Charging into electrical storms, dangling over thundering waterfalls, crawling around crocodile infested swamps, wading into flooded streams, clambering up rocky escarpments. It was all in a day’s work for photographer Peter Jarver. So was the art of waiting. Hours. Days. Months. Sometimes years.

The Adelaide-born son of Estonian parents, Peter turned his fascination with stormy weather into a career when he swapped an electrical engineering degree for a camera and moved to Darwin – home of some of the world’s biggest electrical storms.

In the dead of night and in torrential downpours, he would be out chasing some of the 40,000 lightning flashes that split Darwin’s brooding wet season skies each year. Those giant tentacles of electricity and the menacing skyscapes they illuminated became his hallmark. It was during this period he developed an intense interest in the beautiful and unique thunderstorm activity for which this area is renowned worldwide. Not many photographers begin their careers with sky-scapes, but after years of passionate photography, he decided to expand these talents into landscape photography.

Once “nibbled” by the lightning he was trying to photograph, Peter said he had taken so many lightning shots, he could almost feel when a bolt was about to strike.

A fervent conservationist his crystal sharp images – mostly shot in large format with a view camera and tripod – added a new and personal perspective to an old landscape format. His indulgence of ripe and fruity colours, combined with simple but dramatic composition, invoked an emotional response few could resist.

A completely self-taught photographer, Peter Jarver’s natural talent is complimented by his enthusiasm for the great Australian landscape. Long an advocate for the preservation of our natural heritage and his spiritual love of the land, his images are captured in a way few photographers can.

The measure of a great artist is not just the impact of a few images but the perception generated by a body of work.

Peter traveled Australia for more than 20 years documenting this continent. He was passionate about this land and its fragile environment. He was acutely aware of the importance of the flora and fauna to the Australian experience and the interaction of man and the environment.

It is true to say that Peter Jarver’s body of work is a valuable archive of this country, one that can now be shared by every Australian.

Peter Jarver passed away on 24th April 2003 aged 49 years.

Artist Statement

“Photography gives me a reason to immerse myself in a natural environment. To observe, to listen and to feel the spirit of nature is relaxing and fulfilling in itself, but to bring some images which capture the very essence of a place or a moment is truly satisfying. Time and time again I am able to transport myself to a particular place, or remember a magical moment of time when the quality of light transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary.”

“Through the images in my gallery, I hope you can also transport yourself to a time and a place where your physical being is not, but where your spirit longs to be.”

“A true photographic artist should be able to produce images which are not just technically perfect or aesthetically pleasing, but capture the emotion or drama of the place. Water should be heard to burble, leaves to rustle. The image should be swelling with emotion, the viewer drawn by the heart into the very essence of place.”

“I believe I have achieved this and through my images I hope you can accompany me on a journey through the great Australian landscape.”

Thank you Deborah Jarver, for letting us use your Biography for the Beloved Peter Jarver. (this Biography is from http://www.peterjarver.com/about)

Is this photo by Peter Lik real? And I say again Does it matter?  There are a lot of things about the image that don’t make sense.  The clarity of the Moon seems unaffected by any atmospheric influence.  It appears as though there may be a sign of low clouds in the background… behind the moon.  The color of the moon is also unique compared to the colors of the sky and does not seem to be related.  Perhaps it says somewhere that it was more than one exposure; however, the story would certainly not imply a Photoshop produced image.   By my knowledge, you would require two exposures to be able to capture the moons detail.  One exposure to get the moons detail which would require a fast shutter-speed.  A second image would gather some of the surrounding detail, which would require a slower shutter speed.  The aperture would need to be set to capture detail at extreme distances.  The closeness of the moon would probably require a telephoto lens which would cause the wide landscape in the foreground would not be possible.   I cannot say for sure if it is real or fake, but none the less I don’t think it matters to most people.  It bothers some of us who are attempting to be a photographer and not accused of manipulating our images to no end.

