Prints

Oh, man, I just had a flashback from coming up with the word prints for the post. I met a guy at a party a long time ago who worked in advertising and spoke about an instant photo booth outfit his firm was representing. The kind you drive up to. I was about twenty at the time, enthusiastic about everything, I drew a storyboard advertisement based on fairy tale characters singing, "someday my prints will come." I thought is was hilarious and I was angry my idea wasn't considered. I thought, jeeze, what do you have to do to break into this business, anyway?

Same as now, nobody is going to listen. #caring.

But what the heck. The thing is I never gave the offers much thought. Pure marketing. This is what you can do with your photos. So what. Sell, sell, sell. It bugged me they're advertising when I'm paying their premium so I ignored their offers, figuring I can do any of that myself. Until the offers became too sweet to resist. And until Joe kept annoying people with how much fun it was driving around without an immediate plan except lunch and end up going over two mountain passes of continental divide quality. Having that experience match and exceed expensive trips to Europe. Right here, in my back yard. He's so tickled it annoys his traveling companions.

He has a lot to show on his Apple tablet but it's always a mess. And you always have him or some other owner fussing over your shoulder while you're looking, poking the photos, moving them along, expanding, shrinking, skipping, interfering with your viewing. They do not work out in practice as photo albums do, I don't think. The phone is worse. Having photos hosted is useful online only. The problem is you cannot give anything art as gift without the risk of rejection, it's personal, and then it's a joke on you. You don't want that.

The two photos on canvas were sent to Paradise Valley but Joe isn't there, he escaped to California where drought is better than heat. I told him no need to bother right now they are nothing time-sensitive.

But then they're shown opened.

They're small, only two feet.  They do not make a statement. Larger photos could, but not these. One photo divided into four could and groups of these could but not little ones as single.

The email came from an unknown number and a source that didn't make sense. Only this photo showed. Evidence the boxes were opened in Arizona by someone, the information relayed to Joe, then relayed to me. Now what? Garage, bathroom (where mine is), walk-in closet, basement, attic, tucked unseen behind the sofa, carport, outdoor patio, dog kennel. I honestly don't care, I just wanted him to see the photos as photos. That's all.

"Care to see a few photos of my recent car trip with Chip?" Whip out a couple 2-foot canvasses from behind the sofa. Hilarious. Like a cartoon.

The email photo showing receipt of the canvass prints displayed but the words did not. Joe doesn't know  how to do technology-related things but he tries. He's quite old. Then I saw the text attachment.

These are great and going on my south wall where I look out to the hummingbird feeder and the citrus grove. Perfect and thanks so much for your expertise and doing this for my continued enjoyment of our excursion.

And later.

Thanks so much travel companion and photog. Can't wait to see them hung on my office/guest/ room wall. That is the direction I look most of the day, out to the pool, backyard, hummingbird feeder, etc. I will forward you a picture in a while so remind me.

Wow, they meant something. He means it. I told him it'd be neat to have video of hummingbird at the feeder, one made from a bottle with wire and metal leaves, but he's too slow with his telephone camera and keeps missing the shots. The birds are too fast. He doesn't get it must be set up in advance with him waiting with remote activation. He thinks he can fumble for his telephone, lift up his telephone when a bird shows up, find the right button, aim properly and record. Maybe he can.

That was Photobucket. Their offer is not printed on canvass as advertised, rather printed on heavily textured paper. It is good quality. Very well worth it at reduced price.

Photobucket changes offers all the time. I bought at 75% off. The next week they were 80% off, the next week everything is 50% off. That ends soon. They'll keep rotating offers.

Flickr has their own regular offer and now I am more interested in that, but I do not know anything about them offering special. It's all reasonable full price but I'm still waiting for offers. The first offer I'll jump. Theirs wraps the photo around the frame instead of edge-to-edge image with either black or white edge as Photobucket does. This sacrifices the margin of the photo for the sake of the edges. The effect of this is outstanding when the subject is stone because it makes the entire thing look like a slab pulled off the mountain. Flicker has a good JAVA scrip demonstration of what your image will look like. The value over actual slabs of granite purchased from the countertop store is these are your photographs that mean something special to you. When I saw how these looked in their demonstration I flipped out with possibilities. I don't think you can produce such things less expensively and with such little effort.

These are also small and not impactful as a single but a group of these filling a wall can make an impressive presentation and a fun room to go into when they are your photographs taken some meaningful place and occasion.