I am excited to share with you that one of my black and white photographs has been accepted into the Black and White Exhibition at the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, TX. As well as being selected for the “27”, a final cut of selected photographs to be published in a limited edition book. You can watch the gallery chat video on the gallery site here. When the book is available you can purchase it or purchase the whole exhibition catalog to see all the photographs.
A big thanks to Amanda Smith and Kevin Tully for supporting photographers and their work. They work very hard at what they do and it shows. Also, a big thanks to the exhibition juror Ann Jastrab of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel, CA for selecting my “On the Hunt” photo to be in the show.
If you have been looking into purchasing a fine art photograph you may have noticed that many times a photographer will label the prints as limited edition or open edition or even non edition prints. What does all that mean? What does it have to do with the photograph you may be purchasing and how does it affect you? Let’s take a look.
Unlike other forms of visual art, photography (and sculpture in some cases) can make many copies or versions of an original. Paintings are different. Sure, you can make a copy of a painting and sell posters, limited edition prints etc. but you can hang the original on the wall and there is only one original. With a fine art photograph the final product isn’t a negative or a digital file, it’s the print. However, the print is where the last portion of the creative process is done by the artist with photography. This makes photographic prints inherently reproducible making it impossible to have an “original”.
With that said, fine art photographs are made, not taken. Much more than a press of the shutter button goes into the creation of a final photographic print.
Limited Edition
A limited edition simply means that a photographer has decided they will only produce a set number of prints for a particular image. It is a promise to the collectors, that the photographer will only produce a limited number of prints. For example, a photographer may decide to only produce 10 prints of the London Bridge. Each print is numbered 1-10 out of 10 i.e., 1/10, 2/10. Therefore, it is called a limited edition.
If a photographer limits their prints it puts some responsibility on the them to maintain provenance of the edition. This means the photographer needs to keep records of all prints made and sold. This should include who the original purchaser is, what number print of the edition it was, and any other details. By doing this the photographer can prove the value of any print that is purchased by a collector. Of course with any print an artist should provide a Certificate of Authenticity (COA). More on that later in this post.
A Time and Place. Limited Edition Silver Gelatin Print, 1 of 10, signed by the artist. Exhibited 2015, Littleton Museum, Littleton CO.
There are some pro’s and con’s to this approach. The big upsides to collecting limited editions is that there is only so many of these objects created. This automatically creates value if the print is popular. This also depends on the number of prints in an edition. If a photographer prints 200 in an edition, then, in my opinion it’s not that scarce and the chances of most photographers selling out an edition of 200 is rare. However, if a photographer prints 20 in an edition, then the value of each print should be higher. If you are a collector and can get in early on a limited edition the value of the photograph has a likelihood of continuing to hold it’s value. Not to mention the uniqueness of owning such a limited supply of the print.
Singed and Numbered
On the downside, there is no guarantee that the print will hold it’s value. Also, for the photographer, this really limits their ability to create more prints if the photograph becomes popular, painting them into a corner. Many times a photographer will raise the price of a print as the edition sells. This makes sense because when a print is popular, the edition has a good chance of selling out. If the photographer has limited availability to sell the print they can gauge value by how well it sells, maximizing their potential profit from the sales.
Open Editions
When you buy an open edition print you should be getting the same quality, and attention given to the print as a limited edition, BUT there is no limit on the amount of prints the photographer is going to make. With open editions, certificate of authenticity, artist signature, purchase price and number of print should all be provided with the print. This still lends provenance to the print just like a limited edition except that there is no end to the print run. It could be a very popular photograph and be printed 800 times or, not so popular, and printed only 5 times. I feel that open edition prints are a good middle ground for both the photographer and the collector to get into collecting photographic fine art prints. It let’s an early or mid career photographer to find out what work is most sought after and collectors to get in on a print when they have the budget to purchase.
If a mid career photographer sees success and starts to be heavily collected or represented by a gallery, the photographer can stop producing open editions and move to limited editions. If a photographer keeps good records of who has purchased open edition prints he or she can contact all the collectors notifying them that the open edition has been closed.
