PRINTS

FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY & PRINT

If you are interested in purchasing a print, you can click on the "Purchase" button in the lower left hand corner.  The "Purchase" button is revealed when mousing over an image in the grid view of the gallery.  By clicking the button, you will be taken to another site where all available sizes and mediums can be chosen.  Of course, if you have questions you can contact me here. 

Fine art photography begins with the artist/photographer. All the printing technology available cannot make up for a poor photograph. But if that photograph is to make its way to print, you must have professional equipment. Recently I invested in new printing technology which enables me to create my own prints in-house, but to standards previously only produced by fine art print shops. The wide variety of inks and papers available today allows me to create prints of unprecedented longevity - much greater than traditional photographic print techniques.  My house and office walls are decorated with my prints that I have printed, mounted, and framed myself.  On occasion, I will print an ordered print myself; but usually, when ordered, the print is done by a very high quality commercial print lab.  The lab can also mount/frame/matte the print, stretch canvas, and produce metal and acrylic prints.  The print is then very carefully packed and shipped to the buyer.

OPEN EDITIONS

Unless otherwise noted, all images are open edition prints - meaning that there is no set number of images available.  Sometimes I offer a limited edition print, usually25 -50, and if the image is a limited edition, it will be noted in the desription.

GICLÉE PRINTING
You'll hear the term Giclée printing used interchangeably with ink-jet printing. It's a term used to describe the method of laying down ink on paper to create a photograph. Giclée is an advanced digital printmaking technology involving archival quality inks that are finely jet streamed onto fine archival papers. Giclée printing provides superior color accuracy and incredible detail over other modes of reproduction. The quality that's available now is far superior to anything we've been able to produce in the past.

THE INK
At the core of this new technology is the ink set that is used in large format professional printers. Usually, an 11 color ink (including a photo black and a matte black) set is used that is made with pigments rather than dyes. The advantage of pigment ink is that it's very stable and less prone to fading than the typical dye-based inks found in consumer quality ink-jet printers. A whole new technology of printer equipment needed to develop to take advantage of these inks. Not only are the colors richer and brighter than ever before, but the new set includes varying shades of black to create incredibly rich detail in black & white photography. These new inks will allow you to enjoy your artwork for decades and generations.

THE PAPER
The paper selection available for Fine Art Printing, especially of photography, has never been better. We have at our disposal a variety of fine art papers that re 100% archival in nature such as Epson's Cold Press Paper. It has a textured matte finish that is 100% cotton fibre, pH buffered and acid free for incredible longevity. Up until now, matte papers didn't have the vibrance that more traditional types of glossy papers had to reproduce the subtle changes of color in photographs. The ability for this paper to get a deep, rich black is unmatched by anything in the past. And the natural white tone of the paper is pleasing for many styles of photography, including landscapes, portraiture, and beautiful, slightly warm-tone Black & Whites.

Our print lab  has a variety of papers available that can be chosen at the time of purchase. Fine art papers, luster, gloss, cold press, pearl etc are all available.  Additionally, other items such as greeting cards and other printed merchandise can be ordered as well.

GALLERY WRAPPED CANVAS
Nature prints on canvas offer a unique, gallery-like presentation that are suitable for any decor. The photograph is printed on a fine art canvas, coated with a protective coat of varnish, and stretched onto a wooden frame. Because this is the same method used in creating a painter's canvas, these photographs are often mistaken for paintings in this form.
The mounted canvas print is also coated with a UV protectant to guard against fingerprint damage and UV rays. The canvas print arrives to you ready to hang, with hanging hardware already installed on the back. Therefore, you save money on the cost of framing, or handling very large, delicate glass. For large pieces, they are also lighter weight than a framed piece with glass.
Images destined for canvas are processed so they are "Gallery Wrapped" around the edges. A portion of the photograph appears on all edges of the piece ("mirrored"), with the full composition on front, creating a clean, simple look. Each is mounted to a .75, 1.5 or 2.5 inch thick frame (your choice) for dramatic depth.

SIZES
Cameras take pictures in certain "aspect ratios." For example, most cameras take pictures with an aspect ratio of 2 x 3. Which means you can print a picture from this camera that measures 2" x 3", 4" x 6", 8" x 12", 16" x 24" etc. . . . Much of my artwork is created using high resolution medium format cameras which have an aspect ratio of 4.5 x 6. Unfortunately, these sizes don't always fit the standard frame sizes of 5 x 7, 8 x 10, 11 x 14 and so on. The alternatives are (B) to crop the picture to fit the standard frame size (in which case you will lose some of the picture), (C) mat the odd size picture with a mat of standard measurements (in which case you can put it in a standard size frame), or (D) leave the original crop and have it custom matted and/or framed.

As a photographer/artist, I often crop our artwork to non-standard sizes for artistic reasons because it can give  a more dramatic photo. Thus, my least favorite alternative is to then crop the image to fit in a standard size frame. Rather, my preference is to do custom matting/framing on the original crop. Fortunately, if you order a print, you can choose your desired print size - all of which maintain the original crop of the artwork.

For example: Image A represents the original artwork; Image B is the original cropped to a standard 8 x 10 (the dark outside area represents the part of he artwork that is cropped out; Image C represents the original matted to an 8 x 10; Image D represents the original artwork matted with a 3" mat.  Image D gives the best representation of the original art work and you can choose from a variety of sizes that maintain the original crop as you see it onscreen.