PRINTING YOUR PHOTOS: THE OPPOSITE OF INSTAGRAM

MAKE YOUR PHOTOS MEAN SOMETHING.

Think about just how many photos you’ve taken in your life.

Whether we’re on an exciting family vacation or out for a gourmet dinner with friends, pictures get taken all the time! But what happens to these masterpieces once we’ve taken them? These days, our photos have a final destination of a few places: a text message, a social media post, or worse, as one of 1,000 photos sitting dormant in your pictures folder on your phone, computer, or old memory card. Hope is not lost; there is another option.

“exciting family vacation”

“gourmet meals”

Being a self proclaimed photo hoarder, I can relate more than most. I have subfolders in folders on hard drives full of photos cataloged over the years that do nothing but sit there gathering digital dust. Every once in a while though, I take a photo and feel this compulsion to print it. Like this photo needs to be printed or else! For almost two years, I had that particular feeling in the back of my mind for one specific photo.

In spring of 2021, my then fiancé and I went on a “van life” trip from Vegas to Zion National Park to live out our nomadic fantasies. We hike a bunch of different trails up and down and all over Zion. The views and vistas were gorgeous (as you might expect) and so much fun to just live in our little van for the week, but (plot twist) the photo doesn’t come from any of these hikes. With one full day left before shuffling back to Vegas, we decided to leave Zion National Park and head about an hour northwest to a lesser known area called Kolob Canyon. While Zion was packed with droves of people vying for a spot on a bus to take them to the trailheads, Kolob Canyon was undisturbed by comparison. We almost thought it wasn’t even open.

the accommodations

We started with a few casual hikes around ground level creaks and streams and then headed up the canyon for terrain that was a little more interesting. We finally came to the summit of the trail that lead to a ridge that overlooked the canyon below. When I finally reached the edge, I stood there staring across at the beautifully complex canyon wall with the last remnants of winter’s snow and snapped off about five or six shots spanning from peak to peak. After I got those shots, I did something strange. I put the camera away. I got the shots I wanted and spent the rest of the hike taking in the texture and feel of the rocks, the different types of trees growing in the high altitude, and just staring at the canyon wall across from me that might as well have been from another planet.

That hike capped off a week unlike any other in my life. I lived out of a van (intentionally), hiked thousands of feet in elevation changes, crossed more states off my bucket list, saw things I’ve only seen on google images, and, unbeknownst to me at the time, came home with my favorite photo to date.

Once back home and editing through my trip photos, I realized that not one single photo from the ridge spot seemed to do the view justice. I found that group of photos I took at the peak and performed a little editing magic to stitch them all together into one massive panorama the size of five full photographs. It was at this moment, that feeling crept in and I knew I had to get this photo printed. Now, I’ve printed my work before, but this photo was special. It couldn’t just be any 4”x6” or 8”x12” or even 12”x18”. No. No, for this one, I was determined to print it BIG!

I talked to my normal print shop, but they couldn’t print the size I wanted. I eventually found an online printer who could do it . That was the easy part, then I had to find a frame to fit it. And since this was no regular size, I had to find custom framing. If you’ve ever had something custom framed, you learn very quickly that it gets expensive fast. All the options I found were hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I desperately wanted this printed, but I couldn’t justify that price. I thought I was going to have to settle for a much smaller, more “normal” photo.

Fast forward roughly two years to my thirtieth birthday (in retrospect, this seems like a midlife crisis). I only wanted one thing for my birthday, but the only person who could give me what I wanted was me. I went and talked to the framing department at Michael’s and they seemed to be able to build what I envisioned. Even with their best price, it was still expensive, but the Michael’s associate told me to come back Black Friday weekend for 80% off! At that price, it was finally time… After two years, I would finally have my dream photo!

I patiently waited another month and a half for Black Friday weekend to return to Michael’s to place my order. I went in on Sunday, talked to the same associate, proudly handed over my credit card, and then… had to wait two more weeks for the frame to be finish. But then! Two weeks later, I finally had it. My framed photo was in hand and it looked perfect. Exactly as I had imagined.

If you’ve made it this far, I won’t make you wait any longer. I give you, “Might As Well Be Mars”.

The thing that this print allows me to do is sit with it. I can stay here and look through all the little details and in the nooks and crannies and I can appreciate it. I still find new things in the image. That’s just not something we can do on Instagram or on a five inch screen. So take those photos on vacation, or out with friend for dinner, or even while walking the dog! But don’t let them all live and die on your phone. Frame a photo to remember that vacation. Make a mini cookbook of your favorite restaurant meals. Grab a magnet and slap a photo up on your fridge! If you don’t already, I highly recommend to make your photos mean something.

What’s your photo story? Let me know. Or keep it to yourself. I just hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Shawn