Non Editions
This is simply a print that is sold without any provenance or documentation. Many times without an artist signature. To a collector these are not as desirable. Sure, it may be a fantastic photograph, and if you love it buy it! If it brings you joy and happiness when you look at it that is the most important, but it probably won’t be something collectable. If you enjoy photographs and don’t really care what their value will be, but you want it hanging on your wall, then non edition prints are a great way to go for adding some interest to your home or office. Don’t let it stop you from buying one.
Certificate of Authenticity
When purchasing any time of art a collector should expect to get a certificate of authenticity (COA). This is a detailed account of the origin of the artwork. It should state the artists name, title of the work, dimensions date the print was issued, what number in the edition, signature, as well as other pertinent details.
The COA is a very important part of purchasing a piece of art. Without it, the artworks value is much less.
What About Me?
For now, I provide my collectors with Open Edition black and white fine art prints. I am not represented by a gallery at this time, so I don’t really see the need to put limits on my print numbers. I feel that this is the most flexible approach for me as a photographer, and still provides a high level of value to any collector who purchase prints from me. If things change in the future I may close an open edition but for now they are open.
If you want to purchase a print from me please inquire. Soon, I will have online purchasing at my website.
Hopefully this was some helpful information for you as you begin your photographic collecting. As Always, if you want to be kept in the loop, sign up for my email list. I send info on new prints, exhibitions and general happenings so you can keep tabs on the latest.
I am happy to say that my image “On the Hunt” has been accepted for inclusion to a group exhibition at the A Smith Gallery in Johnson City, TX. I consider this to be a great privilege to be included with some really great photographers. A big thanks to the juror Ann Jastrab for her time and work in choosing the final images. There will be a catalog, YouTube opening and a book of 27 images selected from the 55 images in the exhibition.
This black and white photograph has been one of my favorites that I have made lately. The gallery will be offering a print for sale through them if you like to inquire about a print. I create the fine art black and white print, sign it and provide a certificate of authenticity to anyone who purchases. I am printing this image in an open edition. It is not a limited edition, but I do document what number the print is on the certificate.
Last summer my wife and I made it back to Montana to visit some friends and hang out in the area we used to live in. There were a lot of things to do, people to see and general catching up. I didn’t really make big photo plans for this trip so, photographically speaking, I packed pretty light. Limiting myself to my 35mm camera, a couple lenses and a few rolls of black and white Tri-x we hit the road for Montana.
We were able to spend a week with some close friends on the Gallatin river just outside Bozeman and hit all of our favorite restaurants. Our dog was in heaven again. Being able to roam freely along the river and hang out in the sun whenever and where ever she wanted. It was a very relaxing time.
Photographically, it was a place I had been many times before, for some reason I wasn’t really inspired to make photographs. Maybe because it felt so familiar. Not really sure, because it is a beautiful place to photograph.
Simple black and white composition of bridge at Sacagawea Park. 35mm, Tri-X, xtol 1;1
With a few days left in our trip we moved to different accommodations. We booked an Air BNB “down the hill” in Livingston, MT. I had been there many times but I hadn’t spent more than a couple of hours there at a time. Mostly to go get some lunch or dinner at one of the great places in town. My wife had plans that took her away from town for those few days leaving me without transportation, so I was relegated to hoofing it around town on my own.
At the edge of town, along the banks of the Yellowstone River, is Sacagawea Park. I had not spent much time there before, but it was pretty close to where we were staying so I decided to explore it a little. While shooting black and white photographs I look for simple compositions, I wasn’t really looking for an epic view of the mountains. (The forest fires were raging then and the sky was filled with smoke anyway.) I was able to isolate a few of the charming features of the park while I explored. One of them being the bridge that accesses the park.
The final photo turned out pretty much like I wanted. It has the calm feeling I wanted to portray with the still water reflecting the arches of the bridge and the discovery of peaking through the woodland to find the old bridge just beyond the water. Keeping the composition and gear simple when I made the photograph, it helps me remember the sounds and smells of that day when I made it. A very good memory.
Many times I get a comment from someone who sees my photographs like, “Wow, that’s a beautiful picture. You must have a really good camera”. It is common for people, who don’t understand what goes into creating a photograph, to think all a photographer does is frame, focus and push a button.
Also, I get many friends asking me what is the best camera they should buy. This is what leads me to the topic of this post. The camera doesn’t make the photograph. The photographer makes the photograph and the tool is a camera.
