The exciting news is that I have my 2nd exhibit in Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Ministry Center of my church.
All spring and summer, I have been continuing my education in printing my own photos, matting and framing them. I needed to develop standards in size and matte style, especially because buying in bulk is the only cost effective way. I experimented with all sizes and several styles with the great help of a friend (former photographer and framer).
I have over 2,400 photos on the web and it was hard to know where to start. I guess I really started with the bird species at the beginning of Sibley's Guide to Birds. I reviewed my loons first, then my grebes, then my herons and egrets, etc. If an image caught my eye, I would try to make a 4x6 print which fits in an 8x10 matte. Next, I made a print for a 11x14 matte. If I had enough pixels (I crop the original image), I would try a print for a 16x20 or 18x24 matte. Since I started taking pictures in 1999 on film, and have moved through 3 digital camera bodies, I often don't have enough pixels in the early images for the larger mattes.
After developing about 100 prints, I had to stop. I had too much stuff! Not all of the prints were good enough for an exhibit. Again, with my friend, I developed a way to evaluate a picture by giving each print a score of 1-3 for each element of color, setting, action and bird portrait. Using this method, we selected 45 frames with pictures of birds and bird eggs. Funny, all prints selected had a score of 10-12. (And now, I will waste less paper and ink and $.)
Some of my favorites are in 16x20 or 18x24 frames (scores of 12, too).
All spring and summer, I have been continuing my education in printing my own photos, matting and framing them. I needed to develop standards in size and matte style, especially because buying in bulk is the only cost effective way. I experimented with all sizes and several styles with the great help of a friend (former photographer and framer).
I have over 2,400 photos on the web and it was hard to know where to start. I guess I really started with the bird species at the beginning of Sibley's Guide to Birds. I reviewed my loons first, then my grebes, then my herons and egrets, etc. If an image caught my eye, I would try to make a 4x6 print which fits in an 8x10 matte. Next, I made a print for a 11x14 matte. If I had enough pixels (I crop the original image), I would try a print for a 16x20 or 18x24 matte. Since I started taking pictures in 1999 on film, and have moved through 3 digital camera bodies, I often don't have enough pixels in the early images for the larger mattes.
After developing about 100 prints, I had to stop. I had too much stuff! Not all of the prints were good enough for an exhibit. Again, with my friend, I developed a way to evaluate a picture by giving each print a score of 1-3 for each element of color, setting, action and bird portrait. Using this method, we selected 45 frames with pictures of birds and bird eggs. Funny, all prints selected had a score of 10-12. (And now, I will waste less paper and ink and $.)
Some of my favorites are in 16x20 or 18x24 frames (scores of 12, too).
Black-bellied Whistling-DuckMy favorite because it has humor.
Mute SwanMy best photo and luckiest.
Forster's TernMy most artsy photo.
Mute SwanMy favorite pose and on the back of my business card.
Wood DuckMy favorite bird!
The exhibit has been on display since the middle of September and will hang until early November. If you would like more information, please send me an email.
The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds
The references and gear I used for this blog are:
Camera: Canon EOS 40D
Lens: Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS USM
Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Lens: Canon EF28-105mm F/3.5-4.5 II USM
Steiner 10x42 Predator Binoculars
The SIBLEY Guide to Birds
All images © MSCI