With Galleries in Vegas and other parts of the Country, Lik has his followers believing in the ability to photograph images like never before.  I have heard recently there has been a bit of opening up to the possibility of doctoring images.  A simple rule to understand is that any time an image is taken with a digital such as the 5D.  The image is processed in Photoshop, preparing it for printing.  During that process whatever else the photographer does is up to their creativity or their Graphic Designers imagination.

In saying all of this, I do think the image is creative. The image is without a doubt impressive in concept as any other creation.  The only thing that I would like to see from Professional photographers is transparency in their work.  If we are straight forward with our creations, then we are honest with our customers and fellow photographers.

Everyone can post a comment on my blog, so long as you are not using a lot of profanity or poor taste.   The keyword phrase “Peter Lik” creates a lot of amusing spam.  Moderation is a must, so there is usually a delay for the approval process.

Jetty by David Fokos

Jesse: David Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences with us as you are in my opinion a photographer who will inspire many future photographers for a long time to come.

David: My pleasure.  Thanks for having me.

Jesse: What did you do for a living before photography and do you think it has had an impact on your style?

David: I’ve made my living from my art for about 10 years now.  Before then I also worked as an audio design engineer, designing high-end loudspeakers for home stereo systems and home theaters.  My college degree is in engineering, but I also took many classes in Japanese art history.  I think both of those fields have had a profound influence on my work.   First, if you look at my images you can see how “precise” they are – I spend hundreds of hours getting my lines, compositions, and tonal range exactly right.  A lot of that comes from my engineering side.   When I make an image I know exactly on what I want the viewer to focus and what I want them to see and feel.  By reducing my images to austere minimalist compositions I force the viewer to more closely examine what I have left in the frame thus intensifying the viewer’s observation and appreciation of the few things that remain.  In this regard I have also been greatly influenced by Japanese aesthetic traditions.  As I mentioned, in college, I studied Japanese art history, Japanese film, and haiku. I have been greatly inspired by the haiku poet’s ability to convey deeply felt sentiment through a minimal number of words.

However, I would not say that I consciously set out to make “photographic haiku,” or deliberately try to illustrate traditional Japanese aesthetic concepts such as seijaku (tranquility), sabi (patina and an appreciation of the ephemeral nature of things), yūgen (an unobvious, subtle, profound grace), shizen (without pretense), and wabi (rustic simplicity, freshness, quietness, an appreciation of imperfection).  Yet, I feel that the spirit expressed in these concepts resonates within my images.  It was through my work, as I struggled to make the first image that I felt successfully conveyed the emotion I wished to share, that these ideals came to reveal themselves to me.

Jesse: David, you have created a unique style of black and white landscape photography.  How does it make you feel when you think about the impact your style has had the photographic community?

David: The single most important thing I ask of photographers, or any artist, is to show me something I haven’t seen before.  Make me look at my surroundings in a new way.  Expand my vision of the world.   This is not a trivial task, especially now that digital cameras allow everyone to conveniently take and share as many photos as they like for essentially no cost.  It was very different when you had to buy film, and pay for the film to be developed and the pay for prints to be made.   The point is that there are now literally billions of photographs out there.  How do you make something that is original, something that reveals something new about the world? It’s not easy, but that is the challenge for the modern artist.  I could go to Yosemite and exactly duplicate an Ansel Adams image, but what would be the point?  It wouldn’t show anyone something they haven’t seen before.   I often hear from people who say something like, “You know, I walk past this place everyday, but I’ve never seen it as you have shown it to me here” or, “Just the other day I was traveling up the coast when I saw this cove and thought ‘this would be a perfect David Fokos image’.”  It’s moments like those, when I realize that, through my work, I have forever changed the way that someone looks at their world, that are the most satisfying.  I mean, how amazing is that!

Jesse: With such a large following what causes you to keep your editions so small in number?

