kickstand

“Then and now”?

The JPEG format is a lossy compressed file format. It can be saved at different levels of quality / compression.

PSD and TIFF are lossless, uncompressed formats.

"Best" is probably a Mac Studio with two 27" displays. Or three.

A MacBook Pro would do the job, as well. Though I don't see how people can work on such a tiny display.

Question for you: did this come up before the shoot? Did you sign a contract? Was it mentioned at all that you'd get 15 photos for your $1800 price?

I’ve been thinking about it for about two years now. Maybe I should look for some Black Friday deals.

Smugmug and mpix.com come to mind.

The former if you want to have a virtual store; the latter if you want to bulk order and send to yourself.

IMHO, convenience is the biggest factor.

Want to make a print during a party, to give to your guests? Want to make multiple variations of a print to get it exactly right? Want to make a birthday card the morning before you have to go to a birthday party?

Also, at least for me, having my own printer means I make more prints. My (Epson R3000) actually died two years ago, and I haven't really made any prints since.

Also I don’t think anyone has mentioned lighting. You can use one or more lights with colored gels to get various effects. Smear a little vaseline on your lens filter to het the glow.

Pro wildlife photographers will spend tens of thousands of dollars to get a faster lens.

I bought one during COVID and used it in my backyard. I didn’t use it in snowy weather.

Joby gorillapods made these popular.

You’ll have more anxiety from worrying about it than from any actual problem.