A friend posted a photo of her birthday gift: A canvas beach panorama. Nice. Thoughtful gift.
And I was horrified.
Someone PAID for an out of focus, poorly printed, and off-color beach panoramic photo. And I bet they paid a lot of money for it on Bed Bath or similar cheap goods, child labor third world produced, outlet.
You know: I could have provided a one of a kind, in-focus, panoramic shot with perfect color cast.
You didn’t know that?
Well, now you do.
When you are investing in artwork for your own home or for a special gift, you are spending significant dollars. If you are ordering a 24×36 canvas print and paying $30…you are going to get: (a) a stock image – nothing special or meaningful; (b) a poorly composed image – if it were a pro image it would not be a cheap stock image; (c) a poorly colored image – no one is color or white balance correcting and (d) a poorly printed image on mediocre canvas – because the dime store printers run thousands of that canvas you are purchasing. They don’t care.
And worse, I have heard people pay not $30 but hundreds of dollars for these low-quality prints.
A quality 24×36 canvas print will run you $200 or more, true. Because the photographer is editing that artistic image carefully and that pro printing lab is using the best, archival, materials and ink. And that printer is working with that photographer to ensure superior quality.
So…don’t be cranky when your cheapo canvas print starts to fade or peel. Or when you realize the colors are off. Or when friends comment how it looks flat.
Or when you are awed by the photo in this post printed, clear and perfect, at 2 feet by 3 feet on thick canvas.
You get what you pay for.
