Photography questions.. cameras.. printing..framing !?

odysseyxltd

New member
I have no photography experience, but I have some nice landscape photos that I would like to frame. I know I can't just print them out on my digital printer if I want the best quality. Where should I go to get a quality print, and probably enlarged a little bit.

I'm also looking at a good camera for when I go to Europe in August (for a few months). I initially wanted a DSLR, but I decided I want something smaller to travel with. Something that's good by default in low-light conditions would be a plus. I looked at the Canon G10 which someone recommended to me.. any thoughts on that one?

On a separate note, I'd also like to know a good resource if I want to start learning how to develop photos on my own (film photos, not digital).
 
anywhere that develops film can usually print quality digital photos.

check out the canon sd880 if you want a great small camera at a cheap price. the problem with any point and shoot is that it won't perform well in low light because the lens is just too small. thats just one advantage of a dslr or slr.

check your local library for a few books on developing your own film.
 
As with others answering the same, any local "pro" lab can make your larger photo for you. Check phone book yellow pages for photo labs in your area. Then you could just take it to them on a flash drive.

My best suggestion for your traveling camera is to get one with widest possible lens, which apparently is about 28mm nowadays. Canon has made a bunch of digital thin cameras with a 28mm lens on it. They've been making digital cameras for nearly a decade now with the stupidest lens on it, about a 38mm, which is terrible for any decent landscape shots. Do not know WHY those jerks didn't make wider angle lenses.
Some of those Canon cameras also have longer zooms, with the 28mm lens. The 38mm lens is closer to normal perspective, while the 28mm gives you much more width in the picture, you'll be amazed. I've alwys loved 28mm for shooting even normal shots, because you get so much more in the picture. And remember the Panoramic craze from the 90's? Those cameras actually had 28mm lenses in them. It's a great focal length for travelling. And these Canon cameras are still the tiny things that only teeny-bopper girls can shoot with, as thn as these cameras are!! So you won't be wasting space on a huge camera and lenses. The zooms on these Canons are pretty good.

Black and white is great for developing yourself, because you get into the process. It's part of the art process of photography, because how long it's in the developer, how much light you expose the paper with, all makes the photo what it turns out to be. You can do the same with color, but it's much more detailed, and as someone already said, developing color by yourself isn't really an art, it's much more technical than art.

You might check in with an area community college to see if they have any adult courses for shooting black and white film photography, which includes developing.
 
Lets work on the last first..
color developing is just not worth the time to do on your own in my OP..
Black and white on the other hand should be done by you in my OP..
So, there are a good number of books on black and white developing around... Tip to you, use Stainless steel tanks and reels right up front and you will be a happy person. The detail is in the detail when doing it. More you do it "the same" each time the better you will be and then when you change something you know what you did and why you did it..
(time in the developer).

Now you should look around for a "pro lab" in the greater area you live in... Up here I have an hour and a half drive to one with a ferry ride across a lake to get to it tossed in.. well worth it.

As to a camera, you have limited time.. go play with them today.. and get one by this Sunday so you have a full week to learn how to use it and a full week to make sure it works well before the trip ... trust me.. if you buy later then Sunday your talking with Mr Murphy... and HIS LAW, if it can go wrong it will...

the Canon would be nice.. nikon is the other one I would look at. Make sure you can figure out the controls and it feels right.

Good luck and enjoy the trip
 
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