What do you do with your UW photos?

[bakpakka]

I've got heaps, and heaps of photos and was wondering what I could do with them, aside from putting them on a CD archived in a dusty cabinet, which I'd hardly ever view. What do you guys do with the images?

Just a few weeks ago, I found a great place to upload some shots and make some passive income, from doing not much. All I have to do is go dive, and photograph stuff. In all honesty, I have only uploaded my land shots. I'll have to post process some of my underwater shots first.

Do go visit ShutterMap.com. You can view view my profile and take a look at some of the shots I've posted up for sale there.

I think they are in need of a lot of underwater photos, as many of the existing shots are on land. The website is still fairly new, so you'd sorta be able to have a first mover advantage for underwater pix.

 

[DesertEagle]

What do I do with them? I print them! Both film and digital photos go to a photolab that uses a Fuji Frontier. Prints on Fuji's supergloss look stunning. My office has enough prints that people call it "the aquarium."

Then I make small prints of just about everything. Most of them go into small 4x6 inch double page albums, like the ones made by pioneer. I also have about 50 of my favorite 8 x 10 inch (16.6 x 22cm) prints in a presentation portfolion.

To take it to the next level, I'm thinking of spending some big money for a custom-made photo album. This would be like the type you get at a wedding. Before I spend $500 on an album, I'm going to do my research. Here is a site that makes them: www.artleather.com

I haven't done an online album yet, but www.pbase.com looks nice.

 

[Scubatooth]

for my images i sell some of them as stock to intrested parties, but for most of my work its shot on assignment from a client or school so alot of it is for my portfolio and the rest is what has been shot from my paid work, as im in the middle of redoing my book (aka portfolio) for a review that i will have just before i graduate this may. then also im in the middle of a project from what i shot last summer when working on last summer when working for a summer camp (that i will be working on again when im working there) and as a result of the first summer of work i have been granted a gallery this coming fall to show that work as well as what i shoot this coming summer, and if i get the same reaction to the basic proofs i showed from that body of work the gallery will be a great success and i should be able to sell a number of prints from that series or at least get my name out in the area that will generate more opportunities for me.

all of my images are stored on a server at my house that has multiple back ups(ghost images of HDD,and off site DVDS that are rotated for a fresh one every 3-6 months) of each so that i dont lose any images. to control them all i use extensis portfolio to manage them as i can keyword and categories them for quick reference and within the program i can select certain images and post them to the web with a couple of clicks via a add on to the program, which makes it quite helpful in management.

FWIW

Tooth

 

[bakpakka]

DesertEagle, I love that term... the aquarium! Great idea for the use of your images to form your own virtual aquarium on land. Your colleagues probably think you're nuts!

Scubatooth, that's a robust backup system you've got there! But I do agree we cannot afford to lose images. After all, we've spent hours capturing those images, and we WILL never see the same creatures in the same locations ever again! Thanks for sharing your backup strategy with us. Let me rethink my backup strategy now...

 

[Scubatooth]

bakpakka

i would be more then willing to share with you how to set up a good back up strategy as the one i built works for me but for others may be over kill but when im working with the amount of images and data im keeping track of being to paranoid isnt a bad thing.

Tooth

 

[Mark Goodchild]

If anyone is interested I can host images on zerovisibility.co.uk for free with links to a website of your choice. Although you can do that here too I think! I get quite a lot of traffic so might help you generate some hits and maybe some sales.

Just an idea. PM me if you are interested.

 

[rotipisang]

IMO the most feature-packed online photo sharing service i've seen so far is Flickr (www.flickr.com)

ScubaBoard's photo sharing/presentation is also very interesting and easy to use, and it's made by divers for divers

 

[maractwin]

I print a picture book after each dive book.

There are several service bureaus that can do this. I use iPhoto on a mac to layout the book and print it through the Apple store. In a few days a hardcover book is delivered in the mail with my pictures in it on glossy paper.

It's a nice way to present the pics to friends. And they can turn pages at their own speed, rather than use a slideshow on the computer.

-Mark

 

[bakpakka]

I print a picture book after each dive book.

It's a nice way to present the pics to friends. And they can turn pages at their own speed, rather than use a slideshow on the computer.

-Mark

I totally agree that hard copy is still best, in this digital era. Isn't it rather costly to print them out on hard copy? Will they mail the picture books all over the world?

I think I may consider printing out more of my pictures too. I tried once to print on a colour laser, then laminate the sheets and bind them together. The printing turned out fine, but after lamination, it looks a little cheap, to be honest.

 

[maractwin]

Depends on what you consider expensive. It's only a tiny fraction of the cost of travel and a week's diving in the tropics. I wouldn't do a bunch of these and mail them to all of my friends. I print one that I keep, and show to people in person.

Currently Apple charges $30 for a 10 page hardcover book, plus $1.50 for each additional page. It's a lot cheaper if you take their softcover option, which they haven't been offering for too long. A medium-sized 20 page softcover is only $9.99. The large softcover is $19.99 for the first 20 pages. You can put multiple pictures on a page.

The other thing I've been known to do is to load my pictures onto a print service website such as ofoto.com, and send an invitation to this private gallery to my friends. Those that want can order prints for about 10 cents each.

Finally, a few of my favorite pictures get printed and hung on the wall in my office. I print those at home using premium high-gloss paper in my inkjet printer. The paper costs me about a dollar a sheet. But by printing it myself I know that the color matching is correct between what I see on my screen and what comes out the printer. A service bureau may get a higher quality print off a dye-sub printer, but the color matching varies and when it's hung on the wall, no one will get close enough to see the dots.

-Mark