The terms “niche” and “specialty” are not the same. The former refers to specializing in a particular market, while the latter refers to a custom product approach for whatever market in which you operate. Raven Image opened its doors about four years ago as a niche company, targeting primarily fine art reproduction with some photo reproduction thrown in for good measure. The focus made a lot of sense for Raven Image’s two founding partners – Cher Sailer and Tracy Raven Jacobs – who had been previously immersed in the commercial photo lab business. They had made the transition from chemical to inkjet before they opened Raven Image. And, they had a knack for hitting color just right for discerning artists. However, as a lot of small business print shops have found, diversification helps grow the bottom line, especially in a difficult economy. Though Raven Image certainly diversified its market mix with more photographic reproduction and commercial work, its product diversification...

Michael Timmons of The Portrait Gallery in Vasser, Mich., gets around. As noted in a yesterday’s post about Duncan MacNab’s award winning image, Timmons printed Duncan MacNab’s award-winning print on LexJet Sunset Photo eSatin. For Andrew Jenkins’ LexJet Sunset Award and Best Color Portrait winner at the PPA Northeast District competition, Timmons printed The Curator on Sunset Photo eSatin as well. “The print was incredible. I don’t think there’s anyone in the country printing better images on eSatin than Michael,” says Jenkins. The Curator himself is Warren Motts, who runs the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio, which houses the largest privately owned collection of military memorabilia in the United States. Motts is also a past president of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). “Warren is an incredible man and I wanted to take a portrait of him in his environment. I took a road trip with my father, spent the day at the museum and created the portrait at the end...

A great print can make all the difference at photography competitions. It’s certainly not the only difference, but it can provide that little extra boost that makes judges take notice. Take, for instance, Duncan MacNab’s entry, End of the Line, which won a LexJet Sunset Award for Excellence in Image Quality at the 2011 PPA Western District Competition.

Actually, the title of John Gladman’s LexJet Sunset Award and best Electronic Imaging prize at the PPA North Central District photography competition is Morning Rounds. While quite appropriate for the image, it evokes a simpler and more rustic time in the past, though the main landscape image was taken near Lawrence, Kansas quite recently. Gladman stitched together a panoramic shot of a spot near the river and just around the corner from his studio. He took out the modern distractions, power lines and whatnot, and added the horse and carriage. The result is a story, and “story” is a crucial element in an award-winning image. “I’m big on taking an image and trying to tell a story with it, so whatever I need to do to tell the story I’ll do it. I come at it from an artistic standpoint; I’m trying to create a piece of art from the things I find in life,” explains Gladman. “I’ve been entering competitions for 25 years and I’ve been a judge myself. I’ve learned that you have to create...

Kudos to Canon Explorer of Light Eddie Tapp for presenting such a dynamite program at the Learn from a Pro/Print Like a Pro events the last week of July. LexJet and Canon teamed up to present the Open House events at the Canon USA offices in Irvine, CA and Irving TX.

Photographic artist Duane Conliffe, who was profiled in Vol. 3, No. 5 of LexJet’s In Focus newsletter, is proud to report he is one of the featured artists at The Art of Living Black Exhibition at The Richmond Art Center in Richmond, CA from Jan. 26-March 13.

If you are planning to visit Washington, DC anytime between now and the end of March, consider visiting the National Geographic Museum to check out an amazing exhibit entitled “Terra Cotta Warriors: Guardians of China’s First Emperor.” The reason we’re talking about it here is because the National Geographic Imaging Department used an Espon Stylus Pro GS6000 and LexJet Sunset Satin Canvas SUV to print many of the graphics and visuals that tell the story of the Terra Cotta Warriors and artifacts on display. Below are excerpts of an article that appeared in Vol. 4, No. 12 of LexJet’s Expand newsletter.

At LexJet, we like when customers send us images of all the different types of projects they’ve created using different types of LexJet materials on their wide-format inkjet printers. It is especially gratifying to see the many different ways that photographers are using LexJet materials and wide-format inkjet printers to support community events and charities. Professional photographer John Eblen, of PhotoSolutions Co. in Akron, OH, recently sent us this photo, showing a banner he had created at the request of organizers of the “Welcome Home Cleveland” celebration that was held in August to welcome home all active-duty military personnel, Reservists and National Guard members who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a veteran himself, Eblen had offered to help with the event any way that he could. He says that, “When they called and said they needed a last-minute banner to thank sponsors and donors, I knew it was right up my alley. He printed the banner on LexJet TOUGHcoat...

I always love hearing from LexJet customers who are pushing the creative boundaries of inkjet photo and art printing.