Brownies and Zucchini

Full Disclosure:  I received this print for free in exchange for a review on the blog.  The opinions are completely my own.

 I love taking photos.  I’ve loved taking photos since I first got my hands on a camera.  Back in high school, and even probably middle school, you could count on me to get photos of whatever kind of group gathering or event was happening.  In high school and college I even took a couple of classes on photography – digital photography as well as film.

When I started taking photos they were with a film camera, but once digital cameras became more prevalent and affordable I dove right in to that new form of media.  At one point technology was advancing so quickly in the digital photography world that I think I got new camera for my birthday every year so that I could shoot with the most megapixels possible and have the best quality photos.

(anyone else have one of these cameras that took tiny photos when they tried to bring back polaroid pictures?  Loved it.  Side note:  Anyone that I went to high school with have any idea whose cat and dog those are.  I have no clue!)

Up until a couple of years ago I had only a point and shoot camera.  It went with me EVERYWHERE.  It pretty much lived in my purse.  Then I got a DSLR, which I love.  The only problem with the DSLR is that since its so large its just not reasonable for me to have it with me ALL of the time (although I do have a pretty large purse so I try to carry it as much as I can.)

Enter: the iPhone.

I’ve always taken iPhone photos, but I was very resistant about the whole Instagram thing at first.  I don’t really know why, maybe it was because I saw some people overusing it – like doing crazy/weird effects on EVERYTHING –  but I eventually came around and realized that in moderation it definitely is a good thing.  Now, I use Instagram quite often and I really like it for the most part. I am a firm believer of the “the best camera is the one you have on you” philosophy and I’ve embraced my iPhone photos even more in recent busy months – especially since I now have the iPhone 4S and the camera on it is pretty fantastic quality.  Having my iPhone camera is something I don’t think I could live without anymore.  Although I still do love my DSLR, I like that since I always have my phone with me, I also always have a camera without having to carry around another item.

Recently, someone contacted me from EasyCanvasPrints.com asking if I would like a free canvas print to review on the blog.  Prints on Canvas seem to be SO popular right now, but even with all of my photography I had yet to take the plunge and buy one for myself! There are just SO many sites that do it and they all seemed pretty pricey, so I never made a decision and got one.  When I checked out Easy Canvas Prints, I thought it seemed easy enough, so I decided I would go for it and try one out.  A big selling point for me was that you can import your photos directly from Instagram!  (You can also import straight from a Facebook album.)  One of the big things that stops me from printing a lot of photos is that I have to sort through and upload the ones that I want to use from my computer. I have a lot of photos, and most are actually kept on a separate external hard drive, so this can kind of be a pain. Using Instagram was so easy, and since the camera on my phone is good, I had no problem blowing it up to fit on an 11″x11″ canvas!

The process of ordering the photo canvas was fairly easy and straightforward. It only took me a few minutes to complete my order.  It was easy to go back and change my mind when I didn’t like things, and it had a quality meter that was easy to see if my photo would still be good quality in the size that I wanted.  I was kind of concerned that my Instagram photo wouldn’t be high enough quality even though it told me it would be, but it turned out just fine!

Overall the process was smooth and I’m happy with my canvas! I do kind of wish I had like 3-5 more because the 11″x11″ size looks pretty lonely by itself on my big blank wall.  As far as the price of the canvas….I’m still not sure.  I mean it was good, but normally it would have cost me $55.  Although I guess if you think about it compared to the cost of  a professionally framed print of the same size, the price doesn’t seem all that high.  Plus, since canvas prints seem to be so in-style right now it seems like every place has a deal on them, so if I researched enough I bet I could find enough deals to not pay full price! 🙂 Actually right now on Easy Canvas Prints, they are 25% off and free shipping! 

How do you feel about canvas prints?  Do you have any?  Have you found that different places are better/worse quality?

psst: The same company that runs Easy Canvas Prints also has a few other websites where you can order other things like Car Magnets and Vinyl Banners!

Buffer

Filed under: Words Tagged: | Canvas Print, photography