This is an abstract photograph I made on a recent trip to Croatia. Like many of my abstract images, it’s printed on canvas and then hand embellished with clear acrylic, resulting in a one-of-a-kind Limited Original. $2200 for a 24×36 inch work. Click the image for a larger version.
I made this image in Gallipoli, southern Italy, while traveling in Puglia during February 2013. The sun had already gone down and the light was very dim within the narrow streets and alleyways. Using a tripod and a relatively long exposure (1.3 seconds) I was able to make the picture. I love how this photo expresses the personality and character of a typical southern Italian town without including people. In Italian, “Due Amici” means “Two Friends”. Click the image for the full size version. Comments always appreciated!
Hue is a term that refers to the visible color of an object. In art and photography, color pictures are made up of various hues, determined by the wavelength of visible light. You already know the names of many hues; “red”, “violet”, “tan” and “teal” all describe hues. Paints are named for their hues, such as ultramarine blue. In photography, the hues rendered in a captured image are determined by the wavelength of the varying light waves striking the film or camera sensor. Many pictures contain a dominant hue. Strictly speaking, hue does not describe how light or dark a color is, only what family of colors it belongs to. When you’re viewing a picture, try to name as many hues as you can, using both general and more specific names.
This image is made mostly of two families of hues – blues and reds.
This photograph is made of myriad hues, maybe too many to list!
This abstract photograph is comprised entirely of blue hues.
This black-and-white picture doesn’t contain any hues at all; only tones (or “values”, which I’ll cover in a later post).
My friends at Think Tank Photo just announced their first camera bag collection for Mirrorless cameras, the Mirrorless Movers™. The Mirrorless Movers come in four sizes that range in size from the Mirrorless Mover 5, which fits one small size mirrorless body with a small telephoto or pancake lens attached, up to the Mirrorless Mover 30i, which fits one medium to large size mirrorless body plus two to four lenses and an iPad.
As is their design philosophy, Think Tank placed a premium on quality. The new bags utilize metal hardware instead of plastic buckles, and only high quality fabrics, YKK zippers and a new, magnetic closure. In the words of their president and lead designer Doug Murdoch, “The Mirrorless Movers offer photographers quality in their camera bags worthy of their investment in these sophisticated, expensive camera systems.”
When you click on this special link you will receive free gear with all orders of $50 or more and free shipping on all orders if you order by May 31, 2013.
The four sizes are:
We’ve recently completed an overhaul of all our pricing models. (Our latest price revisions were in 2009!) I’m very happy to report that after all the work we did evaluating our products and pricing, most of the prices have remained the same. And in fact, the pricing for many of our larger print sizes actually came down!
Our ability to continue to offer such honest, affordable and attractive pricing for my artwork is due largely to improvements and wider availability for the processes and materials used to produce the work. We also have some new vendor relationships with industry partners offering better capabilities and quality, at fantastic prices. In addition, the volume of work being sold — in addition to our very low overhead — allows us to keep our prices very competitive.
We’ve made our most recent Retail Price Lists freely available on the main web site. We’ve also updated our wholesale pricing for trade partners and industry resellers. Feel free to contact us with any questions or for a custom price quote on your next project.
Our sincere thanks to all our valued clients for your continued support!
Also called the Cathedral of All Saints, Derby Cathedral opened in 1725. Click the image for larger version.
Chiaroscuro is an art term used to describe the appearance of light and dark tones in a picture. It’s correctly (and quickly) pronounced “kee-ah-ro-skoo-ro”. It’s based on words in the Italian language: chiaro means clear, light or bright and scuro means dark, dull or obscured.
The term has been traditionally used to describe the technique a painter uses to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume with light and dark paints. This is done by making one side of an object appear brightly lit and the other in shadow, as objects often do in the real world.
A strong treatment of chiaroscuro usually results in pictures with high contrast and dramatic appearance of depth, dimension and texture. Conversely, a picture without chiaroscuro is relatively flat and low contrast. Technically, chiaroscuro refers only to value (or tone) and is irrespective of the hue or color component. However, chiaroscuro can be evident in both black-and-white and color pictures.
Although the term most typically applies to painting technique, chiaroscuro can also be identified in the representation of objects within a photograph. Both of the sample images to the right have a lot of chiaroscuro present (click for larger versions).
The next time you’re viewing a painting or photograph, try to determine if the picture contains a high or low degree of chiaroscuro. You can read more about it in this Wikipedia article.
I made this image on my recent trip to Cannes, France. This picture is one of a continuing series of imagery I am making by moving the camera during the exposure. I print these on museum-quality canvas and then hand embellish with clear acrylic gels and texturing mediums. Click the image for a larger version.
It’s not often that I allow outside entities to represent my work; this is a change. Recently, after several discussions with Ron Golbus and his team at Graphic Encounter, I’ve decided to partner with them to represent my photography and mixed media work for select projects.
Since 1970, Graphic Encounter has provided artworks for hotels, hospitality, healthcare, corporate offices and many other commercial projects, and I am thrilled that they are now representing my abstract photography, abstract mixed media and travel photography works. Graphic Encounter represents a very wide range of art styles, genres and installation types, check out their web site.
I’m working on a new series of abstract art titled “Capillari”. Based on maps of cities around the world, the artworks feature strong, striking graphics using lines and shapes, with a bold color palette of white, black and red. (Colors can be changed to suit your specification.) The images are designed to be printed on wallcovering material and installed as full-height wall murals, but could also work nicely as mounted, wall-hanging artworks. I’ll be launching the new series Summer 2013. Stay tuned!
A small plaza in Nice, France is lit by the late afternoon sun on a warm spring day. A flying pigeon also makes an appearance in the picture.
I’ve processed this image as both color and black-and-white, and I’m not sure which version I prefer. Your thoughts?
Click each image for larger versions, or see the full size images in the galleries on the main web site.
Prints available; contact us for details. Comments always appreciated!
Lately I’ve become interested in recording the precise locations where I make my photos. I have an iPhone 4S and figured that might make a good GPS receiver, so I set about trying to find the best software, methods and workflow to make the process as accurate and easy as possible.
The best result: iPhone 4S with the GPS Tracks app and Adobe Lightroom.
Following are details of my findings. Read more…
I made this image during our Italy Photo Tour in October 2012. The village of Apricale is high in the Maritime Alps, not far from the Mediterranean and the French border. Our group stayed there for two nights and had a fantastic time exploring the area. We’d scouted this location the previous afternoon and the entire group returned in the pre-dawn hours to photograph the sunrise. The clouds never gave way, but we were treated to calm weather and clear visibility, lending a sparkling quality to the town lights. Click the image for the full size version.
This is an abstract photograph I made in Cannes, France. As with many of my abstract images, it’s printed on canvas and then hand painted with clear acrylic, which adds fantastic texture like an original painting. Click for a larger image.
When Ruth and I first arrived in Nice and were walking to our hotel, we passed this wonderful little workshop of an upholsterer. Since we had all our luggage with us and were eager to unload from our travels, I resolved to return and get a photo. A few days later we were able to go back to the place. I prepared my camera out of sight, planning a sneak attack to get a candid shot. I popped into the doorway and was able to fire a few frames before the man saw me and gave a huge, warm smile. The sneaky shots came out good too, but in the end I liked this one the best. With the man looking at the camera, his genuine, welcoming smile makes the image! I can’t imagine how he gets any work done in this crowded space. Click for a larger version.
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