Bob the Whitmire wrote:
> Be sure to let just a smidgen of time pass before looking at them again.
> Sometimes the initial enthusiasm is somewhat tempered. Not that you see
> flaws, you just see the picture better. And, of course, your customer who
> is blown out of his socks and digs for the credit card will undergo the
> same process. You want to make sure his opinion doesn't change. <g>
The Genie Cloud picture is one that I've lived with for a number of
years. The last set of tweeks, courtesy of Lightroom CC 2015,
fulfilled the vision. While no piece of art is ever "finished" or
"perfect", it is certainly one that has stood the test of time with
me. The metal print is far beyond my expectations and more beautiful
than I could have imagined. I suppose if Ansel Adams had Moonrise, I
figure Genie Cloud could be one of my signature images.
The Open Gate picture was one that really surprised me. Not only did
the picture itself edit up nice, but the printed version took a
completely different turn with the impression that it is a painting.
Both Genie Cloud and Open Gate look like paintings. I didn't get to
live with Open Gate all that long, but I did subject it to another few
hours of editing and tweeking based on having it up on my screen for a
while.
This is one picture that I was going to print up, but for some odd
reason, couldn't quite get it tweeked the way I wanted in time. This
will wait for another opportunity. It's an exciting picture, but I
couldn't print up EVERYTHING. I really wanted to print it but it just
didn't happen.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=15121
God Rays is printed up as a 10x30 on canvas stretcher frame. I've
lived with this picture for a while and did a few adjustments to give
it legs.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=16881
The picture that took a lot of time to come to it's now current form
is this one. This is a early version. The current version is way, way,
way out there. It took three reworks in Lightroom CC 2015 before it
finally sung. The 20x24 on canvas+stretcher frame is arriving today.
It's going to be simply wild. Had I gotten the editing done in time I
would have had this one printed on metal too.
http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=10186
There are a couple other pictures that made it (schoolhouse pictures)
and others that didn't. For this show, I had a criteria that limited
everything:
1. Must be Iowa.
2. Must be more than just a photograph. Everybody down here has a camera.
3. Must be unique or unique presentation.
4. Just as Maine has lighthouses and boats, Iowa has skies and farms.
Exploit it.
5. Must look great on my own walls as not everything is going to sell
in one weekend.
6, Must be over-the-top.
With the exception of the Genie Cloud, which was taken in Northern
Iowa, everything else was taken within 20 miles of here. Local sells.
With the exception of the 11x14 metallic prints, everything has a
painterly look to it.
I am bringing with me other pictures that I have in inventory, but the
new stuff will be front and center.
> Pricing is a sore point, or, before I retired, it _was_ a sore point. I
> sold prints on metal and canvas. Metal were usually 16x24, unframed, and
> canvas tended to be anywhere from 12x18 to 20x30, framed. The frustration
> came from colleagues who had the same substrate but priced their images far
> below mine. I had a talk with a friend with whom I shared a venue about
> this, and she told me she had to price her work according to how all the
> other photographers priced their work, because they shared many of the same
> show venues.
This is a very sore point, indeed. Honestly, I have no idea what to
expect. I've got three price-points with everything between $35 and
$350. I'd love to charge more, but this is Iowa. I don't really have
any competition, so I can charge whatever I want, but the problem is
in pricing in that you have to balance the fine line of charging the
right amount for artwork. I have a break-even point for the weekend
which should be reasonable. I'd crank up the prices even higher, but I
want to move inventory.
I'm also advertising my services for film scanning, editing, printing
and darkroom work. DD#2 is advertising the portrait business. Oh, and
my wife will have her books out there too.
> Good luck. Try to keep your stuff apart from the mass-production show
> crowd.
That was why I went the direction I did with the prints. They are
one-off artworks which I'm describing as mixed photography/painting as
I did extensive editing on every one.
Finally, one thought which I'll share. It took the "latest/greatest"
tools to finish the editing of a couple of these pictures. I had
gotten close with previous tools, but was never quite able to achieve
the result that I wanted. Lightroom CC 2015 fixed a couple of
loose-ends and added one feature which made the pictures come
together. The vision and the execution of that vision are two
different things.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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