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MEM-PHOTO
Fine Art Photographs by M E Miller

offered as high quality giclees

Frequently Asked Questions


Do you have a print catalog?

Where can I buy your photographs?

How do I become a dealer?

Do you drop ship?

What's a giclee?

Will your giclees fade?

Are the giclees matted and/or framed?

Do you offer gallery wrapped canvas?

Are these digital photographs?

Do the photographs look the same in person as they do on my screen?

What do you mean when you say an image is "life-size", or "2x life-size"? They look way bigger than that to me!

What's the difference between macro and close-up?

My customer bought one of your photographs, but it just doesn't work with the room the way he or she thought it would. What can I do?

Do you have a print catalog?

Not at this time. Dealers may access our online catalog where you will find all of M. E. Miller's works broken into categories based on style and/or subject matter. We are happy to provide dealers with samples on request.

Where can I buy your photographs?

We sell through these authorized dealers.

How do I become a dealer?

Please fill out our dealer application. After review, we will set you up as an authorized dealer of our photographs, and grant you full access to the images, price lists and other information contained in the password protected dealer section of this web site.

Do you drop ship?

Yes, we are happy to drop ship our photographs directly to your customers in the United States. There is no minimum order.

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What's a giclee?

A giclee (pronounced 'zhee clay', a French word meaning 'to spray') is a fine art print of an original artwork. Our giclees are printed on Epson Enhanced Matte paper using an Epson Stylus Pro 7800 printer.

We chose the Enhanced Matte paper - a smooth, white paper - for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its ability to reproduce the vibrant, highly saturated colors that are often present in Mike's work, while maintaining excellent highlight and shadow detail. It is also designed by Epson primarily for use with the Ultra Chrome K3 pigment based inks used by our 7800 printer, and this paper and ink combination is rated by Wilhelm Imaging Research to last 76 years under normal conditions (framed under glass and kept away from direct sunlight) before noticeable fading or color shifting occurs. Archival quality framing increases the life of the print even more.

We chose the Espon Stylus Pro 7800 to produce our giclees because of its ability to produce fine art prints with amazing color fidelity and scratch resistance, while providing consistently stable colors that significantly outperform lesser ink technologies. Because it prints using tiny variable-sized droplets (as small as 3.5 picoliter) the resulting print is virtually continuous tone, rather than the tiny dots used in more traditional fine art reproduction processes like lithographs. The end result is a print that is very close to the continuous tones of a photograph created in the darkroom using traditional paper and chemicals.

All of the technical mumbo jumbo aside, the vibrant colors and nuanced detail are what really impress us. We are repeatedly astonished and delighted with the quality of our giclees, we think you will be too!

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Will your giclees fade?

Not for a very long time. The paper and ink combination that we use (Epson Enhanced Matte paper and Epson Ultra Chrome K3 pigment based inks) has been tested for longevity by Wilhelm Imaging Research, and the following table shows how long they will last under varying conditions before noticeable fading or color shifting occurs.

Display conditions Time before noticeable fading or color shift occurs
Prints that are displayed framed under glass 76 years
Prints that are displayed framed under UV filtering glass or plastic (Plexiglas) 110 years
Prints that are displayed unframed (bare bulb) 45 years
Prints that are kept in an album or dark storage at 73 degrees F and 50% relative humidity 110 years

For more information about these ratings and how they are determined, please visit www.wilhelm-research.com.

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Are the giclees matted and/or framed?

No. We slip our giclees in to a clear, protective sleeve, then ship them rolled in a tube. We recommend that you or your customer take your giclee out of the tube and store it flat if it will not be matted and framed right away.
Brick and mortar stores: If you plan to display our giclees for sale in your store, we recommend adding a backing board or stiffener to protect the giclees from being damaged. We can provide most sizes with stiffeners for an additional fee as shown on our wholesale price list.

We chose to offer our giclees unmatted for several reasons. First, it keeps our costs down, allowing us to offer them to you at a lower price. Second, we have found that tastes in matting and framing vary widely, and we want your customers to be able to personalize their artwork to suit their taste and decor. And third, shipping the artwork rolled in a tube greatly reduces the chances of it being damaged in shipping.


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Do you offer gallery wrapped canvas?

No. We feel that the texture of the canvas detracts from the nuance and subtle detail of our photographs, so we only offer them printed on a matte finish, white paper that shows them in their full glory.


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Are these digital photographs?

No . . . and yes. The photographs themselves are created with a traditional film camera. M. E. Miller shoots Fujichrome® Provia slide film in medium and large format for its faithful color rendition and ultra fine grain.

The original transparencies are then scanned with an Epson Perfection 4990 scanner, creating high resolution digital master files. These digital files are then used to create our high quality giclees produced on Epson Enhanced Matte paper with our Epson Stylus Pro 7800 printer. These same master files are used to create the low resolution images used on our website, and to create custom sized files for licensing.

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Do the photographs look the same in person as they do on my screen?

They look better in person! Though we have worked very hard to replicate the images, the truth is that nothing compares to seeing them in person. There are subtleties and nuances that are simply lost on a low resolution computer screen. We guarantee you won't be disappointed with the real thing!

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What do you mean when you say an image is "life-size", or "2x life-size"? They look way bigger than that to me!

In photography, life size refers to the size of the image on the film. So if Mike takes a photograph of a half inch long seashell, and the image on the slide is one inch long, that is referred to as 2x life-size. And you're right, the image on the finished print is many times bigger than that--just how big depends on the size of the print!

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What's the difference between macro and close-up?

The difference is simply one of scale. Macro refers to images life-size and larger (1x, 1.5x, 2x, etc.) on film (see the above question for more about "life-size"). Close-up refers to images up to life-size on film.

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My customer bought one of your photographs, but it just doesn't work with the room the way he or she thought it would. What can I do?

We understand that buying artwork over the Internet is a bit of a leap of faith. We have made every effort to replicate the images as closely as possible, but colors vary slightly from one monitor to the next. Here are some things to suggest to your customer before initiating a return:

"Before you give up on a photograph that you love, make a trip to your local frameshop to see if adding a colored mat might help integrate it with your room."

"Sometimes giving the photograph a little visual "breathing space" helps. Many of Mike's images are very powerful, and tend to dominate. Give it a space of its own, and a little time. The energy that a powerful image brings to a space is often refreshing."

If all else fails, please take advantage of our 30 day return policy. Just return it to us in sellable condition, and we will cheerfully refund your full purchase price. Please call or e-mail us in advance for packing and shipping instructions.
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