Desktop Images

Long gone (for me) are the days when I printed large images and had them framed. Leading a nomadic life for many years, and the cost of changing prints left me to seek other ways to enjoy what I had shot.

Back in my film days, one either had prints in albums that often gathered dust in closets, or produced transparencies that were shown on occasion as slide shows to help people who needed the sleep. With the digital age I see a trend to publish on line, be it on image sites or social media. But since I wanted to be able to see the images I liked on a day-to-day basis I quickly adopted the idea of using them as my desktop background, once that capability was available.

So, the point of this thread is to see if others do the same thing, and if so, what kinds of images they feel lend themselves to this specific purpose. For example:

Images with subtle changes in tone, colour and shape make it easy to see one's icons.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I don’t do it for my PC, but do something similar for my phone. I have a set of backgrounds where the ‘image’ is in the bottom right hand corner, and the rest of the background is unobtrusive.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Another of my rotating images is quite restful...

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

A couple more of mine
There is an app called FitWallp which help cropping them to the right size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

I never bother with background images as I usually have so many windows open that the background is pretty much covered. I do however cycle through my images randomly as a screen saver on all of our computers.

I can cut my own mats and print up to 13x19 for a cost of less than $3 per print, so I still print mine and hang them around the house, or sell them. I never liked the digital frames, and waiting for full color e-ink displays. Then and only then will I consider moving to that because eink screens require no constant power, just power when the display is updated and that is it. Also they would look more organic or print like than LCD/LED screens.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #18992702
I can cut my own mats and print up to 13x19 for a cost of less than $3 per print, so I still print mine and hang them around the house, or sell them. I never liked the digital frames, and waiting for full color e-ink displays. Then and only then will I consider moving to that because eink screens require no constant power, just power when the display is updated and that is it. Also they would look more organic or print like than LCD/LED screens.

That would suit me too as putting conventional screens where I would like them would require some serious rewiring!

My plan would be to have a raspberry pi that would be configured to pull one of X google image files from my account periodically, then sleep for N minutes, and rinse/repeat. I think I could have a battery to power it that would last a month or more.

I pretty much do the same as you Tron, I don't print many images anymore either. I use the images I like as backgrounds on my computers and a couple of the TV's. My work computer is dual monitor, my home computer is Quad Monitors. I use a program called Display Fusion that manages the multiple monitors. It allows me to have a different image on each monitor, plus it adds a task bar to each monitor that shows the start button plus any windows that are on that particular monitor. The program has a lot more functions that I haven't used yet but need to check out one of these days. I know you can set it up to rotate images as well, just never got around to it. Photo below is a screen capture of the four monitors as they are set up on the desk. The screen capture doesn't account for the width of the bezels for each monitor, I wish the screens were that close together.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

Well, Michael, that is one hack of a setup you have there!
Most of my computers have a single screen and as few icons on the desktop as possible - they go on the task bar at the bottom of my screen.

I have Epson C88+ as new for well under 100 USD. Here is one vendor in BC at amazon.ca with carbon inks priced next to nothing. Not expensive paper still available. I print without making it as financial statement.

All of our family pictures and some others (9K or so in total) are in JPEG1 folder, we are using them as desktop (slide show) on three computers in two homes. Image is changing every minute in shuffle mode.

I print. In my opinion a photogrpah isn't finished until it is a print. I try to exhibit once or twice a year. I had a big exhibit in Hamburg Germany last year. One here in Chicago June of 2018. I do have these in the 10 sec rotation now as a screen savers.

My computer desktop is always a theme of HAL 9000 (like that it's minimalist and often has a dark background)

But my phone, being portrait orientation, has my own photo of jellyfish:

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

There is always a debate about whether a print is the final step in the image cycle. I totally support your desire to do so and respect your work very much.

At the same time I wonder if the current technology had been available to photographers from early in the development of photography if the print would be held in such high esteem. Obviously that is a somewhat rhetorical question to pose, but for myself I see a place for both depending on the purpose and use of the image. I think monochrome lends itself particularly well to print. I believe photographs are taken for many purposes and many of them do not require printing, art photography is, I think, a particular case.

I make a point of going to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year show when it arrives on NZ each February. I am always impressed by the work of the winners, and I find the back lit colour images have amazing punch. When I buy the books I am find the printed colour images a little flat in comparison - for that type of image, light helps.

That's why I said in my opinion. I have seen tons of large shadow boxed, back lit transparencies and other types of back lit images and I still think with color, a beautiful die transfer print or now some ink jet prints if done right are far more to my liking. For me with B&W I usually prefer silver gelatin and platinum prints over ink jet though I am now printing inkjet for B&W these days.