression is great. Trees, look good here. There's like nice three layers going on in the image. And that's very nice. So this is where Artifact came in And last but not least, Cell (indistinct) Cell. So Cell is new to the game. They have these three guys, one of them got damaged into shipping. Three different papers, $20 each, fancy-ish. The pearl's a bit shiny, pearls a bit shiny. Shadows are a bit faded. Feels good though, feels alright. The baryta, slight shine as well, actually probably the shiniest of the two. Yeah, definitely shiniest. Baryta's a cool paper. Not for me, though, I don't love it. Makes this vignette up here that I don't really like. Contrast felt good, big contrast. I mean, if you compare to the photo rag, photo rag feels much better, less fade. I like that way better in the photo rag. These colors are a bit crazy up here. I don't know where they came from. The blues have gotten a bit green as well. Just if you compare it with Mr. Artifact, it's a bit more managed here, I feel. The magentas are more in check. So that's pretty much it. Let's just make it neat, put them all back together and tell you which one I prefer. All right, out. Photo rag, Artifact Uprising. I mean, just for comparison's sake, this is a Shutterfly $20 print. It's just like a different photo. I don't know where they got the colors from, but they're all in the same price point, except, look, so that's why this one is not in the final pile. Just wanna make sure I don't miss anybody. No, God, no. This, this is probably the worst one. What is it? That one is not awesome. And this Shutterfly, same, just really yellow. Look at the hue of it. All right, so two favorites, Artifact Uprising to the right, Cell fine art photo rag to the left. White, they feel good. These feel a bit green. Shadows, these feel a bit contrasty. These feel a bit faded, but I still prefer that sky color, bit of a vignette, but overall it just feels more solid. Better definition here. Just feels a bit crisper. This feels a bit crunchy and mushy. I'm just splitting hairs right now, right? They both feel really good, but I super prefer this one because it just, the layers are more balanced between the three of them. So if I have to pick a winner, definitely be this guy. 1, 2, 3 layers just looks like my photo, just like it was in the computer not too long ago. Got a winner. Thank you for watching. I hope this helped you pick the right print shop to print your images with and find the right reasons to print your photos and also how to get them ready for print. This wasn't sponsored by anyone. Nobody paid to be in this film. Just made it because I thought it'd be really useful. So if you print your images, which I hope you will, send them my way just send some photos of the prints. I just would love to see it, bye.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Jon
Not What I Was Expecting Let me just start by saying that the workshop was very good. There were lots of things that I learned and many insights I took away. Perhaps the greatest bit of wisdom imparted to me was not anything Alex said but how he approached every subject he talked about. I felt that he was talking to me as a friend, very personal and open book. This was both a blessing and a curse as the course tends to meander around and is not as structured as others I've taken. Alex's passion for the highest quality, and craftsmanship in every aspect of his business, is very evident. From the premiums he charges, to the attention to detail in client deliveries. This is where my review is going to give some hopefully constructive criticisms. For someone so focused on a premium experience I was a surprised to find the course a bit sloppily assembled, and the videography and editing lackluster. This is coming from a videographer and someone with a lot of experience in online training. A few short examples to illustrate my point include: repeating segments of the edit (in some instances the exact same segment), poor framing. Colors changing between cuts, and my biggest pet peeve, not leaving photo examples on for long enough to see them. These are all small things, but they add up, and along with the topics meandering, left me a bit disappointed. I'm curious who you would say this class is aimed towards. Amateurs, mid-level, or experts? The assumption of who you are addressing changes throughout the course. I feel like with a bit of work from an instructional designer, and some editing cleanup, you could help hone this course to be one of the best out there. I feel like I need to do a more in depth review than will fit here, to actually explain this well. Let me know if that would be helpful to you. One other note: When I signed up for a workshop on Adventure Photography, I honestly thought it would be more field focused. The field examples were all shoots for products, and not shoots documenting an adventure. I guess I had just hoped to learn that side of the storytelling process more. Getting into the nitty gritty of being wet, cold, and dirty, and still shooting bangers. The section on filters (going out and building the snow cave) was more what I thought this course was going to be. Anyhow, with all that said, I still found it valuable and worthwhile. To summarize, the course feels a bit unpolished and in some ways unfinished though there is still great value. I've taken Jimmy Chin's Masterclass on adventure photography and it felt very structured and highly polished. I purchased "Adventure Pro" on the "finish in a month" discount. I would have felt ripped off if I had paid full price with the course in its current state. Thanks for reading and I hope my criticisms come as helpful. As I've already mentioned I'd be happy to further elaborate.
Topher Hammond
One of the best photography investments I'm only 1/4 of the way through Alex's course and I feel like I already have a loose plan on how I can move forward in my own career as a photographer. I felt like my work was lacking a specific feeling. The way that Alex articulated ideas on how to convey emotion in your imagery and building that overarching story arc for your own life narrative were super helpful to focus on how to make my work better. Super looking forward to the rest of this course. Thanks Alex and team!
Sergi Mas de xaxars Rosell
Great Workshop I learned quite a lot with this workshop. Because I'm in the industry for 5 years now, there were a few things I already knew. On the other hand, Alex showed me different and more effective ways to improve my business. I like the way he gives the lessons, always in a personal and close way. This is the knowledge I wish I had when I started. Totally worth it!
Student Work
Related Classes
Adventure & Sports