There is a growing trend in a large number of the installations that feature our work to choose gallery wrapped canvas prints over frames. They look fantastic in a wide variety of settings. They are lightweight and easy to hang. The image is digitally extended and wrapped around the stretcher bars which gives the photograph more “presence” on the wall. Since the wrap is done by digitally extending the image area there is no cropping into the photograph. Often the cost is less than a similar size print that is matted and framed. Gallery wrapped canvas prints also work in a wide variety of settings, both modern and more traditional.

The colors in our canvas prints are true to the original image. They are archival with a life span of over 100 years. We UV coat all of our canvas prints which adds to the already impressive life span and gives a rich finish to the canvas. The coating is water resistant and they can be dusted with a soft cloth. Don’t use dust sprays on them, however.

Above is a close up example of a corner and edges so that you can see how they look finished out.

Read more about canvas prints HERE.

Time in nature is marked in moments. I feel that art in general and photography in particular is uniquely suited to sharing those moments. When I created this image I had already spent the morning photographing from just before dawn. I sat down to take a little break and, as so often happens when I clear my mind from concentrating on a subject, a brand new perspective unfolded before me. I now purposely use little breaks interspersed in my creative day to allow myself some time to step back and seek the new perspective…..

Have you ever noticed how the colors of a photographic print can appear very different under different light sources?

This has been an issue which has bothered me a lot in the digital era.

My solution to this problem is to use mixed lighting profiles and even profiles for specific light sources when I create my prints.

I do this to insure that the colors in your print appears most accurate no matter what the lighting conditions are.

The profiles that I use are matched to the specific types (canvas, luster, matte etc.) and brands of paper .

What is a color profile?

Simply put, in the creation of a fine art print it is a set of instructions that tells the computer/printer how to render the image on a specific type of paper.

Most photographers and printers using daylight profiles.

Prints look fine under daylight viewing conditions but under flourescent or incandesent lighting the colors can take on radically different hues.

I have been making prints for more than 30 years first in a black and white darkroom, then a cibachrome color lab and now using state of the art digital photographic printers.

The majority of fine art prints which I produce are produced using a mixed lighting profile. It is designed to give the most natural looking color under a varity of lighting conditions. It works well even under conditions where a combination of light sources (for example flourescent and daylight) might both be illuminating the photographic print.

If you know that the image will be viewed only under a specific light source and not moved you can let us know and we can make the print to look best in that environment.

However, if the photograph may be moved or viewed under different light sources it is best for us to use the mixed lighting profiles that I use by default.

I worry about these kinds of details so you don’t have to!

Fine art photographs of nature can make powerful statements as single images.

They are often the focal point of interest for an entire room. Bringing together images that work as sets or groupings is also an effective way to extend the ambiance and flow of nature images throughout a design.

When choosing photographs to be used as sets or groupings it is a good idea to select images that have a common theme and color. It is even more striking if they have a common style and feel. This often means working with one photographic artist for the entire set. I have had many instances where all of the images were shot on the same day and even represent different compositions of the same subject. Above and below are a couple of very popular groupings that we have helped our clients with.

If you would be interested in having us create some groupings for you please let us know.

This increasingly popular Eastern aesthetic philosophy guided my work even before I understood what the term meant.

As it pertains to my work, “wabi-sabi” is best defined as an artistic technique that provides deeper insight into Nature by finding beauty in impermanence and imperfection.
I sort of stumbled into this approach intuitively.

My art has always centered around finding the extraordinary hidden in the ordinary. Even before I understood what wabi-sabi was, my work seemed to celebrate taking the most humble things in nature, a leaf, a rock, a fallen log, a spider web, etc. and celebrating the beauty that they contain.

Of course, the best way to understand wabi-sabi is to experience it up close and in detail. Designing with this simple and uncluttered aesthetic is a perfect way to enhance the mood in any environment.

Click HERE to view a special selection of my “wabi-sabi” photographs.

Just created my 40,000th photograph for 2012!

….and counting!

We have just uploaded a selection of 34 waterfalls, abstracts, landscapes and botanicals from this past fall’s travels. You can view them in the New Image Gallery or by clicking HERE

More than 30 new images have been added to the site in the last week.  Many of these new images have been chosen for their relevance to healthcare design. Some of these photographs were created on Byron’s recent trip to California others were selected earlier from other trips. They include everything from waterfalls to beaches and forests to flowers. Click on the New Images link above to view them. There are several pages of photographs to view.

Image #20101030-68 Reflections of fall in the river

It is now common knowledge that nature images in healthcare facilities are an essential element to the well being of patients and contribute positively to the mental state of visitors. Once you accept these facts, the next logical step in the thought process is the realization that nature images can contribute to the mental and physical well being of the population in general. If a beautiful image of nature helps a patient in the hospital by lowering stress levels, blood pressure and speeding the healing process, doesn’t it stand to reason that such images can have positive benefits on our lives in environments other than just hospitals and clinics? What about retirement communities, corporate offices, government offices, schools and of course our homes? These are all places where the therapeutic effect of fine art nature photographs would be welcomed.  It is exciting to think that fine art nature photographs may have such a positive affect on our emotional and physical well being that they may in fact help to make our trips to the doctor less frequent and our daily lives less stressful.

Image #6622 Morning sunlight streaming through trees

We all have a sense of the restorative and healing powers of being in the outdoors and experiencing nature. But can simply viewing art that depicts nature aid in healing our bodies? As a fine art nature photographer it is certainly an intriguing concept. One of my motivations when I create a fine art photograph is to help uplift and inspire people. It  appears that there may be some physical healing that can take place from viewing art images of nature.  Now there is evidence that looking at art that depicts nature can actually have a healing effect on our bodies. Here are some recent findings:

“In Harmony with Nature’s Blueprint” published in Interior Expressions (February 2000), Jain Malkin writes the “effect of nature on humans has been thoroughly studied… humans have physiological and emotional responses to nature.”

In recent years, Roger Ulrich, Ph.D., environmental psychologist, director of the Center for Health Systems and Design, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University, and a leading authority in the field has expounded his “Theory of Supportive Design.” Access to nature is central to this theory. The underlying premise is that “improved medical outcomes are linked to environments’ effectiveness in facilitating stress coping and restoration. Supportive design tries to eliminate stress factors and to include features that reduce stress, calm patients, strengthen coping resources… including access to nature.”

Ulrich has cited numerous studies showing that “viewing nature can produce significant recovery from stress, which in turn, can lead to cost-savings, by improving medical outcomes,” going as far back as a 1984 Science paper which stated: “patients with bedside views of nature had briefer hospital stays and needed less medication.” In a September 2000 presentation titled “Evidence-based Environmental Design for Improving Medical Outcomes,” Ulrich argued that “exposure to nature produces significant recovery.” Both psychological and physiological stress reduction are noted, as measured by “less anxiety, calmness, reduced blood pressure, muscle tension, heart and respiratory rates.”

Interesting…..