Guest Blog: One Thing Winning Images Have in Common

One of the most beneficial things a photographer can do as an artist is enter print competition. Not for the sake of winning awards, but to grow, learn and improve. If you look at some of the general rules that have been applied with success to images in print competition over the years, you can find some great composition and presentation lessons that make for better images.

By Pete Wright
By Pete Wright

Let’s look at using compositional cues to make sure you drive your audience to look at the part of the image that is the most important to relay the message you are trying to get across.

Compositionally the two most common placements of a subject in an image are based on the rule of thirds or bulls-eye. The rule of thirds, the most popular, would be like placing a tic-tac-toe game over your image, as shown above.

Guest Blog: Creating Versatile Images for Multiple Uses

When it comes to commercial applications, the creation of an image often takes place before a camera is even touched. From the standpoint of the person capturing the image, one of the most important factors, beyond the message, is how the image will be used.

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By Pete Wright

Whether you are on the front end of the process creating the concept for a campaign, in the middle capturing the images, or on the back end creating the finished work, it’s important to be clear on the overall vision of what the final presentation will be.

Many times, a company may decide they’ll be using an image that will cross many different media platforms: print (direct mail, pamphlets, magazine, billboards, etc.), social media or broadcast. Versatility is important for images like this. In other words, consider approaching an image so that it has a good amount of negative space for text and will work equally well if cropped vertically or horizontally.

For Fine Black-&-White Prints: New Sunset Fibre Baryta Paper

We’ve rounded out our line of fine art and photography papers with the all new Sunset Fibre Baryta 310gsm. A favorite among photographers who specialize in black-and-white printing, baryta is a coating of barium sulphate that is layered onto photo paper before the final coating.

Baryta papers are favored because they deliver more intricate details and definition as well as a greater range of black and gray tones, and has archival qualities. The very white pigment of the baryta layer produces a neutral white shade and a smooth texture. The result is the ideal surface for inkjet printing on an acid- and lignin-free paper that’s compatible with all dye and pigment inks.

sunset packSunset Fibre Baryta 310gsm is excellent for a number of applications, such as fine art reproduction, art portfolios, photo albums and greeting cards. Plus it’s instant dry for easy handling, although we do recommend wearing white gloves to avoid finger prints.

This new paper is available in the following sheet sizes: 8.5×11-inch; 11×17-inch; 13×19-inch and 17×22-inch as well as these roll sizes: 17-inch-x-50-foot; 24-inch-x-50-foot; 44-inch-x-50-foot and 50-inch-x-50-foot.

You can also try our new Baryta along with 11 other Sunset Fine Art and Fibre papers in our Sunset Media Portfolio Pack, which includes two 8.5×11-inch sheets of each paper.

Prints That Win: Samson

poltorzycki_04_29_15 samsonPlymouth, Mass., photographer Stephen Poltorzycki may have only gotten serious about digital photography over the past few years, but his knack for it has certainly come into focus, as he recently won the Sunset Print Award in the “The Fine Art of Photography” show, organized by the Plymouth Center for the Arts. His winning image, “Samson,” is pictured at left.

“I took photography somewhat seriously in college, but life took over and I didn’t pursue it,” says Poltorzycki, a self-employed management consultant. “When the digital age dawned I decided it would be fun to get back into.”

He joined a local camera club and started studying photography technology and judging criteria. Once he stared entering competitions, he saw the best success with still-life images like “Samson.” The image was part of the club’s challenge to capture images that showed symmetry.

For Peters Photography Studio, Kodak’s Dry Lab Paper Delivers

Photo by Peters Photography; London, Ohio
Photo by Peters Photography; London, Ohio

 

Last summer, when Peters Photography Studio lab manager Matt Baxter could no longer count on the delivery time frame and quality of the photo paper he’d been using, he turned to a name he’d trusted for years: Kodak.

His former supplier had become unreliable, so he switched to Kodak’s PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo Dry Lab Paper with a lustre finish.

Photo by Peters Photography, London, Ohio
Photo by Peters Photography; London, Ohio

“We’d always used Kodak when we had a wet lab,” Baxter says. “I was used to Kodak from way back.”

As the photography industry has evolved from film and chemical photo development to digital images and inkjet printing, Kodak has created resin-coated paper with an e-surface finish, ideal for the type of rich, detailed portrait work Baxter polishes up at the London, Ohio-based studio.

“I touch every single image that comes through here,” says Baxter, who’s been with Peters for 15 years. “All of the color correction, processing, digital image prepping … and printing is included in that.”

He runs the Kodak dry lab paper on an Epson SureLab printer, which is an ideal match, he says. Working with 8-inch and 12-inch rolls, he explains that the paper calibrated easily and “fell right into place really quickly. There were no big adjustments to make.” The paper also works well with Peters’ signature linen-like textured coating that sets the studio’s prints apart.

