In the previous post in this series I presented the idea that calendar art is a worthy first goal for serious photographers.  (Read Taking Your Photography to the Next Level.)  And aside from the fact that the subject matter of calendar art may be fairly run of the mill, the technical and aesthetic qualities are generally excellent.

In that post I ended with this thought:

Calendar art is about the subject of the photograph.  The photographer is transparent.  In fine art photography the influence of the artist becomes more apparent.

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Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.  ~Amy Lowell

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I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.

I read a great series of articles by George Barr on taking the next step in photography.  They were passed along to me by a good friend – Brian Graham.  I have some early thoughts on what Barr proposes.

In his articles he defines six or seven steps for both technical and aesthetic growth in photography.  His articles define each step, discuss ways you can determine what step you’re in and gives ideas on how to advance to the next step.

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Cliché, to many photographers this is a dirty word.  Photographs of Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View, the Tetons from Ox Bow Bend, the Watchman in Zion from the bridge, Delicate Arch – all are considered by many to be clichés.

What exactly is a cliché?  Something that has lost its originality, ingenuity, impact from long overuse.  In other words, it’s been done before – and many times.  Some have gone so far as to suggest that there are no photographs left in Yosemite Valley that are not clichés.

Not all of us agree.

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Most of us aren’t in the habit of purchasing art.  And for some of us the thought may be just a bit intimidating, especially when the work of art is, oh, shall we say “expensive.”  How do you now you’re investing your money wisely?

I can’t speak for other art media such as paintings, sculpture, etc.  But I can offer three suggestions when purchasing fine art photography.  Here are some things you should expect from a fine art photograph.

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I have never had a great deal of interest in the grand landscape.  I am more strongly attracted to quieter, more intimate details of the natural environment.  I can only hope that the quite solitude that interests me is visible in some of my  images.

I’m a professional nature photographer.  I not only take and sell photographs  but also conduct workshops in some beautiful locations around our world.  Admittedly I’m relatively new to the business and am not one of the big names of outdoor photography – yet.  But I have a loyal following that continues to grow.

Like I said, I lead workshops, both on my own and teamed up with other great photographers.  I believe my workshops have a lot to offer photographers of all skill levels from novices and amateurs to professionals.  And our attendees confirm that with their comments. 

First of all, we get to great locations and we photograph them in the best light.  Location and light are the two most critical elements for exceptional outdoor photography.  

Second, we provide lots of one-on-one attention.  The primary reason most attendees sign up for workshops is they want to become better photographers.  So we really focus on working individually with each photographer on the areas in which they want (and need) to grow.  I say ‘need’ because often the attendees don’t have a clear idea of what areas to focus on and we can help with that.

Third, my partners and I have our own unique personal styles of photography that we share with our attendees, both overtly and in more subtle ways.  If an attendee knows our work, presumably they like it and may want to learn how to do what we do for themselves.

So, with all that by way of introduction, that’s why I attend workshops.  I can photograph unfamiliar areas of our earth with someone who is intimate with the location, its best views and light.  Second, I may feel pretty comfortable with my technical and creative skills but, let’s face it, there’s always more to learn.  Happily, it’s a never ending process.  Thirdly, the workshop instructor’s personal style is just that – personal, unique to that individual.  Working with them for three to five days is a wonderful way to absorb some of their magic and stretch my own personal style.  After all, simply put, our personal styles are our means by which we express yourselves through our art.  It is something that is growing all the time.  Working with other skilled photographers just helps it grow faster.

To sum it all up, life is too short and there’s too much to learn.  I could approach photography on a do-it-yourself basis and grow by trial and error.  And while I never stop exploring and discovering new things on my own, it’s slow.  Or I can accelerate the learning process and work with other photographers whom I admire.  They have a lot to offer and workshops with them gives me the chance to soak up as much as I possibly can in a short, concentrated period of time.  And, I get some great photographs.

Join me on an upcoming workshop.

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I had an interesting experience at the Encinitas Street Faire this past  year.  Very often people will enter my booth, look at my photographs and turn to me and ask, “Are you the photographer?”  My answer is always, “Yes I am.”

But on this weekend a woman asked, “Are you the artist.”

I was honored and told her so.  So often the relationship between photography and art is a tenuous one in many peoples’ minds.  These are the people that ask if the colors are real or if I manipulate my photographs.  But an artist by definition would manipulate a photograph.  Why?  Well, for several reasons.

Art is communication and artists have something to say.  A work of art carries the personal stamp of the artist.  The artist’s personal style comes through.  The stronger the artist’s personal style is, the more clearly it shows in her or his art.

Art is interpretation.  We think of art as being a creative process.  Landscape art is challenging because it is difficult to visit an iconic location and produce a work that says something new about it.  And isn’t that an important aspect of creativity – saying something new about familiar things?  But a successful work of art does just that, provides a fresh look as we see something familiar through the artist’s eyes.

I like to explore this aspect of photography in my workshops, providing insight into the artistic process and how it applies to photographers.

Photography can be so many things that sometimes we lose sight of it as a powerful medium for artistic expression.  And clearly, not all photography is art.  But to the photographer artist, photography is an eloquent medium.

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I have an Epson Stylus Pro 4800 printer that I basically love.  Having a high quality printer like the Epson really unleashed my creative potential by giving me the ability to fine tune my photographs.  Sending proofs off to labs and even waiting only a couple of days to get them back (like some of the better labs do) just wasn’t working out.  Realistically, I could only do a couple of proofs.  But with my own printer I can run scores of proofs if I need to.

There is one thing about the Epson that’s been bugging me though.  I have nozzle clogging problems.  It’s from two things – the relatively dry atmosphere here in Southern California and the fact that I don’t print every day.  It gets so bad that I would sometimes have to spend an hour repeating the nozzle check and head clean before I could start printing.  It wasn’t fun.

But last weekend I heard a tip from two people.  Musical instruments, especially the kind made from wood, suffer from the wood drying out in low humidity conditions.  And that affects the quality of the sound.  So musicians purchase a humidifier device to put in their instrument cases.  It maintains the humidity inside the case at an optimum level which keeps their instrument sounding its best.

The suggestion was to purchase one of these and place it inside the 4800.  Well, the advice made total sense but I took a different tack.  We had a Starbuck’s shot glass sitting around.  I took a kitchen sponge and cut it into four strips.  Two of these fit perfectly in the shot glass.  Moisten the sponges, insert them in the glass, add a little extra water (not too much), set it inside the printer way out of the way where the print head wont hit it, and cross fingers.  After one day I  ran a nozzle check.  Wow, it was almost perfect, good enough to try a print.  I printed a proof and it was just great.

Since then I’ve printed more and it’s working perfectly.  I check the water level every other day or so and am amazed at how quickly it goes down.

So, while time will tell, it seems the nozzle clogging problem may be solved.  And I don’t have go to through the onerous chore of unclogging nozzles before I can print.  I’m cranking out proofs and feeling productive and creative again.  I’m a happy camper.

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