sunday photo/art quote 7/13

A hand went up in the back of the room at a presentation and someone asked, “What’s your definition of Fine Art Photography?” As it had been a long day I kind of joked with a line borrowed from the late Dean Collins, “Beauty is in the eyes of the check book holder!”

what is fine art photography signWhat is Fine Art Photography??

Today’s Sunday Photo/Art Quote is a little more introspection and thought about the question as we photographers tend to agonize over it on a regular basis. So here goes….

Let’s start with some semi-official definitions on Art and Fine Art in general. (Thanks to Jerry Burch for theses links from our email conversation!)

Take some time to follow the links for some more in-depth observation on the subject with the links below. Go ahead… I’ll wait and give you my thoughts below after you poke around on the web. If you find something cool others should see bring the link back here and post in the comments section…

From Collins World English Dictionary
fine art
1.            art produced chiefly for its aesthetic value, as opposed to applied art
2.            ( often plural ) Also called: beaux arts  any of the fields in which such art is produced, such as painting, sculpture, and engraving

From Dictionary.Com
fine art
a visual art considered to have been created primarily for aesthetic purposes and judged for its beauty and meaningfulness, specifically, painting, sculpture, drawing, watercolor, graphics, and architecture.

From Wikipedia
Fine art photography
Fine art photography is photography created in accordance with the vision of the artist as photographer.

Chip Jones Fine Art Photography Blog post
One challenge that many artists face throughout their careers is having a brief, but articulate description of their work at the tip of their tongue. You know, like a two-minute elevator speech that can be expressed in a moments notice when asked. For most people, this might seem like something that’s easy to do. For artists though, this can…. See link for the rest of Chip’s post.

The question you ask about Fine Art Photography is one that has been difficult to answer because there are so many facets to it.

There are photographers in the portrait industry that I consider to be ‘Fine Art’ photographers. Much of their work would stand up to the classic portraits created over the centuries that will still be considered beautiful examples of the best of the genre a century from now. People like Tim Kelly in Florida and Tim and Beverly Walden in Kentucky. Their work is exquisite! Does that make all portrait photographers ‘Fine Art’ photographers? Not by a long shot.

Ansel Adams was what was considered to be a ‘Fine Art’ nature photographer because of the detail and techniques he created and mastered for getting the vision from his head onto paper. I see stunning examples of other Landscape photographers that would definitely fall into the ‘Fine Art’ photography category but that doesn’t make every landscape image created a ‘Fine Art’ piece.

There are stellar images made by photographers creating images using multiple elements from different photos in composites that are museum worthy (see the work of Thom Rouse in Illinois as one example).

I guess I’ve been formulating a more concise answer as I answer your question. So here goes…

‘Fine Art Photography’ to me is defined by the mastery of technique to create an image. Do I consider myself to be a ‘Fine Art Photographer’? Yes I do. Is every image that I create ‘Fine Art’? Definitely not. Each individual work should be judged on its own merits as to it worthiness to be called ‘Fine Art’.

Join the conversation in the comments section.

Yours in Photography,        Bob

watercolor photo treatment

Using a watercolor photo treatment that looks right was very difficult in the past. Most automated WC actions look like they had are done by a machine. I have a feeling that getting all the subtle nuances inherent in watercolor into a math equation would be amazingly difficult. It’s still not easy even when you do it by individual strokes.

Enter England’s Tom Shelbourne. He has developed a watercolor palette for Photoshop CS6 and CC that can move you way down the road to having more realistic watercolor techniques at your fingertips. You can go to Russell Brown’s website and download it for free. It takes you step by step, inch by inch (OK Layer by Layer) through a technique that helps you with the line drawing, setting up brushes and the opacity for laying down washes and getting more detail oriented as each layer is completed. This is NOT a push button watercolor system, but it will move your imagery much further in a realistic direction. Watch a video explanation of the WC Palette here.

If you like what you see there but feel the limitations you can go to Tim’s web site The Artists Quarter and Tim Has tutorials that take you even deeper into creating fine watercolor art with unlimited variations. I bought his watercolor tutorial ‘Fast and Loose’ and it really opens up the creativity and possibilities!

I wanted to create a tribute as a thank you for the Code Talkers service performed during WW2.

navajo code talker photoBill Toledo – WW2 Navajo Code Talker in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Here is the original photo I started with of a Navajo Code Talker taken with the Panasonic Lumix GX7.  I wasn’t able to get Bill to a cleaner background but we did move under an overhang so I could get some better light on his face for depth with a bit more shadow. You can see it’s a busy background. Fortunately, when creating paintings you have the option of only showing what you wish to show.

digital watercolor imageDigital Watercolor of Bill using some of Tim Shebourne’s techniques

Here’s the same photo after spending some time working with a few more of Tim’s techniques. I haven’t finished the tutorial yet so I know there’s even more realism down the road in creating Fine Art Watercolors with my photography as a base. I highly recommend you check out Tim’s tutorials if you want to have realistic digital watercolor as part of your offerings.

digital watercolor image of Bill Toledo with flagAnother watercolor version combining a US flag to help tell the story.

The images are created in honor of the Navajo Code Talkers service to our country, but I would like for you to take time to remember all of our veterans, living and fallen during this Memorial Day. As General George Patton said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

Yours in Photography,      Bob

sunday photo/art quote 11-24

Poking around in other genres of art helps me find clarification for my art thoughts. This week it’s writing and John Steinbeck is the author of today’s Photo/Art quote… “In art the subject upon which you concentrate is unimportant; it is the quality of your concentration that counts.”

john steinbeck art quoteThink about it. What makes you go ‘WOW!’ when you see an image? Often it doesn’t even matter what the subject is. But the lighting or angle or treatment that makes us see the it in a new way. This was brought to light when I was speaking in Grand Rapids to a photo group and threw myself a challenge… Take a found object and turn it into a piece of art. I found a paper clip and informed the class of my objective and received looks that ranged from “He’s out of his mind!’ to “There ain’t no frickin’ way!”

About a third of the way into the exercise I was getting ready to believe the nay-sayers and give up. Perseverance won the day and the paper clip turned into what you see here in this link.

My challenge to you today is to take something simple, whether it be a scene, an object or a person and through your skills concentrate and work it until you have an image that makes people either see it in a new way or go “WOW!!” Good luck.

photographer’s busman’s holiday v2

“Standin’ on a Corner in Winslow Arizona, Such a fine sight to see…” Sorry, getting lost in the moment.

Staying at a beautiful property being restored to it’s former glory, La Posada Resort in Winslow, AZ. Very inspiring.

As I rest and listen to the grandfather clock chiming the time off in the distance I thought I would explore my vision of a stylized black and white in a square crop format. The the Lumix GX7 allows me to set everything in camera and see the finished image as it is captured. A square crop. The Black & white with my dialed-in style immediately, all very cool. NOTE: If you want this to be what actually see when you open up your images in your software make sure you shoot in jpeg! If you shot in RAW – as you download the images into your viewing software you will get a glimpse of your image as the camera settings said it should be but then that disappears and all the information that was presented to the camera will appear. Good-bye square crop, good-bye BW style etc… If you wish to be able to access the RAW info you can capture both at the same time. (another nice feature)

b;ack & white photoFront Porch at La Posada, Winslow, AZ facing the Railroad Tracks

Khent Anantakai photographKhent Anantakai classical guitarist plays at the Resort nightly. (wonderful self-taught artist)

Khent Anantakai Guitarist photoKhent Anantakai Guitarist

illustrative photo coffee Grand MarnierIllustrative Photo Coffee & Grand Marnier