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A look inside Peters Photography’s gallery, showcasing Kodak PROFESSIONAL Inkjet Photo Dry Lab Paper, lustre finish. Photo by Peters Photography; London, Ohio

Kodak’s logo, printed on the back of the paper, adds an immediately recognized symbol of the long-trusted brand. “We like it,” Baxter says. “We were used to having that for all those years. Now, it feels like we’re printing on quality … it makes it feel like we’re doing it the right way.”

And because Baxter orders paper as needed, rather than storing a lot of inventory, he says he’s pleased to get delivery just a day or two after he places his order with his LexJet sales rep. “With our other supplier, we never knew when we were going to get it,” he says. “But now we get it right away. We order as we need it. I don’t give myself much leeway, and LexJet makes it so I can do that.”

Five Good Reasons to Hire an Experienced Pro for Product Photography

LexJet’s In Focus newsletter helps professional photographers discover new ways to generate revenues by using wide-format inkjet printers to display their work, promote their businesses, or create new products and services. Our customers like receiving new business ideas because widespread, easy access to more powerful cameras and image-editing software has dramatically altered the traditional markets for photography services. It occurred to us that some current users of photography may not have considered the true value of hiring an experienced professional photographer.  So after featuring the innovative work of commercial photographer David Humphreys in the Printing for Profit section of our In Focus newsletter, we invited him to write a post explaining what marketing managers may be missing when they ask someone on their staff to shoot product photography.

What’s missing, explains David, is the artistry involved in capturing the true essence of a product. As a result, the product’s value or uniqueness can easily get lost among the miasma of similar-looking commercials and marketing campaigns. Here are the five top reasons he would list for hiring an experienced pro to shoot your product photography:

By David Humphreys 

1. A Unique Approach. The first and foremost reason to use an experienced pro is a completely unique and fresh approach to your project or campaign that is 100 percent reflective of your company, your marketing needs, and your brand. Too often, a company’s brand or desired focus gets lost when turning to a staff marketing intern or a stock photography resource.

2. Quality Images with Impact. The experience and expertise of your photographer ultimately shows through on the images of your product or brand. Collaboration with an expert, and the outside perspective they bring, can make a tremendous difference in whether a marketing campaign is memorable for years, or forgettable after a few seconds. Plus, professional photographers have a keen eye for small, even miniscule, details or color issues that can be corrected during printing and production.

3. Long-Term Dividends. Invest now to earn dividends down the road. Yes, adding another team member naturally adds another expense to your campaign, but that amount is a small percentage of the overall cost of product marketing. An expert image produced by an expert pro can make a difference between this quarter’s loss and next quarter’s gain. An expertly crafted image by the right pro has a higher likelihood of making a greater impact on your customers. Plus, the image can be designed to used in multiple forms and media.

4. An Outside Perspective. Having a fresh, outside perspective is always helpful when considering the overall sales effort for any product or the branding campaign for a company. Often times, executing a project entirely with in-house staff can dilute the power of the final campaign or make it bland. And these days, bland doesn’t draw the attention of consumers, nor does it make them want to buy.
 Finally, while new innovations in digital technology have brought photography to almost anyone interested, only professional photographers will bring thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars in equipment to capture the myriad technical details involved in crafting an artistically great photograph. While often unnoticed in the 30-second window we have to make an impact on our consumers’ minds, these technical differences and creativity are often the precise factors that draw viewers to an image in the first place. In essence, equipment and technique matter, just like expertise, creativity and a new perspective.

 
 
 
 

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Based in Baton Rouge, La., David Humphreys’ studio includes equipment for shooting high-end digital as well as 35 mm, 2-1/4 in., 4 x 5 in., and 8 x10 in. film. He also has a state-of-the-art suite for image retouching, digital enhancement, and high-end color printing for art, décor prints and display graphics.

 

5. Equipment and Technique. Finally, while new innovations in digital technology have brought photography to almost anyone interested, only professional photographers will bring thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of dollars in equipment to capture the myriad technical details involved in crafting an artistically great photograph. While often unnoticed in the 30-second window we have to make an impact on our consumers’ minds, these technical differences and creativity are often the precise factors that draw viewers to an image in the first place. In essence, equipment and technique matter, just like expertise, creativity and a new perspective.

 HumphreysHeadShotDavid Humphreys has been a professional photographer for more than 30 years—photographing people, products and places around the world. He has been recognized for his work by many organizations, winning such awards as, most recently, a national ADDY for black and white photography from the American Advertising Federation,  the Photo District News Award from Nikon, the Communications Arts Award for advertising, and the Pete Goldsby Award. (www.fabphotos.com)