Andrew Jenkins’ The Man in the Mirror has all the elements of award-winning photography: A compelling and unique design that tells a story and draws viewers into the scene, capped by Michael Timmons’ renowned printing expertise.
Timmons used Sunset Photo eSatin Paper to print The Man in the Mirror, laminated with LexJet 3 Mil Gloss UV Premium Low Melt laminate. Timmons and his wife Tina own and operate The Portrait Gallery in Vasser, Mich. The Portrait Gallery’s printing has become a mainstay of competitions across the U.S.
“Sunset Photo eSatin is our print material of choice for competitions; it’s a stronger, more durable paper and the colors, tones and hues reproduce much better than most other materials,” says Timmons. “The print is mounted to foam board and then laminated with the LexJet gloss laminate to give it more pop at competition. The high gloss laminate really adds a three-dimensional look to the image. It’s completely amazing when it’s all finished.”
Obviously, the judges at the Professional Photographers of Michigan (PPM) print competition, held in February, agreed with Timmons’ assessment. The Man in the Mirror won Portrait Best of Show, the CPP Award, the ASP State Elite Award and the LexJet Sunset Award for the best print on LexJet Sunset inkjet media.
The image was stitched together in Photoshop, then the canvas was extended and the image flipped and mirrored so that it flows throughout the horizontal presentation. The image is from a portrait shoot with a high school senior who’s “into hip-hop, so I wanted to create an image showcasing his interest,” says Jenkins, who owns Canfield Jenkins House of Photography in St. Johns, Mich.
So Jenkins shot a series of images of the subject doing a hip-hop dance move, from low to high. The resulting frames lent themselves perfectly to the digital stitching and mirroring that brought it all together.