Kicking off the New Year

•January 3, 2008 • Comments Off on Kicking off the New Year

It’s a new year, and we’re starting out well.

Tomorrow I will be delivering three prints to Tamarack, the West Virginia center for Artists and Artisans near Beckley, WV.

The prints will be exhibited in ‘Modern Interpretations’, a juried art exhibition in the David L. Dickirson Gallery at Tamarack.

Here are the three images, which are part of my ‘Cityscapes’ series taken in Boston in March, 2007.

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I was visiting my friend Allen Doyle in Braintree, MA (suburb south of Boston) last March and we took the commuter boat into Boston just to walk around town and see what we could see. Neither one of us had been there in a long time. I took some casual shots around the downtown area. When I got back to the house and looked at them on my laptop computer, I thought that there would be some potential if I went at it a bit more seriously. We made plans to go back into Boston and the result was an interesting series of architectural studies.

Posted in Photography

What’s Going On in DC?

•December 24, 2007 • Comments Off on What’s Going On in DC?

I’ve been surfing the net a lot looking at the photography resources and organizations around the country. There are a lot of exciting organizations, events, and activities.

There are workshops, portfolio reviews, galleries, schools, and more in places like Boston, Santa Fe, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, Houston, Charlotte, NC, Woodstock, NY, to name just a few.

Living in Martinsburg, West Virginia, I have been looking for something in the Washington DC area.

Thus far I have not found anything. One would think that Washington, DC would have some resources for photography.

Perhaps DC is too caught up in politics(?)

If anyone reads this that knows of something that I am missing, please drop me an email.

Posted in Opinion, Photography, Various Random Commentary

Looking Back on 2007

•December 24, 2007 • Comments Off on Looking Back on 2007

As a photographer, 2007 was a breakthrough year for me. I a number of ways, what I have been doing was validated in 2007.

Since I am a late bloomer when it comes to blogging, I thought I would recap some of the significant things from 2007. The idea is less to brag, but to put what comes next into some context.

2006 was the first year that I had any kind of regular print sales after being juried into the Ice House Artist Co-op in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

In 2007 I expanded my footprint in the Eastern Panhandle to four galleries by the end of August and this helped generate additional sales and the income to support participation in a George DeWolfe Workshop in Adirondack State Park in New York, the ACP Portfolio Reviews in Atlanta, and the acquisition of some significant new equipment. Overall I probably spent more than I made, but I rationalized that these things were an investment in the future.

In August I also began the transition from full-time employment to ultimate retirement and status as a full-time fine art photographer. Now working three days a week I have a four-day weekend almost every week and that gives me more time and energy for photography.

Overall I could not be more pleased with my progress and I am grateful for the support from my partner, Malinda and from other friends.

On this Christmas Eve, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and I’m looking forward to 2008.

Posted in Photography

Paper Testing With the 3800

•December 20, 2007 • Comments Off on Paper Testing With the 3800

I’m back to where I was a few months ago testing different papers to see which will give me the best results with the new printer.

The results with the Advanced Black and White driver are really stunning with Museo Silver Rag and Epson Velvet Fine Art papers.

Hanemuhle Photo Rag works much better with the 3800 than with the 1800. I never bothered to get a custom profile for the 1800 and Photo Rag and it yielded an excessively warm-tone print. With the 3800 ABW driver Photo. Rag comes out neutral with very good blacks.

However, I keep coming back to Museo Silver Rag for the black and white exhibit prints. It is even better with the 3800 ABW driver than it was on the 1800 with a custom profile, and that is saying something.

I think I will have to bite the bullet and spend the money on this paper.

The jury is still out for color. Photo Rag has yielded some nice prints but I also like Epson Velvet Fine Art and Museo Portfolio Rag. I’m still testing.

Posted in Photography, Workflow and Printing

Epson 3800 First Impressions

•December 20, 2007 • Comments Off on Epson 3800 First Impressions

I’ve had my new Epson Stylus Pro 3800 for about ten days and I am well impressed so far.

I especially like the Advanced Black and White driver, which performs as advertised delivering very neutral black and white prints.

Besides that I am impressed by the printer’s consistency in color across different papers.

Posted in Photography, Workflow and Printing

Getting Started

•December 17, 2007 • Comments Off on Getting Started

I just set this thing up and I wanted to see how it worked posting from my Blackberry. I don’t have much time to blog when I am home but I sometimes have time when I am waiting for things during the day,

BCNU …

Posted in Various Random Commentary

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