First and Foremost – Thanks for your order!

Please read this whole page so that you’ll know what to expect. Both you and I want you to love your photos.

 

Digital Downloads

You’ve asked for digital downloads and they’re now available.  Buying a digital download means that you will own the file and may post it on social media, print as many copies at any size you wish for personal use or as gifts, or even create your own custom theatre lobby poster. How you use your images is limited only by your imagination. Pick your favorite photo lab to make prints, or use your inkjet or laser printer.

CAUTION: The size of these images varies depending on the crop I did for the site. You are not guaranteed a file of a particular size that will make an enlargement of a particular size.  Ask me if you have concern about being able to enlarge something larger than 5×7″. The file might do fine at 5×7″, but not at 11×14″. Single images shot under stage conditions often aren’t graceful performers at large sizes.

Once you check out, you will receive a link to download your images after I prepare them for you.

Technical information in case you’re interested.  This is only important if you’re a photo geek!

Dimensions: Image file dimensions will vary depending on the crop I applied to the camera file. Files will be at least 1,600 pixels wide and may be as wide as 4,900 pixels. You will receive the cropped and color corrected file without the Alan Cole Photography watermark you see online.

File Format: You will receive files in the .jpg format unless you want them in a different format.  I will be happy to prepare them for you as Photoshop .psd files or .tif files; just email me using the Contact Alan link at AlanColePhotography.com or call me at (240) 418-4512.

Color Space: Your files will be in sRGB, the most common among commercial labs and home printers, unless you let me know that you want them in Adobe RGB or ProPhoto RGB.

Print Size and Image Quality may be different

You’ll notice that most of the images shown are not even close to standard print dimensions of 5″x7″, 8″x10″ or 11″x14″. I crop this way to include what’s important while leaving out yards of empty stage and other elements that distract from what you really want to see. You will receive prints with the entire image you see on a black background that you may either trim away or use as part of your mat in a frame. A few of the images will not hold quality at an 11″x14″ enlargement size, so I will contact you with options if that’s the case with one you order. A better option than large prints is often a collage with multiple images; it will tell more of a story and often cost less than individual prints. See below for a little more collage information.

Color

Keep in mind that stage photography is not portrait photography under controlled lighting! You may correctly observe online that some solors are not completely, or even remotely, true to life. I correct as best I can, but actors are normally lit by lights of multiple colors at the same time, often from different sides of their bodies. This means that your star may have one side of her face lit normally and the other a strange purple – or orange – or green. I even go to black & white occasionally for really hideous, uncorrectable colors or for an image from which color only detracts. Let me know if you would like to see a particular color image im B&W and I’ll post a B&W version. Your photos will be in color if you see them in color online – no surprises! This is the stage, after all, and departures from reality are not only allowed, but expected!

Grain, Noise and Sharpness

Please don’t order if you expect a perfectly sharp, perfectly smooth image like you would receive from the local portrait studio. Expect some noise (for you digital photographers) or grain (for you who have had the pleasure of real film enlargements). Precise focus under these lighting conditions doesn’t always happen and I never show images with serious problems. You will (my guarantee to you) see some real-world stage photography artifacts when you look at these up close. They are best observed from wall viewing distances, where the imperfections add to the feeling that this is a real stage photograph under real stage conditions. Technique, cameras and software continue to improve, but real-world imperfection will continue to be part of stage photography.

Collages

Custom collages can work well with a group and one or more individual images on one print to tell more of a story. I’ve really reduced the price for additional copies of collages and prints because these are the hard-to-find, personalized gifts for relatives you have a hard time finding at that special time of the year. Now you can stock up and still afford to put them in nice frames!
This shopping cart doesn’t offer a slick way to build collages, or even to include a note for me with your order, so pick out the images you want, write down their numbers that appear below each image, and either use the Contact Alan link at AlanColePhotography.com or call me at (240) 418-4512 and we’ll discuss which images you want and any special layout ideas you have.

Printing, Packaging and Shipping

Prints will arrive flat, well-packed and unframed, usually in two to three weeks. I use the same professional commercial color lab that I have used for years, so be assured that your prints will look as close to what you see onscreen as possible.

Free Shipping with orders of $100

Order a hundred dollars worth or prints and you get all of the additional-print discounts plus I’ll spring for the shipping. You’ll have great memories for the wall and scrap book, and much more memorable gifts than another LL Bean tote bag. Just use the BLAKESTAGE100 coupon code at checkout. I’d deduct it automatically if I could, but the shopping cart I use needs to be told to deduct the normal shipping charge.

The big Alan Cole Photography watermark

that you see online will not be on your prints. I usually sign each in small type, but will not do so if you let me know. Your signed print should be worth much more on the open market, or even more prized as an heirloom after I become famous, so keep that in mind.

Big incentive to order more prints (think GIFTS)

Most of my work is already done by the time you order prints for the wall. The heavy lifting, the squatting, stretching, balancing and other contortions to get the shots, and late nights at the computer to turn them into great framable art that you’ll think highly enough of to collect are in the past. Putting the first image onto a print takes time, but you don’t have to pay for that time again for additional prints of the same images. Therefore, additional same-size copies of a print you order cost less, so you won’t have any trouble deciding on which prints will meet the $20 minimum order. Remember the trouble you have every year finding those unique, personal gifts for birthdays and holidays? You have your answer this year! These photos and a trip to the frame shop have you taken care of.

Refund, Exchange or Whatever it takes

I want you to be happy with the work you put on your walls and in your scrapbook – and with me. Let me know if you aren’t happy with it and I’ll make it right. I may ask you to send me the print so I can see what needs to change, but I haven’t had it happen in the years I’ve been shooting commercially. My customer service contact center is my cell phone, at (240) 418-4512. Feel free to use it. I may have to call you back if you call during the day.

Summing Up

This is about all I can say to get you ready to display some great prints of your actors and actresses on your walls. Thanks for taking time to read it all, copious thanks for your business and enjoy your one-of-a-kind wall art!