FAQ

What should I wear to my session?
Where should I print my photos?
What are the advantages to printing through a professional lab?
How long does it take for prints through your Pro Lab to ship?
What resolution do I need to make prints?
What is the best location for our portraits?
How should I set up my ceremony for the best pictures?

Clothing can make or break a photo session. The following guidelines will help you make correct choices that will lead to flattering pictures.

• Avoid patterns and prints; stick to solid, subdued colors as much as possible.
• Wear long sleeves whenever possible. The exposed skin resulting from short sleeves draws attention away from the face and can be distracting.
• For groups, make sure there is some cohesion between what everyone is wearing. Avoid mixtures of light and dark tones (e.g. white and black). Matching clothes and solid colors will keep the focus on faces instead of outfits. Typically the lighter color should be on top as it draws attention to the faces. Beige, white, and light blue are all great colors to work with.
• Higher necklines and v-necks will slim a figure, while larger, wider necklines will add weight to the subject

For smaller prints (3×5 and 4×6), Costco or Walmart will do a fine job. If you are printing anything larger than that, we recommend that you use a professional printing house.

Have you ever printed an image that looked a whole lot different than it did on your monitor? A professional lab will have its printing machines calibrated to a specific standard in terms of color accuracy. At DM Photo, we calibrate our computer monitors to that same standard using special hardware and software. This means that what comes out of the printer looks exactly as we intended when we processed the image on our computer.

Professional labs will use higher quality paper that lasts longer and retains color better. Also, the machines used in a pro lab are generally of a higher caliber than what you would find at your local Costco or Walmart, meaning your print will have more vivid colors, greater clarity, and an overall “pop” that you might not find, otherwise. The bottom line is if you’re going to print a quality photo to hang on your wall, it’s worth your time to make sure it looks as good as possible by using a professional printing house. We provide high quality prints through our pro lab via a simple online interface that will ship directly to your door (browse our Sample gallery to see what the online interface looks like).

Prints typically ship within 2-5 days after you have placed your order.

Ideally, your print should be made at 300dpi. However, at a minimum, 150dpi can be used. The following are the minimum recommended resolutions for making prints:

• 4×6 in – 600 x 900 px
• 5×7 in – 750 x 1050 px
• 8×10 in – 1200 x 1500 px
• 8×12 in – 1200 x 1800 px
• 16×20 in – 2400 x 3000 px
• 16×24 in – 2400 x 3600 px
• 20×30 in – 3000 x 4500 px
• 24×30 in – 3600 x 4500 px

The more resolution you have, the more printing options you have available to you. One thing that sets DM Photo apart from other photographers is that we use a 21 Megapixel camera that will produce an enormous resolution of 5616 x 3744 px. This will allow you to make beautifully detailed prints at large sizes, something not many photographers can offer.

There is a delicate balance between interesting and distracting when it comes to locations. Some of the nicest portraits we’ve taken are those where there is little happening in the background. This way the focus is on you, not the environment. We are happy to recommend a location for your specific portrait.

Avoid areas that are lit differently (i.e. areas in the shade next to areas in the sun). The more evenly light hits everything the better. In other words, it’s better to have everything in the shade, or everything in the sun. Having half in the shade and half in the sun makes photos of the entire group/area difficult.
Please see our portrait photography and wedding photography pages for examples of what others have worn.