It is interesting to me when people think the camera made the photograph. No one asks the chef at a restaurant what type of oven they use, or tell a textile artist they must have an amazing loom.
Rainy day on the streets of downtown Denver. Canon sure shot point and shoot with Kodak black and white film.
Here’s the thing… it doesn’t matter what type of camera is used to make a great photograph. What DOES matter is knowing what kind of photograph I want to make. What is the creative vision? That’s where a photographer starts. I ask myself these questions before I make some photographs.
What is my end goal for distributing the images?
Big prints
Family scrap book
Social media
Magazine
What am I trying to say with my photographs?
Tell a visual story
Create emotion with the photographs
Capture memories
What am I photographing?
Landscapes
Sports
Travel
Portraits
Street
Thinking through some of these questions helps me figure out what the best tool (camera) is to achieve my creative vision for the photograph. For example, if I plan on shooting grand landscapes my needs are very different than when I am shooting candid street photographs. For the landscapes a high quality lens, large sensor/film system could be important. (Unless the goal is to shoot soft ethereal, interpretative landscape photographs. Then a Holga camera may be perfect.) In the case of a street photograph a simple fully automatic point and shoot camera may be perfect for the quick indiscrete capture.
Long exposure of Boulder falls taken with an antique Kodak folding 620 camera
Today’s cameras are awesome feats of technology. So many features that can meet almost any need. Almost. The only things a photographer needs in a camera is the ability to control ISO, shutter speed, aperture and focus. That’s really it. But all cameras have their strengths and weaknesses and knowing what those help me know what camera to use to make a photograph that I am after.
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Black and White photo of Union Station in Denver Colorado
It has been a while since my last post… a long while. In the last few years I have had some very distracting life interruptions. Yes, Covid-19 has affected us all, and many have been greatly impacted. My thoughts and prayers are with all people who have suffered in this time. Beyond Covid-19 I also moved twice, once in the same town and then across two states. I have started a new job as well. Needless to say with all of that happening my photography, and this blog, have suffered from neglect.
Now that I am settled into the new job, I have picked up my cameras again and hit the keyboard. I have a few ideas that I want to implement this year too. Some ideas on subjects to photograph etc. One of them is to start a monthly newsletter. It will contain special content that is not on my social outlets or this site. If you want to get more details on what I am up too and the new work I am producing, sign up below in the Email Newsletter form at the footer of each page on the blog.
Now I am the first to admit that I am not a very good street photographer. I do enjoy it and I am getting better each time I go out in search of that “decisive moment”. I have read a lot of other “how to” and “best gear” blogs and articles about shooting street photos and there are some really great tips and tricks out there. One thing I have learned over my course of photography experiences is that there is not a hard rule on much of anything in photography. (Except exposure. A bad exposure means a bad photograph no matter what else is going right in the photo.) So I take every “do this” or “use this” tip with a grain of salt.
Many of the things you may find online about street shooting is focused around the gear. It seems that the holy grail of a street shooters bag is a Leica of some sort. I don’t know about you, but I can’t really justifying the cost of a Leica to do some occasional street shooting. Of course many street photographers use their phones, which is a good option, and others use mirrorless systems. It seems that what ever you end up using you must like and be proficient at using it. My point here is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to be able to make great photographs. The best camera is the one between your ears.
Monica’s Pizza, one of the best pizza places in the North End of Boston. Shot with Canon AF35ML and Kodak Tri-X 400
I am partial to traditional film photography methods, especially Kodak Tri-X 400 for street photography. So, when I was planning a trip to Boston last year I wanted to find a film based camera that I could use to make some walk around town photographs. I wanted something small, easy to use and cheap. I have a few 35mm cameras I could have used like a Pentax ME Super, or a couple of Nikons and even an Yashica Electro rangefinder. All of those, except the ME Super, are too big and imposing on the streets when you want to photograph strangers on the street. I needed something smaller and less intimidating.
