Good portrait photography captures the essence of the subject’s personality, and that’s what Gretchen Carter aims for in her senior portraits. Carter is a portrait photographer at Newbrough Photo, a studio that’s been an anchor in the town of Weirton, W.V. for more than 60 years.

Linda Guy is a fine artist who teaches screen printing, lithography and inkjet printing at Texas Christian University. One of her students was LexJet’s own Nolan Dowdy, who’s now Guy’s customer service specialist.

If you’re looking for an alternative to the usual banner that provides more visual punch, is easier to work with, cuts down on shipping and has a more elegant look and feel, the new LexJet Poly Select SUV fabrics are a perfect fit.

When you work print magic for some of the biggest names in photography and fine art you might as well print big, which is exactly what Stephen Kerner does. Kerner, owner of Stone River Giclee in Woodstock, N.Y., has been printing giant reproductions on canvas for renowned photographers Russell James and Catherine Sebastian (who’s also the wife of former The Lovin’ Spoonful front man John Sebastian).

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...

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...

Digital-imaging expert and Canon Explorer of Light Eddie Tapp will be the featured speaker at the free Learn from a Pro/Print Like a Pro open houses that Canon and LexJet are hosting July 26 in Irving TX and July 28 in Irvine, CA. Photographers of all backgrounds and skill levels can benefit from Eddie’s easy-to-understand explanations of color balance and exposure/tone controls, color management, image enhancement techniques, and how to select the correct print settings.

Regardless of the wide-format printing technology used, output problems require a systematic approach that will save time, hassles, and tech calls. Here are some simple steps to help diagnose and fix the problem as quickly as possible.