David: I am obsessive about my images, my prints, my framing – everything.  When a collector purchases one of my prints, I want it to be absolutely the best it can be.  To maintain such a high level of quality, I often have to print, and reprint, an image sometimes many times until I am satisfied that the print is as good as it can be.   There is a significant expense involved in producing my prints, both in terms of time and materials.  If I offered lower cost open editions, or large “limited” editions (limiting an edition to 2500 prints is pointless),  I would not be able to afford the expense that goes into making sure my prints are perfect – I would have to spend less time working on each print and accept some prints that are slightly less than perfect.  That is something I am just not willing to do.

Jesse: What is your favorite photograph from your collection and why?

David: That’s like asking which of your children is your favorite.  I don’t have a specific favorite in my portfolio.  However, I often find myself most enthused about my newest images because they are fresh, but I love all my images.

Jesse: Early in your career, which photographer had the biggest impact on your growth?

David: Oddly, I wasn’t really influenced by any photographers, except peripherally by Ansel Adams.   I began taking pictures when I was 11 years.  Even the pictures from my very first roll of film showed an affinity for the landscape and a certain type of composition.   When I was in high school in the 70’s I took a photo class where I learned the basics – how to develop film, make prints, etc.  The textbook for that class was simply titled “Photography” by Upton and Upton.  On the cover was a cross-section of a view camera showing the image of an apple being projected upside down inside.  Inside the book were many Ansel Adams images and a discussion about Adams’ Zone System.  Adams’ was near the height of his superstardom at that time.  Just after I graduated from high school Adams was even on the cover of Time Magazine.  Everyone knew who he was, and he was the only photographer I really knew anything about.  I admired his methodical nature and the quality of his prints — the infinite depth of field (i.e. everything in focus), the high resolution, and the full tonal range.  I was inspired to try to achieve similar results with my own photos.  I learned that Adams achieved the high resolution of his images by using a view camera, and that a lens stopped down to f64 resulted in full depth of field.  And, using the zone system that he developed, he was able to achieve the full tonal range seen in his prints.  I set out to emulate him, and soon after heading off to college I purchased my first view camera – a 5×7 Korona View from the 1920’s.   I had never even held a view camera before, but I bought this one out of the want ads, and then taught myself how to use it.  I spent the next 15 years working, primarily in isolation, oblivious of other photographers, on Martha’s Vineyard developing my style and perfecting my technique.

Jesse: If you don’t mind could you take us on a journey of how you capture an image and the process it must undergo before it reaches your limited edition collection?

David: Before I get into the technical details of my process I would like to talk a bit about how I came to make the images that I do.  For me, the intention of my work is to evoke within the viewer, the same emotion I felt when I made the image. In this respect I am not trying to show the viewer what these places look like, but rather, what they feel like.  Kind of the way that Willy Wonka’s gum, recreates the sensation of an entire three-course dinner!  Emotion is the essence of experience.  But the problem with photography is that the camera doesn’t record emotion.

To sum up what I have learned from over 30 years of photographing the landscape is that our emotional experience of a place is not instantaneous.  Therefore, to make an image of a place as I experience it over time, I need the camera to experience the place over time as well.

I believe that our sense of experience is built up over time – a composite of many short-term events. I offer this analogy:  Suppose you meet someone for the first time.  Your impression of that person is not a snapshot in your mind of the first time you saw that person, but rather a portrait you have assembled from many separate moments. Each time that person exhibits a new facial expression or hand gesture, you add that into your impression of who that person is. Your image of that person — how you feel about that person — is formed over time, rather than upon a single expression or gesture.

