Favorite Photo Places: Steam Train Thrills in Durango, Colorado
By Ron Wolfe and Will Keener— “Now listen to the jingle, the rumble, and the roar As she glides along the woodland, through the hills, and by the shore…” —Wabash Cannonball There’s magic in the old steam trains that first connected America– magic that’s woven into the country’s history. And there’s nothing more thrilling than spending a day, or a weekend, capturing that magic with your camera. Climbing aboard...
Use Textures To Transform Your Photos Into Fine Art
By Nitsa Malik– The fastest way to add a new dimension to a picture is to open your photo editor and insert an additional layer which contains texture on top of your original photo. Textures are usually a photograph or a scan of another image, such as peeling paint, distressed or scratched surface and even vintage paper. These textures can be added on top of your own photo and merged with it by changing the blend modes and opacity...
Photo History: Willi Ruge’s Fall to Fame
by Arthur H. Bleich— On a chilly, spring day in 1931, Willi Ruge parachuted out of a, two-seater, single-engine aircraft flying in an overcast sky over Berlin. Seven minutes later he landed amidst some picnic tables and garden chairs with a shattered shinbone— which he stoically ignored. That was 91 years ago and what makes Willi’s jump memorable is that the 39-year-old German photographer carried with him a bulky camera and was...
UK’s Best of the Year Landscape Image Collection
Reviewed By Albert Chi— Almost 15 years ago, acclaimed landscape photographer Charlie Waite began an annual search for the finest landscape photography in Great Britain. Landscape Photographer of the Year Collection 14 is the latest and does not disappoint. In fact it’s an exhilarating experience because it not only includes stunning images, but each photographer lucky enough to be included takes the reader behind the scenes and...
Predicting Print Longevity; It’s Still Tricky
By Albert Chi— Ansel Adams once said: “A photograph is usually looked at – seldom looked into.” But when inkjet printers began to output serious works of art, “looked into” took on a whole new meaning, for who knew how long those images would last? A small industry emerged to predict the future by looking into the many factors that could affect print longevity. Now to avoid confusion, the emphasis in this article is...
Digital Nostalgia: The Little Photo Engine That Couldn’t
by Arthur H. Bleich— PROLOGUE: I was going through some articles and columns that I’d written at the beginning of the digital camera revolution more than 23 years ago and came across this one, which you may find interesting. The company, not surprisingly, didn’t like it at all. They were on the verge of a public offering and planning to sell millions of dollars worth of stock (which I did not know at the time). Film...
Shooting Super Images On Your Next Flight-Part 2
By Arthur H. Bleich— You’re in your hard-won window seat and have finished cleaning the window. This would be a good time to turn off the Autofocus feature on your camera. As I mentioned previously, Autofocus frequently will not do what you want it to and is not necessary for window seat pictures. You are, after all, shooting distant object so just set the focus to infinity. When you manually rotate the focus ring to infinity, it may...
Shooting Super Images On Your Next Flight–Part 1
By Arthur H. Bleich— Let’s face it. It’s no fun to fly today. With airlines currently plagued with staff shortages and passengers having to jump through security hoops after arriving three hours early for check-in, only to find their flights cancelled or if lucky enough to get aboard, having to keep a wary eye open for altercations in the cabin and then finding they can’t even order a drink to calm down, it’s time to start making...
Pricey Cameras Don’t Make Better Photos
By Albert Chi— Some years ago while getting a routine checkup at my dentist’s office, he turned to me and said: “I want to learn photography. How important is the equipment you buy?” He knew I was a professional photographer but was not expecting the answer I gave him, which was, “Not that important.” “That’s not what I hear,” he huffed. “All my friends have spent thousands on photo gear and they tell me that without making a...
Movie Backdrop Art Will Blow Your Mind!
By Arthur H. Bleich— They worked in shifts, round-the-clock, painting gigantic images to be draped behind the actors featured in the movies of their day. Each artist was given a section of the backdrop to paint as time was of the essence. When lighted and integrated with the action, you’d swear you were in whatever location they depicted. Which, of course, was the whole idea. After the movie was “in the can,” the canvasses (called...
