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Digital photography - why should I print?

In days of yore, when gentlemen wore top hats, women donned corsets and a horse and cart was the fastest way about town, there was such a thing as film photography. This ancient art saw crowds gathering about a camera awaiting rolls of 36 exposure film to be loaded. Weeks would be spent for the pictures to return, only to find underexposed blurs, subjects with red-devil eyes and those annoying stickers telling you how to improve your shots when it's already too late and you've paid your tenner.

The advent of digital photography has saved us from all the pain and expense of shooting film. Now we can snap, save and edit as many of our pictures as we like without having to worry about making a mistake. The problem is that all this photographic freedom has stopped people printing and, without tangible photography and a well made print of a photo, few will ever fully experience the joys of a truly decent shot.

Well, the first and most obvious reason is because you can hang your photos on the wall. Anything you're particularly proud of will look a hundred times better once it's framed and hung. 

In terms of photographic technique and practice, those who are keen amateurs, or just want to better their camera skills, will find prints help massively. Laying a picture out on a table, holding it, viewing it in different light and generally dissecting it in a way only prints allow mean a massive boost in knowledge of what makes a photo look good. 

Post production and photoshop work will also improve dramatically as you can begin to test what sort of edits look good anywhere and not just on your own personal computer screen. This means building a much more adaptable photographic technique which can be put to use in different situations. It may be that you like shooting bokeh and at night because of the way it looks on your PC but are cautious of daytime or studio work because your monitor is unforgiving. Printing will help fix this by allowing you to experiment, examine and correct until you get it right. 

Amateurs and professionals aside, there is one vital reason as to why we need to get printing again: family photo albums. The digital camera has killed off the embarrassing booklet filled with pictures of babies in the bathtub and bad teenage haircuts. This is a shame as the awkward family photo was one of the reasons why photography became so popular in the first place. Peering through a person's Facebook albums will never create the same feeling you get from looking through a decent set of printed family pics. There's an emotional connection that the physical flicking through pages at photographs, themselves printed on paper and with ink that ages and fades along with the memories, with which a pixel rendered image just cannot compete.

HP Officejet 6500 Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer | Best Buy ...

Want a multifunction color printer that offers the convenience of wireless networking? Our Officejet 6500 is right for all your small-office printing, faxing, copying, and scanning. You’ll get professional-quality color at up to 40% lower color cost per page and using less energy than laser printers. And you’ll be able to scan photos and documents (up to legal size) directly into folders, no PC required.

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