Likewise, I believe that our impression of the world is based upon our total experience. For example, the ocean has always made me feel calm, relaxed, and contented. If I were to take an instantaneous snapshot of the ocean, the photo would include waves with jagged edges, salt spray, and foam. This type of image does not make me feel calm — it does not represent how the ocean makes me feel as I stare out over the water. What I am responding to is the underlying, fundamental form of the ocean, its vast expansiveness and the strong line of the horizon, both of which are very stable, calming forms that I find relaxing.  So, I had to find a way to brush away the messy, “visual noise” of the waves to get to the essence of my experience.  I have done this by using my camera’s unique ability to average time, through the use of long exposures.  In this way I am able to quell the visual noise (e.g. the short-term temporal events like breaking waves or zooming cars) to reveal a sort of hidden world.  It is a very real world to be sure – the camera was able to record the scene – it is just not one that we normally experience visually. We feel it.  We sense it.  But in general, we don’t see it.

Our bodies respond to many types of stimuli.  What we see – the visual information – is just one type of stimulus, though it is often the most overpowering of the senses.  However, due to the short wavelengths of visible light, this information is presented to us in an infinite series of frozen snapshots.  Our bodies also react to other types of stimuli on longer time scales – our sense of touch, smell, hearing, etc.  The wavelengths of sound are much longer than those of light so it takes our body longer to capture a “sound snapshot”.  Our skin reacts to sunlight, another stimulus, but how long does it take for us to get a tan or sunburn?  The point is that the world exists as a continuum, not just the artificial, frozen, slice of time the camera presents to us in a snapshot.  Our bodies respond to the world in a cumulative way, averaging our experience as we pass through time.  Using my camera to capture the passage of time through long exposures, I can reveal what our world “looks” like based on a longer time scale.  My photographic process acts as a translator – translating from the “invisible” world of non-instantaneous events, into the visible world of a photographic print.

It took me a long time to understand this – 15 years during which my images failed to evoke the emotions I wished to communicate.  Then, slowly, I began to sense some change in a few of my shots.  And while not entirely successful, there were areas within these shots that hinted at what I was trying to express.  I spent a lot of time contemplating why it was that these images were more successful for me than others.

The key to my work is to minimize my images in a way that emphasizes certain elements while de-emphasizing others.  In addition to careful composition, in scenes with movement I use long exposures.  When a scene does not contain movement, a simple instantaneous exposure is sufficient, as the experience over time is invariable — a longer exposure would make no difference.  As far as the brain is concerned, there is less visual noise in a scene that contains no movement, so it is already minimized to some degree.

The key to these images, much like my time-averaged images, is to frame the shot in such a way as to emphasize the emotional triggers and de-emphasize any distractions that remain. I have found that minimalist compositions have been the most effective means of evoking a pure emotion within the viewer as the message is less cluttered.  Put slightly differently, there is less in the image to “confuse” the viewer’s brain.

To compose in a minimal way, I first decide what it is that I wish to convey – what is it in the scene that I want the viewer to focus their attention upon, and what emotion I want to evoke.  Then, I try to minimize anything else that competes with that.  The composition becomes critical – specifically how the main elements interact with any lesser elements, the horizon, the positive and negative spaces created by their placement, the edges of the frame and the tension or harmony created by the positions of everything.

When composing, I pay particular attention to the background and the edges of the frame to make sure there is nothing there that will be a distraction.  Often this means that I am not able to get a shot at all.  Or, sometimes I take the shot but have to work on it in Photoshop later to get the shot I really wanted.  An example of this is my shot from Northumberland, England titled “Wooley Reservoir”.  When I made this shot the dirt in the foreground was strewn with a dozen small white rocks. I could have gone about picking them all up and tossing them out of the frame, but then I would have trampled the grass.  Instead, I chose to remove them digitally.  The eye is always attracted to the lightest areas of an image and those white rocks were a distraction – they had to go!

I shoot 8×10 Kodak Tri-X Professional film with my 82-year old Korona View camera.  I use just one lens – a 210mm Rodenstock Sironar-S.  This lens is a wide-angle lens on my camera (the equivalent of a 29mm lens on a 35mm camera).  Ironically, having only one lens to choose from allows me greater freedom.  If I had a number of lenses I would continually be trying to decide which lens to use.  When you only have one lens, you never have to think about it.  Instead of being paralyzed by indecision, I am free to concentrate on my compositions.