Unfortunately my Olympus XA just bit the dust and quit working on me. I loved that camera. So with that, I decided I was on the hunt for a high quality point and shoot film camera. With this in mind I kept my eyes open anytime I went into a thrift store or an antique shop. In the 80’s and 90’s there were some stellar point and shoot cameras made. Many of them are still highly sought after even today. Cameras like the the Olympus XA, Contax T3, Yashica T5 and others are stellar examples of great point and shoot systems. The fun part about looking for one is that many people think they are out dated and are “no good” any more because of the new digital systems out there, and they just give them away. I found my Olympus XA for $2 at a thrift store because someone gave it away!
Canon AF35ML point and shoot camera for street photography
My efforts didn’t turn up a Contax but I did get my hands on a pretty capable camera at a thrift store. I picked up a Canon AF35ML in almost perfect condition for $10 bucks. It fit my requirements perfectly (almost, I will talk about that in a minute). It was cheap, small and was a “full frame” 35mm camera. I could slip it in my pocket and use it whenever I needed. Even better, my family that was traveling with me, didn’t have to put up with the “wait while I get the camera out” moments. I could just pull it out, point, shoot and be on my way.
Now, for some film. I wanted to use a bullet proof black and white film that could handle any funny exposure issues I might run into with this little point and shoot rig. One of my go to films is Kodak Tri-x 400. I knew I didn’t have much control over what the camera was doing so I needed a film that had a lot of exposure latitude. Another film I could have used was Illford HP5. It is very similar to Tri-x.
One International place Boston. Night shooting was no problem for the point and shoot with Kodak Tri-X loaded.
Once I had some film loaded I gave the little camera a spin… The auto focus was fast and smooth and the shutter has a nice quiet “click” when you hit the button. However, the film advance sounded like some sort of electric grinder, “grrr…ick”. So, there was no way I was getting away clean from some street shot of someone walking by me on the street. Bummer. The noise aside, the images this camera produced were fantastic. With a little practice I quickly understood where this camera excelled and where it falls flat on it’s face.
Puddle reflection
I still use this camera for street snaps and general travel/walk around shooting. My whole point here is that you don’t need to spend a ton of money to make some great photographs. I spent a total of $10 for the camera and about .20 cents a frame to shoot some fun street images. No Leica needed.
This is a re-post of an article I had on my old blog site. It was a popular one even though it wasn’t about black and white film photography. Whenever I can I like to encourage new photographers to try film and this article is a good example of how to get really good images from some really cheap film. Because this was an older post some of the links to external sites may not work.
I have a few more posts planed around how to shoot, process, print, scan and the whole film workflow in coming posts, so check back soon. Enjoy the re-post.
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Disclaimer: This is not a scientific test, my results may be different than yours and results may vary.
I have ordered some of the new Kodak Portra 400 film and can’t wait to give it a spin. I have seen some posts on a few other blogs that have shown how wide the exposure latitude of the new film is. You can see some good examples over at Twin Lens Life. They are some great film shooters in the Riverside area. I have also seen a test of Fuji X-tra 400 consumer film that showed how much exposure latitude it has over at Figital Revolution. All films are different and behave differently, that’s the beauty of film. Knowing what you want to get right out of the camera and knowing what film will get you there instead of working for hours in photoshop to get there is a great way to work.
For my example I chose to shoot with some Kodak Ultramax 400. It’s easy to get your hands on and I figure that if someone wanted to start shooting film for the first time, or go back to it for kicks, they would be likely to pick some of this up and start shooting. It breaks down to about $2.50 a roll, not expensive and easy on the wallet.
Kodak UltraMax 400 4 pack @ 24 Exposures for each roll. Single rolls retail for $2.99 each online today.
What I did on my first roll is to expose the first frame at 50 iso and then move each frame after that up one stop, all the way to 6400 iso. I did this so I could find the “sweet spot” to set my iso on my camera. You might be saying “But the box says 400 iso, don’t you set it at 400?”. The short answer is maybe. Just because the box speed says 400 doesn’t mean that you get the best results at 400. In the other examples from Twin Lens Life and Figital Revolution you can see that the films performed really well at just about all speeds. That’s right, you can shoot those films like you can with digital and move the iso around! The Kodak Ultramax however, doesn’t perform so great at 400 or higher (again these are my results, yours may be different). You can see my examples below.
Examples of Kodak UltraMax shot at different exposures to determine the best ISO and settings to use with the film.
