One of my favorite features in Aperture 2.1 is the flexibility and ease-of-use provided for monochrome conversions - taking original color digital files to fine art quality black and whites. The ability to apply custom filters and then adjust tonal ranges in each filter is designed with the professional photographer in mind.
Applying the monochrome conversion feature to already processed HDR images produces awe-inspiring results.
Yes, I still use Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Bridge for my HDR work (there’s already talk of a soon-to-be-released HDR plug-in for Aperture), but nearly all of my digital editing, organizing and post-processing work is now completed in Aperture.
My issue with Photoshop is that it tries to be too many things for too many people. Adobe somewhat addressed this issue, as well as answer the competitive challenge issued by Apple’s release of Aperture, with the release of Ligthroom, but by then I was already hooked on both the Mac platform and software. Apple’s software developers just seem more attuned to the shooting professional and quicker to adapt to the needs of these picky and demanding customers.
. . . or out in your lobby, or in your home. It doesn’t matter. Just hang me.
No, not me physically. For one thing you’d have to drill some serious holes in a stud behind the wall, and use some serious hardware, just to hold all my ever-increasing weight. Also, I don’t do too well in office corporate-type office environments. As I like to say about my experiences in the corporate world, I’m like Chinese food. At first I look real good, but if I sit around too long I go real bad, very quickly.
What I’m referring to is the opportunity for you take a hang an original and breath-taking print representing my artistic vision and photographic discoveries. In each and every nature, landscape, cityscape and wildlife photograph that I discover, capture and create there is a bit of my artistic soul and spirit that has been invested in the fine art prints that result.
There’s also a bit of “love of subject” as well as technical skill invested, particularly with the photographs that make-up my newest online storefront at ImageKind.com - Hand-Colored Photos.
With these photographs you can see how I’ve carefully converted the original, color image to back and white and then digitally bring forth color in the areas of the image that I want to emphasize. These photographs are a great selection of artwork for rooms, whether office or at home, where a particular color is emphasized.
Prints ordered through my ImageKind Hand-Colored Storefront are available in sizes ranging from 8″x10″ all the way to 40″x60″ and without any degradation in image clarity and print quality due to the fact I custom format the digital file that each print is crafted from, ensuring optimal output as custom Giclees prints. What I also like about ImageKind are the choices provided for paper, which includes Enhanced Matte, Somerset Velvet, Photo Rag and Fine Art Pearl. I recommend Enhanced Matte.
And the choices don’t stop there. You can also choose from what I’ve found to be the best online selection in custom mats (you can select and adjust width) and frames that range from black, to mahogany, to light wood and many more. As these choice are made you can preview exactly how the finished product will look and what the final price will be, right online. I’ve posted an example below using my favorite combination of a black wood frame with a white mat.
Best of all you can purchase safely and securely online with ImageKind’s refund policy/satisfaction guarantee and professional care in packing and shipping. No crowds to fight at the mall. No traffic to get caught in. Just beautiful, original artwork that everyone will love. So don’t wait. Buy now for Christmas and hang me, here, there and everywhere.
I realize that 2007 isn’t quite over yet, but these last few days are quickly closing in, especially with today’s winter weather.
Below is my latest YouTube creation - The Best Photos of 2007 - which includes my favorite images from both personal and commercial/assignment photo shoots. The images are arranged in order, starting with those taken last January and going all the way through, well, just about two weeks ago. If you look closely you will notice a definite shift in style and technique, going into place at about mid-September. Please comment if you can guess what it is.
Once again I’m re-evaluating my selection of printing vendors regarding online print sales of my fine art nature and landscape photographs. My current storefront with Printroom.com is pretty good, but I’ve been more impressed with the quality of printing, selections in papers, frames and matting and user friendly interface provided over at ImageKind.com.
Fine art prints purchased at my ImageKind storefront come with a refund policy - satisfaction guarantee, safe online shopping guarantee and careful attention and care in the packaging of prints, both framed and unframed. These are also Giclees prints crafted from the largest possible TIFF file, carefully edited by me, from the original raw digital capture. This results in the best, museum-quality print versus those that are produced from compressed JPEG’s. I can personally attest to this fact because I’ve conducted my own print-and-compare quality testing process from these same file sizes and formats here in my studio using an Epson 7600 wide format printer.
Giclees prints from ImageKind have a longevity of over 125 years when framed under UV-protective glass. Also, you will be impressed with the variety of framing options offered through ImageKind. Their selection of frames, mats and coating options is perhaps the best you can find with an online art store and of course you can preview exactly how each print will look with your choice in paper, mat and frame.
I’ve started to populate my ImageKind storefront gallery, titled “High Dynamic Vision,” with some of my most recent nature, landscape and cityscape photographs captured this past September and October in locations such as the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Hocking Hills of Ohio. I will be adding more selections to this storefront over the next several days. I also maintain another storefront/gallery of old favorites on ImageKind titled “Serenity Images.” The best seller there has been my famous Dayton skyline.
There are plenty of photographers with good equipment and some technical skill.
There are a few less with good equipment, technical skill and the ability and experience to function as a professional - within their career field as well as with their clients.
There are far, far fewer photographers who possess all of the above in addition to what is most important - Creative Vision.
I am in that very small minority. The photographs presented with this post should illustrate my point. I am not just a “nature and landscape photographer,” or a “commercial photographer,” or a “portrait photographer.”
I am a visual artist who brings a unique creative vision to both personal and client-assigned work, bringing forth the extraordinary from the ordinary.
My photography is how I envision light and subject through my own creative approach toward life. Although my subject matter is widely varied, the one constant is my personal drive, skills and talent in capturing photographs and creating images that no one else could previously see and compose.
That’s what I bring to the table.
I actively seek clients - both for assignment work as well as purchasers of fine art prints and licensing rights - that are located throughout North America and beyond. In no way am I beholden to my local market - in terms of creativity, capability or short-term business necessity.
Please call 1-877-527-6889 or email jim@ohiophoto.org for more information about how my creative vision can enhance and add significantly to the visual effectiveness of your marketing and advertising efforts, printed materials, organizational web site or decorative presentation of your office location.
Twice a year my daughters and I attend the weekend camp-outs for Indian Princesses (now officially called Adventure Princesses by the YMCA) held at Camp Kern, which is located between Lebanon and Oregonia, Ohio, on the other side of the Little Miami River from Fort Ancient.
When I was about eight or nine years old, way back in the early 70’s, I attended summer camp there, not taking a shower for a whole week, drinking lots of bug juice and getting scared at the old cemetery just outside the camp entrance. I never thought that at age 43 I would be back in those old cabins, missing a shower terribly after just two days, drinking bug juice (along with a few “dad pops”) and watching my own daughters, six and eight, getting scared with ghost stories and having a whole bunch of fun.
Camp Kern has become somewhat of a family tradition for many people who were raised in the Dayton-Cincinnati area. My nephew Sean, who also went there for summer camp as a kid, now is now the one of the Camp Directors.
The following were just a few images I captured during last weekend’s camp-out. I held myself to bringing just a camera body (Canon 5D), a Canon 85mm 1.8 and a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro. All images shot in raw format and edited in Aperture.
The screen grab image above will take you to a flickr slide show of a few of my favorite photographs. These are the images that carry a special meaning for me due to the fact that I can instantly place myself back in the particular light, location and frame of mind when I first released the shutter at the moment I captured each image.
In these places I found nothing but the beauty and truth that was presented before me.
There are no lies, deceit, manipulation or false pretenses. There is no anger, resentment or malice.
The light, subject and moment simply is, and in that simplicity is the very essence of being.