My equipment weighs 60lbs. I have to ship my camera equipment, in advance, to wherever I want to go. When shooting, I go out with 12 sheets of film (at $5+ per sheet). I shoot at least two of everything just in case something happens to one of the negatives. Sometimes, I’ll try different exposure times, different compositions, or different filter combinations. This means that when I go out I am usually only able to take one or two shots before I have to reload my film holders in a darkroom or changing tent. My camera is very susceptible to wind – so windy days and windy places are out. After shooting and then shipping my film and camera equipment home again, I develop my film – 5 sheets at a time in a Jobo. Only then do I have the first chance to see if any of my shots are worthwhile. If I have a negative I like I then wet-mount the 8-inch by 10-inch film to my scanner and scan it at a very high resolution (16-bits @ 2400 ppi).  This results in an 800MB grayscale image file (which is equivalent to the resolution of a 2.4GB color file).

Once I have a high-resolution image file in my computer, the real work begins.  I often spend 100 hours or more, fine-tuning the image – dodging and burning (making certain areas lighter or darker), adjusting local contrast and, when necessary, removing little white rocks.  This is the part of the process that adds the emotion back into the image my camera recorded.

Our eyes are naturally drawn toward light.  I work to craft my images in a way that takes the viewer on a little trip — the trip I want them to take: enter the image here, look at this, then this, and finally exit there.  So, for example, if I want the viewer to focus on a certain part of an image, I make sure that the little white boat over toward the right side glows, while the left, top and bottom of the image are made darker. I make hundreds of local contrast adjustments, and I make sure that there is nothing that will distract the viewer.  Everything must be in perfect harmony.

Sometimes I’ll work for many, many hours on an image and then, in the end, have to discard it having decided that I couldn’t make it work to my satisfaction.  However, when I am ultimately satisfied with an image, I still need to do print tests and make adjustments so that the final print accurately reflects the image I saw on my computer monitor.

Finally, after the hundreds of hours it took to produce the perfect print, I still have one thing left to do and that is have the print framed for presentation.  The frame plays a significant role in the finished work and its importance should not be taken lightly.  The style and weight of the frame become a part of the composition.  Over the years I tried a number of different styles of framing until I found one that I thought was ideal.

 I send my prints to Los Angeles to be framed by one of only two framers in the country that I feel is capable of this quality of framing.   My prints are “face-mounted”.  This is a special process that was developed in Germany whereby the print is bonded to a special, premium-quality brand of UV protected, anti-reflective plexiglas,  (note: before mounting, the edges of the plexiglas are polished for a finer finish) The print is then bonded using an optically-clear sheet of adhesive.  The process requires passing the print and plexi through a special machine with heated rollers, multiple times.  The result is an amazing immediacy as, unlike with traditional framing, the print sits just 1/8″ from the front surface.

Next, a piece of 6mm thick black sintra (a type of rigid plastic) is bonded to the back of the print.  At this point, the print is hermetically sealed between these two sheets of plastic.  A wood frame is then bonded to the sintra.

Next, a decorative outer wooden frame is custom-milled by my framer from rock maple, to which he applies 3 coats of a proprietary color of lacquer.  Though my frames may look black, they are not.  I worked with my framer to develop a special “off-black” hue that would not contrast too starkly with the image.  This is yet another way I work to minimize even the smallest of distractions.

Finally, with screws passing through the back side of the decorative frame and into the wooden frame bonded to the sintra, the print is made to “float” within the decorative frame with a small gap between the edge of the print and the frame.  A French Cleat system is used to hang the print on the wall so that the frame sits flush against the wall.   The cost of this type of framing is not cheap — about $1300 for each print – but I feel the result is worth it.

 Jesse: What is your favorite past-time when you are not working on producing beautiful images?

David: I love to cook!  Cooking can be very creative and satisfying in many of the same ways as working on my art.  And while I have never spent hundreds of hours working on a single meal as I do with my images, I have, on special occasions, taken a couple of days.