Favorite Photo Places: The Black Hills of South Dakota
By Will Keener and Ron Wolfe— There are some great faces in Western South Dakota – the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Abe Lincoln and Sioux warrior Crazy Horse. In addition to these chiseled-in-granite monuments, there are many great places to photograph in this Black Hills region. Consider Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, and Spearfish Canyon, for example. Finally, there are some...
Levison Wood: Photo Encounters With Strangers
by Levison Wood— I have spent the majority of the last ten years in the wild and on the road, travelling in more than a hundred countries. It has been a time of great and rapid global change, and I have been lucky enough to witness many of these changes at first hand and document them in images that preserve these moments in time. For me, every single picture conjures a memory of an individual, a family or a whole community,...
Our National Parks Odyssey: Renaissance, Part Two
by Andrew Slaton— Part Two of Two. 02/18/22. Our National Parks odyssey has shifted into a different kind of journey. Nearly six years ago we set off on an adventure to travel the country and see/ document all the national parks. Since then, three new parks have been created, two presidential changes, a two-year (and still counting, in some states, at least), raging pandemic. Yet in the midst of all this, we found a new direction. We...
Our National Parks Odyssey: Renaissance, Part One
by Andrew Slaton— Part One of Two. 01/19/22. The light filters through palms and dances seductively along the prickly- looking edges of the Spanish moss. It hangs in a pattern of almost perfect randomness on the ancient oaks above my camp. Florida feels like home. Hell, who am I kidding? So many places feel like home these days, it’s hard to decipher what “home” really means anymore. This June will mark six full years of living as...
Back to Basics: Photographing Events
By Albert Chi— Winter has officially ended, opening the door for for a plethora of of events that are going to take place this spring, summer and fall— all of which have the potential for great images. Holiday parades, musical performances, sports events, rodeos and, of course, graduations, birthday parties and weddings just to name a few. Events provide great photographic opportunities, but because they usually move at their own...
Success on Paper: Story #1 – Red River Paper Brings History to Life
Welcome to Success on Paper, our series highlighting businesses from around the country with at least one thing in common: Red River Paper. From architectural firms to printing retailers, companies that depend on impeccable paper quality and creative customer service are relying on RRP to help them present their work in beautiful, compelling ways. First up in the series: The Historic Map Company of Lafayette, Louisiana. A Bright...
Isaac Wright: Stunning Cityscapes From On High
By Arthur H. Bleich— Early 2017 was the start of a tough time for U. S. Army Sgt. Isaac Wright, a paratrooper stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. An pending divorce and a serious reassessment of his life’s goals prompted him to buy a Nikon D3400 and begin to shoot photographs to get his mind off his problems Wright had enlisted in the Army in 2014 when he was 18, right out of high school and, though things had been going well for two and half...
Make Spectacular Reflection-Free Framed Prints
By Al Warfield– After you’ve gone to the effort of taking the perfect shot, making the perfect print, and choosing the perfect frame, why spoil your image by framing it under glass where a myriad of reflections will wreck its beauty? It’s easy to eliminate reflections on framed prints made with Red River Matte and Fine Art Matte papers; you’ll also have the added advantage of displaying an image as large as the frame size instead of a...
Favorite Photo Locations: The Oregon Coast
FLASHBACK – Originally posted 2/18 By Laurie Excell Some of the most beautiful coastline in all America is just a short, ninety-minute drive from Portland, Oregon and stretches 363 miles from the Columbia River to the California border. [See “Resources” below for map.] It’s hard to know where to point your camera first when confronted with 80 state park and recreation areas, nine-plus light houses, numerous quaint...
Print Greeting and Note Cards for Profit. Part 2
by Christine Pentecost— Receiving a card in the mail will always eclipse one sent electronically—not only because it shows the recipient you really spent some time picking it out just for them, but also that you wanted to write a personal note of your own and not rely on some clever or flowery language that was written to cover all bases. Your thoughts really do count. Now let’s go into what customers like to buy when it comes to...
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