for outdoor display (permanent)

[Sparkles33]

I was hoping someone could help with a solution please? I'm out of my league with this one and have no idea...

A family member lost her son and grandson over recent years and is making a memorial in her garden. She wants to have a photo of each of the boys in the garden memorial and was going to just laminate some. I'm pretty sure that doing this, she'd have to get them re-done ever year or so, because of UV bleaching the image.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a photo-product that she could use and keep in the garden please? I only know a handful of indoor products that wouldn't be suitable.

 

[Chappers]

It's not only UV that is the problem , Heat and just straightforward light intensity can cause fading.

The standby for this in the "old" days was Cibachrome. This, used a dye destruct process giving it a long life when exposed to harsh conditions. However Cibachrome I think has been discontinued by Ilford, however you may find the odd lab that may still have material left to make a print for you. The last lab I knew that produced these prints stopped sometime last year due to lack of demand ( and maybe in anticipation of the discontinuation)

The other answer may be to get a B&W print produced on conventional paper, and processed appropriately. Not sure who would do this nowadays though

 

[big soft moose]

her best bet will be someone who produces interpretation boards for countryside sites and thus the products last much better in the outdoors - of course everything fades eventually but we've boards that have been out in the elements ten years and are still perfectly legible (these are usually clear perpex with the image printed on the rear side then sealed in a frame)

I usually use

http://www.optimagraphics.co.uk/ or http://www.imagemakers.uk.com/

both of whom are devon based but will ship nationally , or ask your local wildlife trust, rspb, national trust etc who they use.

 

[Sparkles33]

Thanks guys xx