I've been meaning to do a wall collage at the lake for the dozens of photos we have of people skiing/tubing/surfing behind the boat. I half-heartedly stared a few years ago by printing a couple on canvas, but never finished the task. Last year, after I captured a particularly epic photo of my brother and nephew, I tried printing on metal through mpix.
I LOVED the way it turned out. It's a sleek-er, less-casual alternative to printing on canvas, and the price was comparable. It's more modern looking, and shinier. Plus, like canvas, you don't have to worry about framing it or hanging it. It comes with all the hardware you need on the back, and they're meant to be frameless.
I used mpix because I've used them for other printing needs (they're not the cheapest around, but they're the fastest shipping and the look more professional to me), but shutterfly also offers printing on metal. I ended up mixing up the display with the canvas ones I'd already printed. I thought that might look weird, but I hated to pay for them again, and it actually didn't look that bad.
Keep in mind in these pictures of the photo wall collage, I fully intend to fill the whole wall soon. And in person, it doesn't look quite as sparse as it appears here. I was so pleased with how quickly (and beautifully!) they arrived, that I am going to go ahead and order a new batch right away.
These are mostly the 8x10 size, with a few 8x12 and 5x7. They now offer 4x4 and 8x8, which would be great for Instagrams. I waited for a weekend coupon on mpix, which they offer fairly regularly. By the way, I don't think these have to be displayed as a collage to look good. An oversized modern metal of a dramatic photograph would look beautiful.
Next up in our house: a photograph display and collage in the stair well. Stay tuned....
