Admitting My Folly

OK, I haven't done this in a really long time, but yesterday I thought I was in a pinch and I ran to the local convenience photo printer to get 4 prints made. Big mistake. I thought it was going to be close enough, but it's really not!!! I am putting together a collage of my birth photography. The photo on the right is from my regular professional lab. The photo on the left is from {Will Remain Anonymous}. The cheap print is, uh, Black & Green, not Black & White!!

I recently randomly came across a story about a quilter who was using a discount store fabric. As she neared the end of her quilt, she realized she needed more fabric. She asked around and one of her quilting friends had the same fabric, only the friend's was purchased from a quilt shop. The small amount of quilt shop fabric was noticeably superior (brighter colors, cleaner design) to the discount store fabric! This quilter was agast and embarassed at her own blunder. She said the quilt shop fabric stuck out like a sore thumb! She & her friends now saw the difference between buying good quality fabric, and buying a cheaper lesser quality product.

story by C.M. Anderson found in the Country Register March/April 2010

The parrallels to my situation are so striking, it's strangely funny. A photo collage is much like a quilt. I only needed a small amount of photos to finish my project (because of an oversight, I had originally ordered the wrong sizes) . And boy, does it stick out like a sore thumb! However, I am willing to wait the couple extra days it will take to order new prints from my regular lab. There is no way I am putting those cheap prints in my frame!!!

"You get what you pay for" holds true for fabric and for photos.