Today I will take my family to see the James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Avatar (in Imax 3d of course). I realized this morning when I awoke that there is a relationship between this movie and my career as a fine art nature photographer. This will be the third time that I have seen it. The movie is visually stunning a real feast for the eyes. The story takes place on a planet called Pandora. On this planet all things of nature are interconnected in a living network created by the roots of the trees that cover this imaginary world. This network of all living things or “Eywa” is accessed by the native people and the other creatures that inhabit Pandora. It is inhabited by a race of 10 foot tall people who are closely linked to this network and who respect and revere the spirit of nature. These Na’vi are reminiscent of Native Americans as well as the native peoples of other cultures around the world.

Regardless of how you feel about the plot of the movie, the special effects and the beauty of this imaginary world are awesome. I will admit, however, to being somewhat saddened by the fact that it takes a movie that cost $240 million dollars to remind this generation of movie goers of a relationship that is central to all of us. We are all connected to and a part of nature from the smallest dew drops on a blade of grass to the grandest mountains.

Nature’s “special effects” are every bit as impressive and aweinspiring as James Cameron’s screen spectacular.

My hope is that people will be motivated by this movie to get out and reconnect with the natural world around us.

Capturing, revealing and sharing the spirit of nature and our connection with it has been a central theme of my life since my childhood. It is a bond that I have spent a lifetime illustrating through my photographic art.

“Butterflies are self propelled flowers” Quote by R.L. Heinlein

Join me in a 5 minute video hike and photographic safari to the Walls of Jericho with the Tennessee’s Wild Side Television show.The Walls of Jericho is a beautiful area which stretches from southern Tennessee into north Alabama. This area was protected with help from The Nature Conservancy.

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Video provided courtesy Tennessee’s Wild Side

One of the fastest growing trends in the art photography world has been printing fine art photography on canvas. Photographs on canvas have a luxurious look and feel and offer some interesting options for displaying. For example, stretching the canvas and applying a gallery wrap has become extremely popular. The gallery wrap image is mirrored, extended and folded around the edges of the stretcher bars, thus doing away with the need for a frame. This gives a modern look which is sometimes less expensive than traditional framing.

We have been reproducing my fine art photographs on canvas for many years now with great success. We have learned a few things that are important in getting the best quality and greatest longevity possible from a canvas print. We use a special canvas that is designed to be coated after the image is applied to protect the image from fading, scratching and scuffing. The canvas is then machine coated with a UV protectant sealant. It is applied by a machine rather than being hand rolled or hand sprayed. The machine removes residual dust as the coating is applied and can do a much more uniform job of application than a human can. Photographs on canvas produced in this way are projected to be fade free for 100+ years.

What is Wabi-Sabi and what does it have to do with my photography?  Wabi-Sabi describes a Japanese aesthetic of art and living.

One of the best explanations I have seen for the term is:

“Wabi is a feeling of loneliness or solitude, reflecting a sense of nonattachment and appreciation for the spontaneous unfolding of circumstances. It is like the quiet that comes from a winter snowfall, where all the sounds are hushed and stillness envelops everything. Sabi is the suchness of ordinary objects, the basic, unmistakable uniqueness of a thing in and of itself.”
From ” The Zen of Creativity”
John Daido Loori

A few years ago a large number of my images were chosen by a client to be hung in an upscale hotel. While I was printing the images I marveled at how the image choices seemed to have picked up a theme that ran through my images. This was not a theme that I was aware of as I was creating the photographs in the field. I was so fascinated that my client had seen this thread that ran through my imagery that I was unaware of, that I couldn’t resist writing her and telling her how much I appreciated her “getting it”.

Her response was “I love your work it is so Wabi-Sabi!” I immediately began researching on the internet and at bookstores. I ended up reading and learning about a Japanese aesthetic which had permeated my fine art photography for years without even being aware of it.

There is a nice article about Byron Jorjorian Photography and interview with me on Paula Grace Designs’ Blog. To view it click HERE

Removing color from a photograph can add a lot to it; it can reveal details that would otherwise go unnoticed.  Color, in some cases, may obscure the texture and form of the subjects, while black and white emphasizes the structure of the composition.

Black and White Botannical #80407_190bw

© Byron Jorjorian

There are many ways in which the different colors turn into different grays, meaning that you can experience great light and dark richness when using black and white nature photography.  While color may emphasize the shape of a subject, its black and white version may add a lot of character and feeling by highlighting its texture.

In black and white photography, the absence of light is as important as its presence.  The profound shadows add depth and strength to an image.  Photographers know how different colors, and lighting, react, and they use this knowledge to create impacting black and whites that deeply arouse, shock, inspire or relax.

Healing Waters #070508-03bw

© Byron Jorjorian

Black and white photography allows you to see color in a different way.  The artist detaches himself from the effects of color and brightness, and this lets him use color more effectively, to really provoke a strong emotion, one that can be translated into a space to create a special and intense mood.

Black and white photography may offer dramatic stone carving textures, wild active skies, or unusual atmospheres.  Shadows are a basic part of a black and white composition, as the aim is to create contrast between light and dark, between what is known and what remains a mystery, between stillness and turbulence, only to find out in the end, that both are always there, as a part of life and its balance.

Twisted Oak Tree Image #32107_76bw

© Byron Jorjorian

So, why use black and white photographs to decorate when you can use color?

Good black and white photographs enhance a space with the image’s strong mood.  Color can get in the way of the message you desire to convey when it is full of momentum, force, drama and beauty.  Black and white makes color work better, under its shades and tones; you reach out to the viewers, showing them a side of nature they have yet to discover.

Any of Byron’s images can be converted to black and white. If you would like to view some images that have already been converted, click HERE.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. Have a great day!

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While still on my trip to Mississippi I noticed a pattern of reeds against the reflections of the sky in a pond.

Clouds and sky reflected in water with abstract reeds and grasses #041808_215crv2

© Byron Jorjorian

It reminded me of a Japanese painting. I began setting up my camera and tripod as if in a trance. Suddenly, while I looked through the lens of my camera I was a child again….watching my father (a commercial artist) painting with brush and ink stone (Sumi-e) on watercolor paper. Tears welled up in my eyes. He died long ago. Would he be proud of my work as a photographer. Am I still trying to please him? I framed image after image and this became the basis for an entirely new collection of images which can be found in the Zen Gallery on my site.

Clouds and sky reflected in water with abstract reeds and grasses #041708_499v2

© Byron Jorjorian

I recently spent 4 days in the swamps of Mississippi photographing wood ducks. I would enter the blind at 4am and be out of the blind with time to explore the swamp by 9am.

© Byron Jorjorian

One morning as I walked through the swamp in Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge, I was struck by the pattern of arching trees and their reflections in the dark still water.

Angled Trees Patterns in the Swamp #041808_333

© Byron Jorjorian

Here in all the chaos of a swamp was order in nature. I composed the image and began taking pictures. During one particularly long exposure, it occured to me that I had returned to make pictures in a place that was only a little over an hour from where I spent my childhood catching snakes, lizards, turtles, and frogs.

Reflections of trees and leaves #041708_486

© Byron Jorjorian