Where To Print Those Lovely Pics

My two favorite professional developers are Gluskin's in Stockton, CA and Marin Filmworks in San Rafael, CA. They both have online ordering available and you can have your photos shipped to you. (You can also pick up in store, but I find it well worth paying the shipping cost for the convenience.)

Wolf/Ritz Camera is pretty decent for consumer grade, but their print paper feels flimsier to me. However, their prints look good and the prices are low. It may also depend on your local store, as a friend mentioned to me that his local Wolf didn't print as nicely as mine.

During my brief stint in wedding photography, shot in film, I took all my Kodak UC and VC film to Gluskin's and was very pleased with the vibrant colors and quality. I sent one roll of infrared to Marin and they did an excellent true black and white prints and their sloppy border for film is my favorite of all time. Unfortunately, they use a different sloppy border for digital prints, which I don't care for as much.

Buying & Arranging Wall Frames

I picked up this great guide from Pottery Barn with directions on how to lay out wall frames. I've always wondered what the best way to hang frames along a stairway to they look right. The key is to set large anchor frames which establish an invisible line parallel to the stairs, then balance smaller frames around the anchor frames.
 

For a collection of frames on a regular wall, set the large anchor frames in a row. Then add four smaller frames (of the same size) in the corners above and below to establish an invisible box. When adding additional frames, align them to the edges of the invisible box.

Aaron Brothers is a great place to purchase quality frames. Also, they have a wide selection of various sizes in the same style, and if one store is out of a specific frame, changes are you can find it at another. Aaron Brothers can be on the pricey side, but if you wait until one of their Buy 1, Get 1 for 1 Cent Sales (I believe they're semi-annual), you'll pay about the same price you'd pay for Walmart frames, but you'll have much nicer quality frames.

Before putting up my frames, I measured the final frame sizes, created mock-ups out of scrap paper, and taped the placeholders on the wall to make sure it looked the way I wanted.