As you might be able to see, 400 iso is about the max this film can shoot at. It seems that the film starts to flatten out in contrast and the grain starts to get bigger at 400 iso. If a person didn’t know this and was excited to “try film” and shot this at box speed they might be a bit disappointed and think that all film looks like this. Now that I know how this film behaves with my shooting style and camera system I will be shooting this film at 100 iso not 400. The grain structure, color saturation and the blacks seem to be real nice at 100 iso and it still gives me about 2 stops + or – for error and I will still get a nice exposure. If you want to get into shooting film and you chose this film just for “testing it out” you would probably be better off setting your iso at 100 or 200 to start out. I think you will like your photographs more and it wouldn’t discourage you from shooting some more.
Last January, while is was planning my trip to Australia, I was really looking forward to some great opportunities to photograph the opera house in Sydney. In one of my previous posts about being prepared to photograph while traveling I talked about how I tried to plan and be prepared to photograph the opera house during a fireworks display. Needless to say it didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. I was in luck though, I had a few other ideas in mind for photographing the opera house and a few days to get it done.
The opera house is one of those famous landmarks that is photographed all the time. Thousands of people take photos of it. Because the vantage points available to shoot the opera house are limited, many of the photos look the same. I wanted to capture my vision of the opera house, not just the same photo everyone else had. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of fantastic photos of it, but I wanted to look hard for something different. Something that was mine.
Storm over Sydney Opera House. Pentax ME Super, 24mm f2.8, Arista.EDU 400 ISO film
With several days to make my photos, I was able to watch how the light moved throughout the day. I could follow the weather to see how it would change the scene. I got a pretty good sense of the rhythm of the harbor while I was there. Armed with my observations I knew a distinct image would come down to composition.
I always edit my composition in the view finder. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Making sure there is nothing in the composition that did not need to be, is always my goal. I loath cropping my images. For a wide angle shot I had to wait for many of the boats to move clear of my composition. Using a long exposure made for an exercise in patience. Composing for simple lines that create a restful image, is another thing I always try to achieve. Thanks to a great coastal line and the fantastic architecture it wasn’t hard to see for the opera house.
Sails of the Sydney Opera House. Pentax ME Super, 24mm f2.4, Arista.EDU 400 iso film
Changing up the composition a bit, I wanted to get the pattern and lines of the architecture of the building itself. Almost an abstract view of the opera house. Maybe this isn’t a very original image but the haze in the air made the sky turn to a creamy white that complemented the white rooftops of the opera house. This high key image removes any distraction and lets the viewer focus on the repetitive nature of the lines in the architecture. Repetition in design.
Overall I am really pleased with the images I was able to create from this trip. There were many that didn’t make the cut but a handful of them are real keepers.
In my last post, about being prepared when doing some travel photography, I talked a little bit about my short time in Sydney, Australia. I will have more to say about Sydney in following posts. In this post I wanted to talk a little bit about the first stop on my trip, Buenos Aires. To be honest, this was the first time I was able to travel out of the country. Unless going to Tijuana for the day counts. I had no idea what to expect.
The Puerto Madero commercial district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pentax ME Super, 24mm F2.8, Arista.Edu 400
Buenos Aires is a visually inspiring city. Once I made it through the stern faced man in customs I made my to the taxis to get a lift into the city center. With all the windows down the summer heat blowing in all the windows, we made our way down the freeway with the shiny steal and glass buildings of downtown Buenos Aires in the distance. Concrete buildings stacked with balconies covered in drying cloths and satellite dishes whizzed by the window. My photo mind was really stimulated.
Puente de la Mujer, Buenos Aires. iPhone
The architecture in the city center is wonderful. From old european looking buildings with narrow stone paved streets to new sparkeling sky scrappers. I was excited to get some nice black and white photos of the area. I only had a few days to spend in Buenos Aires and I was limited to the area I could get too on foot. Luckily for me I was in a really cool area for photographing. I was staying in the Puerto Madero commercial district, where the famous Puente de la Mujer bridge is.
Puente de la Mujer, Buenos Aires. Pentax ME Super, 24mm F2.8, Arista.EDU 400
I was able to get out a few evenings and get some long exposures of the bridge. The weather was great and the area was full of activity with great dining and things to do. Above is one of the final images I made before I left for Sydney.
