So you’ve got a computer full of stunningly beautiful, technically dialed-in photographs. They’re gorgeous, make your friends ooh and ahh, and get tons of likes on social media. It’s time to think about making some prints! But which ones do you choose?
Since none of us have infinite time or wall space, choosing which photos get turned into physical prints is an important decision. In fact, when I was opening my gallery, it was probably the hardest decision I had to make: I only had enough wall space for 19 prints. So which 19 photos out of the thousands in my portfolio should I pick??
I wasn’t sure what to do, so I went a three-pronged approach: I chose 1/3 of the prints from my personal favorite shots, 1/3 from popular places in the Eastern Sierra, and 1/3 from my most popular shots on social media. When the crate full of prints arrived from the print maker a few weeks later, I was surprised: some of the prints gave me a visceral reaction that transported me back to the moment of the photo. And other prints, well, didn’t.
In the two years since then I’ve learned why that is: the prints that I most love to stand in front of, as well as the prints that generate the most conversations here in the gallery, they all have something in common with those first prints that were so visceral: it’s not that they are my prettiest photos, my “best” photos, or even my most popular photos, it’s that they all create a strong emotional connection with the viewer.
And that’s the secret to choosing which photos to print: print the photos that make you feel the most. Print the photos that transport you back to the moment, and make you vividly remember what you were thinking and feeling when you pushed the shutter.
Although virtually every single photo looks better as a print than on your computer monitor, not all prints will create a strong emotional connection. For example, take these mud cracks in Death Valley. The patterns, light, and color are certainly evocative and beautiful. But when I look at the image I don’t remember anything about what I was experiencing when I took it. Without looking at the metadata, I don’t remember when I took it, or even exactly where. I don’t recall if it was a warm day, if I was hungry, tired, excited, happy, sad, or anything else. All I have are some general memories about standing on the playa watching the sun come up and change the light on the landscape. If I ever made a print of this photo, I bet it would look cool, but I also bet that I would never give it a second glance because it simply doesn’t create a strong emotional connection for me.
Compare that to this image of lupines blooming under the rising sun. This particular day, May 14, 2023, is burned deeply into my memory. I had been trying to capture these flower at sunrise for over a week and the conditions just weren’t leading to photos I was happy with. But on this day, as I set off before dawn, I remember being able to smell the lupines from miles away as I drove up the road toward them. When I got on location, I was originally photographing in a different direction when I noticed dappled light striking the landscape. I turned around to see what was causing the intermittent shadows and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw the beams of light erupting from the rising sun. I instantly knew I wanted to frame the sunbeams with a symmetric curve of flowers and I remember the adrenaline rush as I dashed around the area looking for just the right set of bushes. I remember holding my breath as I focused and composed, and I remember the pure joy rushing through my body as I marveled at the beauty of the scene. I’m feeling all those same things as I write this, and you better believe I relive that moment every time I stare at the 40″ x 60″ print I have of this photo hanging directly in front of my desk in the gallery. It puts a smile on my face every time.
So again, when you are deciding which photos to print, I urge you to prioritize the ones that make you feel something.
If you are creating prints for others, this advice is just as true. People only buy prints that they feel an emotional connection to. That emotional connection can be formed from from many parts, including:
All of these things go into the emotional connect people will feel when they look at your work. So when you are thinking about which photos to print, give some thought to these ideas.
Hopefully at this point you have a good idea about which photos of yours would make good prints. Now you just have to decided which print medium to use, which size to print at, and then prep your file for printing. Which is exactly what we’ll be talking about in the next article.
Joshua Cripps is a renowned landscape photographer who has garnered worldwide acclaim for his breathtaking images of our planet’s wild places. His photos have been published by the likes of National Geographic, NASA, CNN, BBC, and Nikon Global.
The Mt. Whitney Gallery was founded in 2023 by Joshua Cripps as a way to share his passion stunning landscapes of the Sierra Nevada and beyond.
Set at the foot of the breathtaking Sierra with a view of the range’s highest peaks, the gallery features large format, museum-caliber fine art prints of Josh’s signature photographs.
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One Response
You are so right about remembering everything about the shots and why you took it a certain way.
I love to look at photos that “talk back to me.”
I go to North Lake every year with your student, Donald Clough, and we got the best shot last year. We have been going there for 15 years or more, but the colors were spectacular and no wind on the lake. I got a 24×36 ” enlargement of that shot and love looking at it every time.