Prices and Print Information

Prices

Most photographs on sale through this web site are available with prices increasing with image size. The exceptions are limited edition prints where the price is related to the size of the print run. All items, including photographs, are shipped post free, worldwide. All you pay is the price of the photograph or other item.

Small - 30 x 24 cm RC: £25

Medium - 40 x 30 cm FB (image up to 30 x 20): £80

Large - 50 x 40 cm FB (image up to 40 x 30): £120

Extra Large - 60 x 50 cm FB (image up to 50 x 40): £170

Huge - 80 x 60, 100 x 50, 70 x 70, 70 x 50 cm FB (image up to 60 x 50): £250

Toned prints - Add £20

Part-toned prints (part toned, usually sepia, and part black and white) - add £40

Limited Edition - Print run of up to 25 - £495

Framed photographs are not available through this web site but are sold at events such as art and craft fairs around the UK and through galleries.

Printing

All medium and larger black and white fine art photographs on the gallery pages of this website are for sale as hand-made archival fibre-based (FB) prints using traditional darkroom methods and the highest quality Ilford silver gelatin papers. The small size of 30 x 24 cm is printed onto resin coated (RC) paper. These are not expected to be archival but have a known life of well over 40 years.

The photographs are signed and titled by the photographer and printer, Dave Butcher. They are widely sold for interior decor in the the home, office, hotel, restaurant, conference facility, etc and are in private collections. They also make ideal gifts for birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries and any special occasion.

Fibre based Ilford Multigrade FB photographic papers are used for the Medium to Extra Large prints (except for part-toned prints, such as 'Paris Arcade', where Ilford Multigrade RC resin coated paper is used for dimensional stability). Ilford Multigrade RC paper is used for the small size.

The photographs are NOT mass produced. A typical print run is between 5 and 10 prints. Unless otherwise stated they are open edition prints, NOT limited editions. However, Dave Butcher produces lots of new work, many negatives are only ever printed once so in this case up to 10 photographs are all that will be produced.

Mounted (unframed) Prints

Photographic prints are mounted onto card then a window mount is cut with a suitable aperture to fit over the image area of the print. The mounted print is then ready to be framed, either at your local framing shop or using a standard size of ready made frame. Prints are trimmed to the sizes shown on the order pages (e.g. 30 x 40 cm, 40 x 50 cm, etc.) of the gallery section and will not need further trimming to fit standard ready made frames, as sold by many high street retailers. Prints are usually supplied in a clear protective sleeve.

Size Options - Inches or Cm

The matts can very easily be finished to the closest inch size. If you are in the USA, for example, this will allow you to buy a ready made frame to fit the picture from your local high street frame suppliers. Just make a comment on the order form that you want the print finishing to inches and it will be done.

The equivalent inch sizes:
40 x 30 cm = 16 x 12 inches
50 x 40 cm = 20 x 16 inches
60 x 50 cm = 24 x 20 inches
80 x 60 cm = 32 x 24 inches

Artcare conservation grade mountboard is used exclusively to ensure that print life is not compromised by the choice of mount materials. Window mounts are white and lightly textured card.

Framed Prints

To help you imagine what your photograph could look like once framed here is an example in a black frame. Black, silver (especially polished aluminium) frames work very well with black and white photographs.

Framed prints can be supplied to personal callers to the gallery at Tunstead Milton or through art fairs and other exhibitions listed on this site. Framed prints are very reasonably priced and it may be worth considering a trip to the gallery in the beautiful Peak District, or to an art fair closer to your home, rather than paying for framing locally.

• The risk of broken glass prevents us from supplying framed photographs by mail order.
• We do our own framing so that we can keep our prices as low as possible.
• We use a range of frames, all chosen to complement our photographs.

Print Sizes

For all prints, the size refers to the dimensions including the border - the image area is always smaller than this.

The largest photograph that I can print in my darkroom is roughly 60 x 50 cm (24 x 20 inches). This is the size of the image. The matt will be larger than this and, throughout most of this site, the sizes quoted refer to the size including the window matt which is equivalent to the frame size needed for the print as supplied.

