Rookie ready to debut - need advices!

fabthi

Hi everybody
I am almost ready, my trial period is close to finish and I will initially subscribe for a Power plan.
My SmugMug site (http://www.imaginevenice.com/Photography/Venice/13972214_9L4Uo#1027039084_eD96L) is going to be sharply focused on images of Venice, my hometown.
Some of the images I will upload are ready (I uploaded some finished test images watermarked), at least from my point of view but since I am a new at SM, I am not sure about the standards that could better be applied to them :dunno.
I would like you have a look at the images I already uploaded and tell me what you think, particularly in relation with the issues I list.
-Sharpening?
Is it advisable to sharpen to a certain degree in Photoshop the original image or is it better to sharpen it through the SM sharpening tool?
-Noise?
I sometime apply some noise reduction (NoiseNinja) to images or to portion of images, but I am confident of the printed result when I use the lab I know. Do you think the images I have need any more NR?
-Images too dark? Too contrasty?
From SM help: “The words of death are, 'it looked good on my monitor.'” That is exactly what I think of my images, but probably the people here at SM who has a longer experience (especially about SM printing) can tell me if they really look OK or not.
-EZ Prints or BayPhoto? :scratch
Here I am really confused but, again, looking at the style of my pictures I hope somebody will advice me on which one of the two could do the best prints.
-Text page
I'd like to have a text page where I introduce my work, but in a different place from the Bio box that can appear in Homepage. Is it possible?
I want to thank all the people who will give their contribution.
Fabio

denisegoldberg

fabthi wrote: »

...I will initially subscribe for a Power plan.

-EZ Prints or BayPhoto?

-Text page
I'd like to have a text page where I introduce my work, but in a different place from the Bio box that can appear in Homepage. Is it possible?

If you subscribe as Power, you don't have a choice of labs. Power subscribers print at EZ Prints. Only pro subscribers have the choice of Bay. See help page at http://www.smugmug.com/help/choice-of-printing-labs.

Yes, you can have a text page. Take a look at Allen's tutorial at http://allen-steve.smugmug.com/gallery/3819841.

I'll leave it to the folks from smug to answer your sharpening / noise / print questions.

--- Denise

fabthi

What a good start for my thread, thanks Denise!
p.s. I will probably upgrade for the Pro subscription in a short time

denisegoldberg

fabthi wrote: »

p.s. I will probably upgrade for the Pro subscription in a short time

Then on the EZ Prints vs. Bay Photo question, you might want to check with the help desk to see if they can send you sample prints from both labs. But you also might be interested in the fact that Bay Photo does hand color correction (if you set your photos for correction) while EZ Prints correction is not by hand.

--- Denise

CWSkopec

denisegoldberg wrote: »

Then on the EZ Prints vs. Bay Photo question, you might want to check with the help desk to see if they can send you sample prints from both labs. But you also might be interested in the fact that Bay Photo does hand color correction (if you set your photos for correction) while EZ Prints correction is not by hand.

--- Denise

I really can't offer comparisons because I haven't used EZ Prints, but I can tell you that each and every print I've received from Bay has been absolutely perfect and stunning!

fabthi

CWSkopec wrote: »

I really can't offer comparisons because I haven't used EZ Prints, but I can tell you that each and every print I've received from Bay has been absolutely perfect and stunning!

Hi Chris
it's good to know; judging from both Denise's and your posts it seems BayPhoto is more accurate in high end printing.
I would ask you if you could kindly have a look at my images and compare noise/exposure/sharpening issues with yours and let me know what you think regarding the printing results and/or problems I could possiblyencounter.
Fabio