A roundup of my favourite photographic suppliers from printers to where I buy camera's.
Choosing the right suppliers is a must as a photographer, as over time you will spend a hell of a lot of money in their stores, whether it be a new camera, lenses or even prints for a client. Check out which businesses and suppliers we use here at Kieran Durrant Photography.
Photo Printers
Over the years I have tried and tested most popular photography printers from the high street and online to high end and professional. I love getting my photos printed as I like to see the physical print, as for clients I love to see them when I present them with a physical product, something they can cherish! Anyway here are my favourite photographic printers & labs.
• Sim Lab
Sim lab is an online photographic lab based in Hatfield just outside of London. They have great customer service and a fast responsive site to go with it, they offer a range of photographic products such as Standard, Fine Art and Giclee prints with a wide range of papers to choose from, as well as this they also offer mounted prints, canvasses, gifts and more. shipping is next day but with a cost of £5.95+VAT!
• Loxley Colour
Loxley is a High-quality professional printing service for professional photographers in the UK and worldwide. Home of the famous Bellissimo wedding album range as well as some amazing quality prints both gallery-worthy and archival, they offer C type, giclee and matted prints as well as the usual albums, wall products, presentation, giftware and stationery, they also offer print boxes and USB products Loxley is a quality lab with mid-range prices, with there delivery cheaper than sim at £4.65+VAT! Loxley is definitely worth a try!
• Metro Imaging
Metro is one of Europe’s leading professional photographic labs for art printing, film processing, retouch, mounting, framing and exhibition services with C-type, Giclee, professional Black & White printing as well as film processing and more, all done to the highest of standards. Based in London Metro has been the chosen lab for many professionals for years. They also offer an amazing retouching service, something which most printers don't! I have been using Metro for a while now, I use them due to their professionalism and high standards and I am yet to be disappointed. Metro is definitely my favourite printers and the one I am going to recommend today.
Photo Books
printed photobooks are a great way to show off a portfolio, shoot or just personal images, my recommendstion for the best photobook makers.
• Saal Photobook
I first used Saal a few years back when looking for affordable book printers! There website id very good and informative and their app is very user-friendly, often apps like this can be troublesome and hard to use, but I was able to pick choose which images I want and use them in different layouts as well as adding additional pages without any hassle.
Once ordered, the album arrived quickly. I had opted for the leatherette box, it is a bit plain but is a bit more classy than the regular sleeve it comes in and fits snuggly in the foam surround.
I was immediately impressed by the colouring and quality of the printing, the images and the covers, one thing I particularly like is the ability to wrap an image around both covers. I chose to have a simple title of the couple who the book was for and their names.
Saals prices were very good and I fully recommend them, for what you pay, you get a brilliant final product with lots of personal customisation
Photo Albums
My three recommended photo album printers are:
Loxley Colour
Milk
Flipchap
Equipment Suppliers
I have used many suppliers all for different products like cameras, lenses, bags, backdrops and more this is by no means an extensive list but just a quick review of some of my favourite!
• Wex Photo & Video
Wex is my go-to for all my photographic equipment from cameras and lenses to memory cards and batteries I've bought it all from here. Wex has a great online site and is very informative and instore there staff are very knowledgeable and eager to help! Wex offers a wide range of payment options as well including finance which is a great help for photographers struggling to pay for equipment, they are also very knowledgeable with computing and lighting which makes them the perfect supplier for anyone in the photographic trade!
• Tog Ldn
Finding the right camera bag can be a tough task. There are so many choices that sometimes it can be overwhelming. For me, I usually just use a generic camera bag with the usual inserts but I often worry about it on my back exposed when I'm out on the street. But I wanted something tailored to photographers yet still stylish. This is when I discovered the tog bag by Tog Ldn. A photography equipment brand set up by photographer Alishia Love (One of my Instagram favourites covered in a previous blog post! Check it out here) All of the products from Tog Ldn are covered in a vegan leather material making them look stylish! They have a growing line up of products for photographers which includes, The Tog Bag & mini Tog Bag, Tog Purse & Mini Tog purse, a black tog belt bag, Tog suitcase, water bottle and even a tog planner (which I am always using and is brilliant for photographers) I definitely recommend using Tog Ldn as all of there product are made brilliantly and look great as well, and you are supporting a small business and fellow photographer at the same time.
Other Suppliers:
• Essential Photo - Lighting, studio equipment, backdrops, stands & more.
• Molly & Tom - Great for album boxes, print boxes & pouches, USBs etc.
• Moo - My go-to for business cards, great card stock and ability to upload designs.
• MPB Photographic - Qualiity used photographic equipment.
• Kate Backdrops
This list is by no means extensive and will be updated with the more suppliers and businesses I use and review! I hope this will help you in picking your own suppliers!
*images used are from the suppliers websites!
Thanks
Kieran
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