“A lake carries you into recesses of feelig otherwise impenetrable.” William Wordsworth
Since I started this blog I’ve been presenting my pictures at 800 pixels wide. Mostly I did this because it seemed to fit the visual theme of my blog quite well and it’s a lightweight size in bandwidth terms which makes for easier viewing across all devices.
Lately though I’ve been wondering whether that type of thinking is outmoded and we have reached the point where image size is not such a consideration and I should try to increase the size of the images for better viewing.
So this is a kind of informal poll – let me know what you think in the comments below – bigger pictures or not? I appreciate your thoughts!
UPDATE: FRIDAY 11. OCTOBER
A huge thanks to everyone who gave me their opinion on image size, I really appreciate the feedback. I can’t say my mind is any clearer but it’s certainly been food for thought. 😉
Usually, I have no problems enjoying the quality of a shot in 800 pixel width. In fact, the trend to post huge pictures makes me often scale them down for viewing. Otherwise I have to move back with my chair to really see the whole shot at once wihtout having to “scroll” with the eyes.
I some cases, a 800pixel version produces too much loss to admire details. Lately, I posted “Allegro ma non troppo” on my blog. And even with the linked 1200 Pixel, theres a substantial loss of details. Those can only really be enjoyed on a 27+ inch screen or even better: in a decent print.
I vote to stay with 800 pixel, maybe sometimes post a link to a bigger version and in the cases where details are really important, maybe just post a 50% or 100% crop to let me see the details, without having to provide a printable version. Remember: the internet is no forgiving place and there is a big chance someone steals your shots and produces e.g. cards with them. So, 800 pixel seems a fair start, 1200 pixel as a clickable addition seems a good compromise between load time, details and security.
BTW: I like the shot in this page quite good. So much story potential in this simple scene.
Hi, thanks very much for your feedback. I hadn’t thought about providing cropped portions of the image, that’s a great idea. By the way, I had a look at your image “Allegro ma non troppo” and it really is stunning and perfectly titled!
Thanks, Martina.
The fun aspect of visual presentation is that it is not always the effective pixel size that counts, but the way you present it to the viewer. One very nice (and fresh) example is a “museal presentation”. Have a look here:
http://www.goodeye.ch/augenblicke
The shown pictures are rather small, yet they feel much bigger than what I’d usually show on my blog. It’s all about perception…
Have a nice day.
Roland
Martina, in those times of device variety, blogs tend to get viewed on everything from an iphone to a 30″ screen. While absolute image size is one factor, nice scalability of the design I think is very important, and within that automatic scaling of the images. Difficult to achieve, as I had to experience…
Of course new presentation forms like on goodeye.ch do attract the audience, and for such a gallery the effort certainly makes sense. It’s just a question of affordability.
Hi Markus
Thanks for your thoughts. Earlier on with my blog I tried to achieve a scalable liquid design – and honestly I couldn’t do it! I probably needed to hire a CSS master but in the end I settled on what I felt was a good compromise. I have to say, you did a great job on presentation for your blog. It looks like the hard work was worth it.
Regards.
Martina
C’est une très belle image, Martina. Une image comme je les aime : avec des contrastes bien tranchés à l’avant-plan et une infinité de nuances à l’arrière. Je n’ai pas réfléchi encore à la question que tu poses sur la taille des images. Les réponses de mes prédécesseurs me semblent pleine de bon sens cependant. Je vais revenir pour suivre les développements de ce fil de discussion.
Hi Marco
Thanks as usual for your thoughts and comments.
Have a nice day.
Martina
A lovely relaxed feeling in this beautifully textured scene.
Funny that you should mention this business of image size right now, as I have written about it in a recent post of mine. When I just recently moved back to Blogger, I started off at a very small 500 px on the longest side.
In the past, I’ve found my images used on other blogs without even credit to me. I really can’t be bothered any more, chasing after people who do that, hence the small photo size — plus a not too intrusive watermark, so that people can find me if this happens again.
I’ve done exhaustive experiments in pixel size and print quality. Printing out of Lightroom on a 1 picolitre Canon printer with photo black and grey cartridges at quality 100 from a 500px file at 8×12 means really jagged edges.
I then felt this was a bit too small for display, and went up to 800px. I feel this size is fine for screen viewing in general, and at quality 75, there’s still enough pixilation to make an 8×12 unsaleable.
All the best…
Hi Andrew
Thanks a lot for your thoughts. I agree with you that it’s all about providing a happy medium between presentation and image security.
I have always felt for my purposes that 800px did the job. I only really started to reconsider this when viewing my blog on apples new ‘retina’ devices – where I felt a bigger image size might be required in the future. For now I’m thinking ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ and sticking with 800px.
Regards, Martina
I like the silhouettes against the gray background. It’s something different since it isn’t simply black on white. Nice.
About your photo display size: I see that you are staying with the 800px and I do think that is fine. As you know, I use Smugmug. Display sizes run the gamut from small to X2 (1280). Large is 800px and generally it is very suitable. I think you’ve made the right choice.
One more thing–I’m old enough to be your Dad (if not older) , but seeing your avatar photo makes me say, “Martina, you are certainly a beautiful young lady!”
Keep up your fine photography! It’s always a treat to see.
Hi Phil, Thanks very much for your input, I appreciate it – and as for my avatar, thankfully everybody looks good in a thumbnail! 😉