I Print From Home!

E.T. had "E.T. Phone Home." Today's digital photographers have "I Print From Home."

I just received some prints from http://iprintfromhome.com/ , a relatively-local business in Buffalo, NY. They made me four 12x18 prints on silver-halide (AgX!) Kodak Endura paper (digital chromogenic prints, C-prints, traditional prints, choose your favorite moniker). I sent them two files and had them print a glossy (F surface) and a metallic version of each. This was my "trial run" to see how they do -- print quality, shipping time, etc.

And... I was quite impressed! The prints came in a flat box, well padded with bubble wrap and sandwiched in corrugated cardboard, which left them perfectly flat with no dinged corners or anything to disturb their perfect, shiny surface. The shipping was great, 1-day via UPS, which makes sense as they are only about 70 miles away.

They also sent me their "sample pack" of glossy, matte, metallic photo papers and their fine art inkjet paper, as well as a 35mm slide, printed with a test target, faces, grays etc. I'm pleased, and I'll probably order from them again!

Peter's Pick

So I alluded to getting a "Peter's Pick" in the ICPG Elswhere exhibit. ICPG's Newsletter came out today and with it, the full text of Peter Marr's comments. This is what he had to say about my photo, Whorls Above:

This is just an incredible well-seen and photographed image. The design is phenomenal, eye-catching and dramatic, yet maybe controversial to a few, as the leading element bisects the picture vertically. I see exact division of the photographic space as a great strength, with the eye being led immediately in and upward with the powerful last of the sailboat, strongly supported by all of the ropes, bringing your eye to the center focus of the base of the mainsail, a sail that dominates the left hand side of the photograph. This sail is so beautifully captured by the photographer, and it exhibits great strength and a soaring presence, admirably balancing the great power of the main mast. The intriguing "shadowed" designs on the mainsail are also a great complement to the overall image. The crowning glory of this photograph is the clouds in the sky, which occupy the majority of the space on the right hand side. Against a lovely blue sky, the clouds create a circular, powerful motion, and this dramatic sweep of the clouds offers a wonderful contrast against all of the vertical elements in the mast and sails. The circular motion of the clouds takes the eye continually back to the mast and the mainsail, and integrates the picture so movingly. The image is superbly printed and is just a delight to look at and to absorb all the nuances of the elements in the print that contribute to such an outstanding picture. After studying all of the 160+ prints in this exhibition, all of exceptional quality, I always came back unhesitatingly to Whorls Above as my favourite picture.

Very kind words! And coming from Peter Marr, a well known photographer and Kodak retiree, they mean a lot. Thanks, Peter!

ICPG Opening Reception

Yesterday was the opening reception for "Elsewhere" at Image City Photography Gallery. Wow, there are a lot of prints on the wall there, and on the dividers, and on the ceiling... yikes! The reception was crowded, mostly with people I didn't know.

But, the big news is that one of my photos, Whorls Above, was named a "Peter's Pick." Peter Marr chose his favorite (I should say favourite; he's English) 5 of the 160-ish images and wrote a little blurb to post next to them. Quite an honor! Interestingly, my Pick was hung at approximately knee-level on a divider... not exactly optimal, but at least with Peter's comments there people seemed to be noticing it.