 Jesse: Would you say that taking the photograph and then processing it are two separate art forms?

 David: I am sure that for some people they are.  However, I tend to view the entire process as a whole – the way that prepping ingredients, and then cooking them are both part of making a dish.

When I take a picture, I already have a pre-visualized, final image in my head – put another way, I know what “dish” I want to make.  Making the exposure is just the process of gathering raw material for the final image – like gathering ingredients.  Once I have my raw material, I may spend a hundred hours or more working to finish my image.  This is the “cooking” part of the process where I “adjust the seasoning” to arrive at a final image whose sum is greater than the individual components.

The difference between documentary work/photojournalism and fine art photography is that in the former one wants to present photographs with the least amount of manipulation possible (other than the framing of the image, choice of lens, etc.), whereas a fine art photographer is an artist seeking to express an idea, evoke an emotion, or convey a message. The famous photographer, Ruth Bernhard, once remarked, “If you do not improve upon the negative, then you are not a photographer”. For the photographic artist, the taking of the picture is just the first step.

How many times have you taken a snapshot of some amazing vista like the Grand Canyon, or an incredible sunset only to be disappointed when you got your prints back? You remembered the experience as having been so much more dramatic than the prints convey. One of the reasons for this discrepancy is that a large part of the experience you had while taking the picture was the emotion you felt while standing there. As I mentioned before, your camera does not record emotion. It cannot convey how you felt that morning when you woke up, what kind of mood you were in, the humidity, the smell of the air, the temperature, the feel of breeze, or the sun on your face.  All of these things contribute to the emotional response you have to a place. The job of a photographic artist is to work with the camera’s image, to create the drama and add back the emotion so that the viewer can also feel what the artist felt.   It is this artistic process that takes me so long.

When you get right down to it, a photograph is just a bunch of chemicals stuck to a piece of paper hanging on a wall and the artist may not always be around to explain their intention to the viewer — the image has to communicate everything they want to say.

Jesse: How long does it take you to work on your images with post processing adjustments before you are content?

David: I often work a hundred or more hours, post-exposure, crafting an image that exactly expresses the emotion I wish to convey.

 Jesse: Recently you have announced that you are going to take on the task of editing and printing the photography of a handful of photographers.  This is pretty exciting news as you have a special gift for post-processing unlike any other.  How does an interested photographer contact you for this personalized service?

 David: Well, I didn’t exactly announce it so much as let the word leak out.  In working obsessively to perfect my own prints, I have learned a great deal about the printing process.  A few photographers have contacted me asking if I would be willing to work with them to help them get the most from their portfolios and prints.  I have found the process to be very rewarding so I am now offering this service to other artists on a very limited basis.

My intention is not to open a commercial print shop, but rather to work exclusively with a select few artists as time permits.  If an artist is interested in having me work with them to improve their portfolio and their prints, they can contact me via email at: david@davidfokos.net.

Photography is best learned by practicing in the field and without the guidance of another as you may learn to be too much like that person.  The key is to be organic in your efforts and how you compose your images.  Here is another obvious fact about landscape photography in that most landscape photographers are generally outdoor enthusiasts such as hikers campers river guides etc. Ansel Adams was the resident photographer at Yosemite Park if I remember right. Ansel also did not attend a formal photography school however he was surrounded by opportunity at an early age and continued that journey through his life. I believe if you wrote a list of the top ten landscape photographers it would list a bunch of self taught photographers. That does not mean I am against going to school for photography as I think those that study marketing and portraiture would best benefit from such formal training.

