Category Archives: Photography Promotion

Saving “Bertha” — The Printer

Posted by commart on

I’ve allowed my printer, an HP-B9180, to run through hundreds of dollars of archival “Vivera” inks without printing a sheet!

I suppose a narcissist needs a narcissistic printer, for she does this to me by way of checking herself out once every 24 hours and keeping tabs on the functioning of her microscopic ink-spitting nozzles.  Printing with such a touchy behemoth scares me, and yet, every time out, with some allowance for cleaning the jets, she prints a brilliant and precise photograph.  That’s why I don’t trade her in, but given the expense of  her breathing just once a day, I hold out hope for serious art sales, either in volume or by the production run.

Starter bid: per 13×19-inch print: $95 plus shipping; Maryland residents pay 6 percent sales tax; cleared check or Paypal transaction.

Editions: open unless stated closed.

Licensing: priced according to usage.

Third-Party Publishing: negotiable.

First Project: First Antietam Set

Posted by commart on

“Old Simon” at Antietam National Cemetery.

Twelve Easy Prints

Projects.

Aesthetically: internally consistent.

Thematically: coherent.

I’ve spent decades making pretty pictures, technically stunning pictures, sentimental pictures, but this late afternoon, one that marks the end of a long process over time, is the first on which I’ve printed (completed, done) a set of a dozen coherent, internally consistent interpretations of one of America’s great historic landscape: Antietam National Battlefield Park.

I’m having a drink over it, rum and coke, this still warm July afternoon, windows open, fans running, Joe Pass (“Bernie’s Tune”) coming down from a cloud.

Is this how it feels to have something finished, I wonder.

Must be.

Manhattan or Venice Beach or some little spot off the road, Cumberland Valley, twenty minutes driving north of all that death, glory, sacrifice, the announcement in blood of the beginning of the end of slavery (and “separate but equal”, truth to be told) in the U.S.A., it’s the same thing.

Although not quite a wrap — I could stand to print the set a few more times.

In any case, I have something to ship.

I’ve a minimum in mind.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The HP B9180 survived this round!

Specification: HP B9180 with the Vivera inks on A3+ (13×19-inch) InkPress Fine Art Matte, minimally bordered and at the bottom numbered by volume and print order (left), and signed (right).

Production Run: I’m tempted not to do another set!  However, I’ve in mind placing six to a dozen sets, no more, of this project.

If the HP printer fails (beyond fast repair) on any subsequent order, then I’ll print on the Epson 3880 with the Ultrachrome K3 (with “Vivid Magenta”) inks.

Antietam Set

Posted by commart on

Bloody Lane, Antietam National Battlefield Park. Also known as the “Sunken Road”, along its length a scene of remarkable violence and carnage. The monument is that of the 132nd Pennsylvania Volulnteer Infantry.

Antietam Set – 12 Prints – 13×19 inches

With the “Antietam Set”, I’ve set  on my own table a very limited edition project — a dozen orders and I will be done.

Specification: HP B9180 with the Vivera inks on InkPress Fine Art Matte.  If the HP should not survive the work, then I’ll move on to an Epson 3880 and the Ultrachrome K3 (with “Vivid Magenta”) inks.

The slide show to which I’ve linked has an e-mail link in its upper right corner.

# # #

I Really Do Shoot Weddings

Posted by commart on
091021-1-001402x

Flash on a bracket for the festive moments; big lights for portraits and groups: everything works!

Jack of all trades and master of some, I work at many things across the course of a week.  In fact, narrowing scope, approaching activities with more programmatic discipline, and scheduling for preparation and performance have become both business and life themes. 

Some wonderful things, especially in the guitar-and-voice beg to be sustained, and doing so takes some energy and costs some time, but whether for my health or for audience, I (and it) find the practice worth it. 

Other activities, starting with my life as a voracious reader and still effusive writer, need their nourishment too; in addition, I’ve gone film crazy with my Netflix account, and that enthusiasm needs its little bit of space as well as blending with everything else.

Of my three diverging areas of art, photography naturally integrates with the now souped up and computerized quarters of the visual arts: design, graphic art, illustration, and layout.  Over the summer, I upgraded my software capability from Adobe’s “Web Basic CS3”, which provided for photography and web work, to the firm’s “Design Suite CS4”, which pairs the former webcentric publishing tools with several industry-strandard print publishing applications, including InDesign and Illustrator.  Each week, or several times a week, I will simply tackle something new in the programs with which I’ve been least familiar (but I’ll be holding off on Flash for a while longer) and slip related services on to the Communicating Arts menu as I become more experienced, competent, and confident

# # #