• Small: 30 x 24 cm with image area of 20 x 14 cm
• Medium: 40 x 30 cm (roughly 16 x 12 in) with image area of 20 x 20 cm to 20 x 30 cm
• Large: 50 x 40 cm (roughly 20 x 16 in) with image area of 30 x 30 cm to 30 x 40 cm
• Extra Large: 60 x 50 cm (roughly 24 x 20 in) with image area of 40 x 40 cm to 40 x 50 cm
• Panoramic: usually 70 x 50 cm with image area of 58 x 30 cm
• Huge: 80 x 60 cm (roughly 31.5 x 24 in) with image area of 50 x 50 cm to 50 x 60 cm

Please Note: The image area depends on the format of the photograph chosen. Dimensions given above are approximate.

Print Life

With reasonable care, proper storage and display (preferably behind glass) these traditional darkroom prints will last for many generations.

Traditional photographic materials, such as the films and papers that I use, are based on silver-gelatine and this technolgy first produced images in the 1850's. These images are still in good condition. This gives me a lot of confidence in saying that my prints will last a lifetime, and probably several lifetimes!

In addition, fibre based photographic printing papers have been available for well over 100 years and prints from these earliest photographic times are still in excellent condition. The print life of fibre based prints, such as those that I sell through this web site, is therefore KNOWN to be over 100 years.

Resin coated papers were introduced in the late 1960's and considerable improvements have been made since then. The print life is now KNOWN to be over 40 years and will, in time, be proved to be considerably more.

For information, new computer printing materials (inkjet, giclee, etc) have an estimated print life based on a few weeks of experiments (usually between 4 and 6 weeks) using very controlled laboratory conditions (temperature and humidity, etc.). The light intensity used is at least 100 times greater than normal levels and some of the testing is performed using special filters to remove light known to be harmful to the materials (UV filters, etc) even though this is known to be present in normal light. There is also no agreed standard for what constitutes a normal day of daylight so again some companies take a low value to claim a better print life for their products than those from their competitors. The materials have only been available for a comparatively short period (1 or 2 years at most) so there is little real life data available. However, as a scientist who used to run such trials, I find it difficult to accept that extrapolating from 4 weeks of data to 150 years print life is realistic!

It is my belief that digital prints cannot be compared with darkroom prints with any certainty with respect to print stability and longevity. Consequently at this time, Dave Butcher Photography does not use digital computer printing for the fine art prints sold through this web site and elsewhere.

Packaging

Unmounted Prints (available by special request only):

• Small numbers of unmounted photographic prints are supplied using a plastic tube that unscrews in the middle (ensuring that prints can be removed without damage)
• The plastic tube is despatched inside a cardboard tube to protect against postal damage.
• Larger orders are supplied packed flat using MDF rigid board.

Mounted Prints:

• These are supplied flat in a clear protective sleeve, protected by MDF rigid board.
• Once unpacked they will drop into a suitable ready made frame to the dimensions noted when the order was placed. For example, a 40 x 50 cm mounted photograph will fit in a 40 x 50 cm frame. Alternatively, your local framing shop will be able to supply and fit a frame.

Fine Art Photographs Product Availability and Delivery Times

Dave Butcher Photography has an extensive product range. It is not possible to keep every image in stock in every size. It is the intention to despatch any photograph within 2 weeks of receiving an order but may take up to 4 weeks. This may be extended during periods of unusually high workload or due to photographic trips since all photographs are hand printed exclusively by Dave Butcher. Prints that are in stock will usually be despatched within a few days of receiving an order. In the rare event of a problem with availability of a product, we will contact you. You may then wish to cancel the order or wait until the item becomes available. Books, posters and gift vouchers are always in stock and are usually despatched within 2 to 4 days.

Please let me know if you are ordering at short notice for specific dates, such as birthdays or anniversaries, I will always try and meet these although at busy periods, such as Christmas, and while I am away on extended photo trips (once or twice a year for up to 4 weeks at a time) this may not always be possible.