Landscape photography requires a lot of exposure to nature being observant of light and slowing down to see it’s beauty. I think if you are reading this blog chances are you see the beauty in nature otherwise you would not be reading about it.  Some of you are professional or amateur photographers or just people who enjoy photography but either way you have an appreciation for nature.  I remember when I first became truly aware of my surroundings and  it was wonderful as I looked around at the clouds and the trees and I appreciated them like never before.  I am very glad I have this appreciation because before I think I was too focused on technology, texting, planning or whatever else can enter your mind when there is time.  I now stop along hikes and look at a a beautiful scene and think about how that would look while looking down the lens of my camera.  I then hold my hand up and create a square that I can view the scene with it’s just something that happens when you get the photo bug.   So more than education and skill I would say is the need to be aware of your surroundings. The skill and education will come as you attempt to take pictures of the scenery that captures your attention.  When I first started shooting I remember seeing what I wanted to capture but then when I got the film developed I thought my camera must be broken because that is not what I saw.  The camera was not broken but instead the little timer in my head that is supposed to tell me when to stop the exposure or it will become terribly over-exposed.  Yes that is right I am an over-exposurer (not a word but It needs to be) and others are under-exposurers.  This is why we have light meters or better yet if you are a digital photographer than you have that little timer built into your camera and that is not a concern.  But it was the many tries and errors and picking up my film at the local lab only to walk over to the light box and see a clear strip of film.  Then sneaking out the door knowing that the person who just rang me up for my film is probably thinking wow he is paying money to have his over-exposed clear film processed.  Embarrassing yes but did it teach me how to shoot yes because I kept trying until I started to understand how light works and that I needed to learn more.

There is a great deal of importance in the light and composition but again that comes with being aware of your surroundings as you can see if it is beautiful outside. You are able to detect that magical light as the sun is setting or rising just the same. A really good way to educate yourself without spending a ton of money on education is by viewing as many works as you can by various photographers. They will have different styles but you can pick-up on what makes them good images and it often leads to that awareness of a special moment and having the ability to walk by a scene and have a vision to capture a small section of your surroundings. I love Charles Cramer’s work for that ability to find beauty within simple small areas. He shows you that it does not have to be a vast scene to be beautiful backdrop.

There are a few things that I use to educate myself for free and some that I pay a small fee for. The best educational tool I have found has been Lynda’s which is an online education portal basically like going to an online school only it costs about $400 a year give or take, instead of $10,000 plus. You can also go to youtube where there are great people sharing free videos on how to photograph or how to photo-shop images etc. One of my favorite tutorials on youtube is title called “you suck at Photoshop”. The creator is hilarious and he teaches you how to use Photoshop while entertaining you. Lynda’s also has instructional videos on Photoshop as well as all other software and how to use digital cameras so it basically gives you a portal to everything. I have been using it to learn how to build websites. I will put some links to Lynda’s so you can access there site and I can make a little doe that will most likely be given back to Lynda to continue having a membership. I wish this was the old days when you could actually make money off ads but I think that was when I was in high-school and I didn’t care about money.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask as I would be happy to assist with helping you grow or helping myself grow from your insight.  It is important for me to network with photographers and those who appreciate it not only for my business but also for my personal growth that is accomplished from both teaching others and learning from others every day.  The link below to Lynda.com is where I learn a lot of my website languages to assist me with developing my websites but it is also used for photography techniques.  I am also an affiliate with Lynda’s so I get a commission when someone clicks on that and purchases a subscription.  In saying that I cannot think of a better way to spend your money as they have tons of updated content from great teachers and the files to follow along.  So whether you are a amateur photographer or web developer Lynda’s is a good place to learn.  Shoot me an email if you have any questions about it or if you have a place you think I could benefit from.

Having worked for a Thomas Kinkade Gallery just after the peak of his fame I remember how funny performing my job was at times. I would bring people into the viewing room and lower the lights and raise them in an automated manner, expecting the gasps from the overwhelmed Kinkade fans. “oooooo, aaahhhhhh, wooooow” (or something like that) If you were one of the fans I presented to you might have to laugh at how simple my job was. The first twenty times I saw it, I too was amazed. I was professional light controller, nobody could use that light switch like me so the sales were big.  It was new and exciting and the effect the light had on the canvas was very impressive.

