posted Friday, 23 November 2012, 21:15 (+0800), by Martin
Background On The "Print-A-Day" Project
A couple of months ago, I did a "print-a-day" project for a period of four weeks. I got the idea from a blog post on The Online Photographer. As I mentioned in my previous post about this project, I decided to do this project "as an exercise in improving your post-processing skills specifically in relation to achieving good photo prints".
It has been a while since I completed the project, but due to holidays, business travel, and other commitments, I haven't yet had a chance to write about my experience with the print-a-day project. However, this has given me additional time to reflect on the project. I still have all the prints hanging up in my home office, and look at them on a regular basis.
Looking back at the project, I believe it was definitely worthwhile, and I have learnt some interesting lessons as a result of the project.
The Photos from the Project
Here are the 28 photos I post-processed and printed during the 4 weeks of the print-a-day project. Some of these photos have already been featured here on my blog.
Completing the Project
I used a spreadsheet to keep track of the photos I was using in this project, and also used it to record how much time I spent post-processing each photo. The post-processing time for the photos ranged from 10 to 60 minutes, with most photos typically taking about 15 minutes.
Finding the time to process and print a photo each day was relatively easy, as for three out of the four weeks of the project, I was on holidays from work, and was mostly at home during the day. Outside of holidays, it would certainly be more difficult for me to find the time each day to process and print a photo, with work commitments, work-related travel, family commitments, and other extra-curricular activities.
Lessons Learnt
This project taught me a number of lessons. I have attempted to note down these lessons as a reminder for myself, and so readers of this blog can benefit from them too.
- I don't print enough photos. While I typically take plenty of photos, and post-process plenty of photos, I don't print photos very regularly. Printing out photos and hanging them on your wall gives you a better appreciation for your photos, and allows you to enjoy them more. I am intending to regularly print some photos, and hang them on my magnetic photo board.
- Pick photos that appeal to you. Post-processing is always a lot more enjoyable if you are working on photos that you like, rather than photos that you are post-processing because you have to (such as processing a big batch of photos after a family or wedding shoot).
- After processing, and before printing a photo, step away from the computer for a while, or close the photo and do something else for a while. Putting a photo aside for a while allows you to take a fresh look at the photo, and you will often see something that needs further adjustment or correction, which you haven't noticed while you were working on the photo. Spending too much time looking at colours can cause you to become somewhat desensitised to them.
- What may look good to you at the time printing may look like it needs some remedial attention the next morning. This is closely related to the previous point.
- Critically review your photos, your post-processing efforts, and your prints, and be honest with yourself.
- Screen calibration and colour settings in Photoshop are very important. I had just moved from an old PC and Photoshop CS4 to a new PC with Photoshop CS6, and had some initial teething issues with monitor calibration and colour profiles in CS6 with some of the photos printed as part of this project.
Conclusion
I found the print-a-day project to be very rewarding, and can definitely recommend it to any photographer who wants to improve their post-processing and printing skills.
If you want to improve your skills in this area, this can be a worthwhile project.
