Friday, February 23, 2018

Photography Business - The Fine Art Photography

All of the photos that express and meet an artist's creative vision are called fine art photography. This isn't the same as the commercial photographs and journalism that support the stories being published in printed media (newspapers, magazines, etc.). With commercial pictures the target is awfully clear: to sell a service. Then, photojournalism is necessary for any kind of magazine that utilizes documentaries. With this kind of photography business, keep in mind that this isn't concerned in any of these kinds of services; it just makes the artistic side of the job.

There are some genres that define this type of photography, which include natural landscapes, portraits and nudes. The last twenty years have seen a rise in the number of photography exhibitions around the globe. It's now considered very fashionable to use prints and frames for such photography too. Many galleries nowadays display photos on boards without glass. The size of the prints differs depending on the purpose and the theme of the photo. It's quite a fact that the beauty of such photos are undeniable!

In very artistic representations, photos can be staged and lit so a new dimension is being added to the photographer's vision. Furthermore, things have changed a lot with the arrival of full spectrum photography, thanks to the current digital technologies and complex cameras. The artist can now achieve a lot of effects by filtering ultraviolet light, visible light and infrared. Just as the technologies have improved, so does the printing, giving a lot of options to the artistic photographers.

It's amazing that a great number of fine art photography items sell in auction rooms annually, and for very high prices too. The flourishing collectors' market takes almost all of the photos available for sale, because the public still doesn't purchase this kind of photography as they only opt for prints of paintings. Also, some of the most beautiful pictures of the century can now be seen in museum studios and in prominent hallways. This is what occurs at trades, fashion shows and so many other multiple art events.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Special Lighting Required for Art Photography

It would seem that art photography should be one of the easiest forms to accomplish since the subject usually doesn't move, but unless the photographer uses appropriate lighting the full beauty of the object could be lost in the shadows. For many, art photography has a variety of meanings and for most it is the vision that is visible to the photographer as they attempt to present their view to others.

Whether the image is of a person, place or thing, the photograph is considered art by the photographer and many times everyday objects are pictured under certain lighting conditions in order to highlight the shadows, or obscure them, in the final rendition. With today's use of digital technology, photographers do not have to wait until natural lighting is at just the right stage to illuminate their subjects, as was the case a few years ago with landscapes staged as art.

Digital enhancements on the computer as opposed to enhancements in the darkroom have opened the windows much wider for art photography to become more easily manipulated than in the past. However, for others taking pictures of art works requires better lighting techniques, regardless of the type of photography used. In some instances of art photography filling in the shadows with well-placed lighting improves the quality while adjusting shadows by the use of lighting can offer a different perspective to the same piece.

The ability of the photographer to visualize the outcome before the picture is taken is the sign of a true artist, even with today's digital opportunities. Previously, several exposures may have to have been taken in order to replicate the mood of the picture taken through art photography. Today's digital photography allows the photographer to see the work almost immediately and either accept the outcome or retake the image.

As a medium, photography has gained much more acceptance as an art form than it had in the past. Even as recently as 50 or 60 years ago photography was not considered an art form as most believed a mechanical reproduction was not true art. More recently it has been accepted that the eye of the photographer and the images they could see and capture were as much a form of art as a painter with a brush. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to advertise products or services.