The art sold itself really. At the time around the years 1999-2001 excitement was still present for the unique artwork. The light would play nicely with the various tones in the paintings which would cause the images to seem alive in a sense. The main selling point was the glowing, warm feeling that viewers experienced when seeing how light played with different colors. This same method would catapult yet another artist into stardom.   And so I became a professional light controller for Peter Lik for many years to follow. Later I would overlook and train many light controllers, I was the Megatron of Lutron.  Obviously there was more to the job then controlling light but I am over-emphasizing the importance of presentation.  It turns out that most of the professional grade photography paper out there today can be pretty amazing when shown at different light levels.  This is not just for show though because when you have art like this in your home your environment is transformed especially when your images are well lit.

What I wanted to express to all of you is that you don’t have to be a professional photographer to achieve these results, and I urge you, at the very least to create a masterpiece of your own. There are many professional labs out there and one that I am particularly fond of is West Coast Imaging. They have the professional grade papers and the means to assist you as much as you desire. They are able to edit your images, adjust colors and assist you in creating your future conversation piece at your next dinner party.

“Is that a Peter Lik, or better yet a Bartram above your fireplace?” nope, that baby is mine.

You get the picture… literally. I am not giving you this advice because I want you to stop buying the works from professional photographers.  I think it is good for everyone to experience taking a photograph they are proud of and then go through the creative process of producing a gallery quality print.

I have spoke to many aspiring photographers who are doctors, athletes, engineers, waiters and just about everyone else on the planet about photography. It turns out that at one time or another each of them has taken a fantastic shot and you can tell they hold that shot as a proud achievement. A great deal of photography collectors are aspiring photographers themselves.  There are a lot of people who say they are not good photographers or not artistic but I am not sure I believe that because usually it’s just never having tried with the proper equipment and proper presentation.  I want you to showcase that shot in your home and share it with others. It’s truly a great feeling to share your work with friends as it allows you to express yourself artistically.  When someone tells me they like one of my images I just want to give it to them but then I think about the cost and how that would not be the best business plan.

The first step in this process is to find that special shot, or two.  An important step for professional photographers is to edit their images and narrow it down to the best of the best.  I would not try to take on too many as the process of creating a gallery quality print is not cheap and can be time consuming, just ask David Fokos. David Fokos only produces on average about 3 images a year that will be offered to collectors and it is his full time job. He does all of his own editing however, and is very particular with how his images are post processed and the end result.  His images are breath-taking and something to strive for but maybe we don’t have to raise our expectations that high.

The second step is to get the image in the highest quality digital format you can. I would advise on getting expert advice from the likes of Jeff Gandy or any of the other staff members of West Coast Imaging. I mention them a lot because that’s who I often use to print my images, and I trust them.

Once you have the file you will need to edit, or have a professional edit the image at the lab. Avoid dust spots which are common if you had to scan from film to digital. Remove all other imperfections because once you enlarge the image its going to show all of those imperfections on a larger scale. The lab can also advice you on how large you can print your image based on its quality and size.

next chose the paper and again this is personal preference but I do prefer fuji super-gloss as do most of my clients.  I remember talking a customer into a matted print rather then the super-gloss which would cut down on glare from natural light.  That did not go very well and this customer would stress the importance of the luminosity that super-gloss adds to the experience.  I agree and myself prefer the glossy well lit images that are on my walls.  In saying that if you are a black and white photographer a matted paper choice may be more appropriate.

Once this is all decided you can get a test print created.  This will allow you to see it before you go big. If all the above sounds overwhelming West Coast has a service called Exhibition Prints where they pretty much do everything for you. Which is awesome.

I hope this helps some of you get  started on printing your photography, but it is only a small blog and there is so many various ways to go about it. I encourage you to ask questions by posting them and I will be happy to give you my input. Perhaps some of the pros who frequent the site will chime in as well.  Comments require an email but it won’t be used for anything except to insure I don’t get tons of spam.