Printing horse photos presents many options.
There are so many choices now when looking for ways to present my Horse Photos to art buyers. A few months ago I wrote about the 7 Creative Equine Art ideas that included all home decor items. As more and more companies on the web develop new techniques and improve printing methods, photographers are presented with more and more surfaces to choose from to print our photos on. When I first started my Equine Photography career, my only choice was basic prints. Actually, I recall working in the dark room at the local Junior College learning how to develop my own black and white prints. As time has passed and technology has soared, I have moved from black and white prints to color printing to giclee printing or commonly called gallery wrapped canvas.
No need to choose matting and framing for horse photos.
I appreciate the skills of a master framer. It takes a keen eye to select proper matting and framing to complete a photograph or any piece of art. Many framers have a design background and can match colors and help customers 
choose what will match their home decor and color scheme. What I’ve enjoyed about printing on canvas is that I eliminated making those decisions for the buyer. A canvas can be hung “as is” or framed out. Some canvas printing companies are even offering basic framing choices to enhance the canvas. Now my printer is even offering printing on leather. I just ordered my first giclee on leather and I’m excited to see the results.
Options for materials to print on
Printing on metal has been the latest craze to hit the printing world the past few years. Many metal printing companies allow you to choose from various finishes such as high gloss or matte finish. Then you have various mounting options to select from for methods to hang your metal prints. I’ve tried metal but I personally don’t think it transfers well to my horse photography. The finish seems to take away from the emotion of the horse photo. For some of my western images, cowboys and cowgirls- I have tried printing horse photos on wood. This is fun when you consider the grains and wood textures and their affect on the photo. The wood material lends itself well to the rustic look of horses and cowboys, creating an earthy look when printing on wood. Since this method of printing on wood is similar to tattooing, where the ink is infused into the wood, no white ink is used so images do tend to work better when they involve a lot of sky and lighter portions in the image. However, printing on wood is extreme heavy so you have to keep that in mind for shipping as well as hanging the horse photo.
Hanging photos outdoors.
Most recently, I learned about printing horse photos on stone slate. This is another cool technique similar to printing on tiles. Just as wood, the printers recommend choosing images where there is sky or light areas exist through out the photo. The tiles and slate are coated to be waterproof but you still do not want to hang them in direct sunlight. These would work really well for an outdoor living space such as a covered patio.
Now I can print horse photos on anything from doormats to shower curtains.
Do a simple internet search and you will find endless types of material or objects to print on. You can print a photo on anything from tote bags to shower curtains. I offer a few of these choices on my home decor page, I didn’t want to go too crazy with my offerings. However, you can take any photo I have on my website and order it on a shower curtain or a serving tray. Now I have an answer for the customer that tells me they are out of wall space.
As technology continues to advance, I’m sure print companies will continue to offer more and more crazy ways to show off our photos. I’m sure photo underwear is already an option somewhere.
Jody Miller is a professional photographer specializing in Horse Photography, Equine Photography, and Equestrian photography. Her work can be viewed online here in her gallery section, and she is also featured at Arts Prescott Gallery, AND NOW Sedona’s Village Gallery in Arizona.