After a popular post last week on Reddit, I decided to check the cost of prints on Flickr. I want to build a physical portfolio, and was unhappy with the quality of prints from local shops; I expected to get what I paid for (not a ton) and even then was disappointed. I ordered two prints from Flickr, both 8×10″, both black and white.
I only did this because I can’t afford to print my entire (current) portfolio at once, and these two were the images I was most displeased with from local shops. So this, unfortunately, can’t yield any information about colour. I ordered one glossy print (I normally hate glossy, but wanted to see what it was like), and one “lustre” print.
The photos came in a decent rigid envelope. The prints themselves were wrapped in cellophane and strengthened with a card back, which is good from a support perspective. Here are the two prints side-by-side.
No damage or anything, which I’d expect to be the case. I’m a big fan of the “lustre” paper. Here are two images showing the lustre texture.
As I expected, I can’t stand the gloss at all.
I can’t actually show you this, but the paper isn’t terribly heavy in terms of gsm. I don’t have a scale to quantify it but it’s light, but heavier than one of my local shops’ paper, and about the same as the other.
The prints cost £2.08 each and shipped to Ireland from the UK in just two days from the date of shipping, which was 4 days after I ordered them. Shipping was more expensive, at £7.20 total. Total cost including VAT was £11.35/€12.64/$13.96. So at about €6 per print I’m happy with the quality and will order a few more in lustre, particularly in colour.
Hope this helps some of you in any way!
About the Author
Alex took up photography at the age of 14, using a Fujifilm Finepix J27, which he still owns. He works part-time as an event and portraiture photographer and does a lot of street photography and animal portraiture in his own time. Currently, he is studying for a PhD in Chemistry, and his favourite combo to shoot with is the Fujifilm X-H1 and 56mm f/1.2. You can find out more about Alex on his website and follow his work on Instagram and Flickr. This article was also published here and shared with permission.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!