Critical Quality Factors When Imaging Fine Art

Fine Art Imaging

There is a great deal of marketing going on with new digital cameras. Some of the hype leads one to believe that the amount of mega pixels will generate better images. In general the more mega pixels the more information about you subject is captured. But this has little effect if the amount of light or the type of light is not correct to render the accuracy of the subject.

There are three quality factors that must be always kept in mind when you image art. First there is lighting of the subject.  Lighting includes the amount and the quality of the spectrum that illuminates the subject. Color is subject to lighting and camera artifacts.  Color trueness to the original subject will almost always require some accommodation during the reproduction process. Finally, focus is critical. Many new cameras have auto focus and do a good job. However, if you look at professional photography equipment cost, good lenses are always the most significant component. No matter how many mega pixels you have, an out of focus image is still out of focus. This is where most low cost digital cameras do not compare.  Behlow Photography utilizes professional equipment, understands the limitations of lighting and has expert experience with color correction

Fine Art Photography

Fine Art Photography

Artist statement

“My passion for nature and art is revealed through this process that I have developed.  It is my desire that we begin to see the fragile nature of beauty and to understand that we can not create beauty, but merely redirect it.”

These images began as traditional photographs, and then were transformed into digital watercolor images.  The next step was to place them on fine art paper and finish them by painting over the image with watercolor paint. The final image was then Giclee printed onto watercolor paper.

Charles has been a commercial photographer for twenty years and a scientific research photographer for seventeen years.  He is a graduate of the Ohio Institute of Photography and has a studio in the Pendleton Art Center in Cincinnati Ohio.  He teaches photography and exhibits work in the Masterpiece Gallery and Hyde Park Art Shows.  Charles is also an expert in the field of forensic document examination.

How do I go about getting my photos published

If you are an aspiring photographer here are some ideas for getting your photos published.

At the magazine racks at your local bookstore there are magazines that you page through every time you visit. Those are the magazines that you must shoot for. That's because you understand and identify with the reader.

Don't try to photograph subject matter that you have no interest in, or photograph subject matter that you don't understand. Your lack of passion for the subject and ignorance on the subject will show in your shots - if you like nudes photograph nudes - If you like sports - photograph sports. I couldn't illustrate a gardening magazine if I tried!

When you page through the magazines, decide what it is about each photograph that makes is suitable for that particular magazine article. Does it illustrate the story that's being written? Is the story being written around the photograph?

Think like a magazine editor - what photo would you put on the pages to illustrate the article? When you think like an editor you know what to go out and shoot. Take lots of photos - send the best of them to magazines and if they like them - they publish them and pay you. And the next thing - you're a professional freelance photographer!

You will find the masthead - that is the list of the Officers, Editors, and Publishers of the magazine - within the first couple of pages of the magazine. Send your photos to the Editor, with a cover letter and a stamped self-addressed envelope if you want them returned.