When I first started to offer prints for people to buy I had lots of options for people to choose from for each print. It took me quite awhile to get my website to work with allowing a list of sizes to come up for each picture and being able to select which list so prints of the same proportions could be chosen. As I've been rebranding my fine art photography to Steven J. Donley I spent a bit of time thinking about what I wanted to offer, not only size wise, but also what final product do I want to offer. Do I want to offer a product that is of various sizes or something more limited?
By offering more sizes, yes, it gives people more options which could lead to additional sales because they could choose a size that someone felt fit better. With my studio work, I do this because at that point it is a lot more about what the family, bride, individual wants because they are buying pictures of themselves or their family. Yes, these are artistic and the photographer puts in his own vision into creating the images. Granted, not all compositions are compatible with all sizes/proportions and at that point it is the photographer's job to help guide the client to not make that mistake.
However, when it comes to fine art photography, this really is about the photographer's vision and not a 'clients'. There isn't someone paying the photographer to take these pictures, he is doing it because it's what he loves to do.
These are also about creating art that will, hopefully, appreciate in value over time. Too often it takes until the death of the artist for this appreciation to occur, which is sad, but there is that concept there. Along with that there is the idea that there is a perceived value to my art. What happens to that perceived value if there are 6 different sizes of a print floating around. What happens to that perceived value if I say there is 100 prints available of an image and there are 6 different sizes of those 100 prints? How do those print appreciate in value if there is a variance to them?
All of this went through my mind and it came down to my own integrity. I didn't feel comfortable having so many different variables to my art, plus I don't always like the prints at different sizes. Yes, I can print an 16x20 picture at 180 dpi and most people wouldn't realize it unless they looked closely. The lower DPI allows one to make a large picture with the same size file because the pixels are farther apart. However, I WOULD KNOW. It doesn't matter if someone else wouldn't know, I would. The integrity of my vision for my artwork isn't worth compromising for anyone else. It is MY artwork. If someone doesn't want a print from me because they want a 11x14 and it's only available as an 8x10 print, a greeting card or a specific limited edition size, then so be it. I am fine with it because I have kept my own integrity.
-Steven
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