As of last week, I am the proud owner of an Epson Stylus Photo R2880. I never had my own photo printer - much less one that could print a large 13x19 inch print. I always had more confidence in "REAL PHOTO PRINTS" and felt better about delivering those to my clients. But after just a few days of working with this printer, I have been astounded by the quality of prints, and now I plan on delivering R2880 prints to everyone! They are just so much better than the processed prints I have been buying from labs.

My first glance at it, as I opened the box, showed a stylish looking printer. As I took it out I felt how heavy it was. It feels like a printer that was made with heavy duty parts. The trays are thick, not flimsy, like I see on some printers. The set-up was easy, as well as the installation of software.

I am primarily a portrait photographer and body painting artist. My files that don’t include the body paint are most often black and white, and I had heard the claims of beautiful black and white prints off the Epson Stylus Photo R2880. So I was very anxious to try some out.

My first print was outstanding. The black and white print was completely neutral without any adjustment to the file. The details in the shadows were more visible than in the "real photo prints" I had just got back from the commercial lab I was using. The details were outstanding and smooth gradients too.

Now it was time to print out some color images. My portraits contain a lot of skin-tones as well as the rich bright colors from the body make-up. In the past, if I bumped up the colors so the body make-up would look bright, the skin tone looked over-saturated, sometimes too warm. Get the skin-tone correct, and the body make-up would not look as bright as I wanted it to. Using my new 2880, I took a file with no adjustment for printing and printed it out. The colors were bright and vibrant, especially in the magenta and blue hues. The skin tone was great, not too warm. I knew that the printer inks EPSON used in this printer were supposed to be brighter, but I assumed it might be such a slight difference that your eye would not really even notice. Boy, was I wrong.

I took these prints to a professional commercial photographer friend of mine. He had been printing with the Epson Stylus Photo 2200. He has had it for a few years now, and was very happy with the prints he made from it. I showed him the prints I did from the Epson Stylus Photo R2880, and he was amazed. He asked if I could print a few of his files on my 2880 to compare to his existing 2200 prints. I printed out 3 of his images, which happened to be food shots. We compared the three new prints to his and I wish you could have seen his eyes - they were as big as saucers. The subtle value changes and gradients were easily noticeable in all the prints. The color of the food looked brighter and more appealing. He says to me, "I guess it’s time for me to upgrade."

I have a new outlook on printing at home, even including large 13x19 inch prints, and I don’t have to deal with the damage to my prints from shipping from a lab.

Jeff Edney Photographer and Body Painting Artist Virginia beach, VA www.jeffedneystudios.com