Getting Published, The Local Connection

In the June/July issue of  Professional Artist magazine, I write about the

My article in PA magazine

opportunities for artists to get published through local outlets. The impact of getting published can be increased sales of artwork, increased recognition, and enhanced status.

My first photo feature was published here in Bucks County by Bucks County Town and Country magazine (now known as Bucks County magazine). This led to a long relationship including a winter feature published in 2011. Importantly, it also led to other publication opportunities including major contributions to two book projects about Bucks County.

The June/July issue of Professional Artist magazine is chock full of useful information, but I’d like to point out the article on giclee prints by Renee Phillips. Giclee printing is still misunderstood by collectors and this article really gives a strong basis with which to educate clients.

June /July 2013 cover of Professional artist magazine

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Spring, on the inside

I was tired of waiting for spring so I did the next bet thing, visited Longwood Gardens’ conservatory. This amazing indoor garden is my favorite place to find spring when it isn’t coming as quickly as I’d like. Of course, this was  a couple of weeks ago so spring is now here (just mowed the lawn to prove it to myself).

What I especially like about the Longwood conservatory though is the ability to work in a rather controlled environment. Typically the light is soft, the only breeze comes from the air circulating fans, the temperature is constantly spring-like, and it never rains. This type of situation allows me to concentrate only on making images, which is good. On the flipside, the consistency of conditions also limits the creative process. So it’s a trade-off, but one I understand when going in. When spring does hit at Longwood, I can have the best of both worlds. Working inside and outside allows for all the creative freedom I want.

This particular image was made indoors in bright, but diffused, natural light. The colors of the flowers are astounding so my main goal was to create an image with strong lines and geometry. I used a Panasonic GH2 camera with a Panasonic 14-140mm lens and an extension tube to focus more closely. I focused on the buds in the middle, diffusing the flowers around them and composed to place the brightest pink flower at a power point visually.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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I’m still feeling like winter………

I know what the calendar says, but I’m still scrapping my car windshield and wearing winter coats. I’m also still working through some wintry images and enjoying it. We didn’t get much snow this past winter, but some of what we did receive was lovely. It was the kind of snowfall that left a visual impression of the land instead of overwhelming it.

The image below was made during one of our March snows and it was one of the most visually pleasing snows I’ve ever experienced. As a result I bolted out of the house the morning of and went to work. With the sun rising, there was both warm light and cool shadow to work with. I concentrated on those aspects of the land that excited me the most, contrast and form.

I used an Olympus OM-D E5 with a Panasonic 100-300mm lens to isolate and compress the composition. Working in RAW format, I then developed the image in Lightroom and finished it in Photoshop.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian – http://www.paulgrecianphoto.com

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No Place Like Home……..or Studio for that matter

In the current April/May issue of Professional Artist magazine I write about the hows and whys of doing a home/studio show as an alternate venue for selling artwork. I had the chance to visit artist Andy Smith during his annual home/studio show, it was a great experience. My wife and daughter came with me and both took some of Andy’s wonderful work home for themselves and as gifts. Andy’s home/studio show is so well done and certainly has me thinking about how I could pull off such an event.

Apri-May 2013 issue of Professional Artist magazine

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Descendo

The moon is a highly evocative subject whether it’s a sliver, a crescent, or full. It speaks to such a range of emotions from fear to romance. Trees have a similar effect on people, evocative as well, they speak to strength, loneliness, rebirth, and joyousness. Combined, these two elements of moon and trees, make for a pretty powerful visual and emotional effect.

In this image of a morning moon setting against a pre-dawn sky, I composed to place the moon off-center and behind branches. The exposure was made off of the sky and then decreased a bit to make sure I had detail in the moon. The trees are in silhouette but with a twist! Since there is snow on some of the branches, there is a dimensionality to the trees that is otherwise lacking in such an image.

The image was made with a Panasonic G2 and Panasonic 100-300mm lens at around 250mm (which is 500mm equivalent in 35mm terms).

Moonset behind trees

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Breathing the Same Air

I am continuing to prepare for my two-person show at Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville, NJ. I have the honor of exhibiting with artist Norine Kevolic who works in both paint and wood. What is especially exciting to me is that for this show Norine will be hanging landscape paintings for the first time at Artists’ Gallery. I feel that our work speaks to and in informed by a shared response to nature. In fact our postcard for the show presents two rather different works but both made at the same local lake, Lake Galena.

Our show runs from March 8 thru March 31 with an artists’ reception on March 9 from 4-7 pm. The title of the show, Breathing the Same Air, was chosen after I read Norine’s quote for our press release. She stated “My aim is to create a sensuous work in which one feels they are breathing the same air as in the painting”. I knew immediately that Norine and I shared a similar motivation which needed to be reflected in the title of the show.

Breathing the Same Air

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Winter Trifecta

 Certainly one of the aspects of winter that I find interesting from a visual stand point is how it simplifies the landscape. Bare trees and snow-covered ground both contribute to a sense of the austere. Add fog as a component and the landscape all but disappears. I call this the “winter trifecta”.

With this “trifecta” of conditions, I can concentrate on making images that are mostly suggestive of the landscape but still fully representing the feeling of winter.These kinds of images also speak to larger concepts such as being alone, quietness, and visually allow the contemplation of form and light.

There is definitely a quality or feeling to the image that is calming and which I very much like.

(c) Paul Grecian

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Winter Visitor

Winter is a stark time of year visually. I think about it in terms of black and white with various shades of gray. In this part of the country (Bucks County, PA), we get a special little visitor that seems to perfectly fit with my vision of the season – the Dark-eyed Junco!

This rather mono-chromatic flier blends in well with the gray-skies and snow-covered landscape. In this image the background and perch mimic the colors of the bird and convey a sense of the season. I like the simplicity of the tonalities in the image and the very limited depth that I was able to achieve with a large-aperture long telephoto lens (Canon EF 500mm f4.0 L IS with Canon TC 1.4X).

Compositionally, I wanted the bird to not overlap with any background elements in which it would merge tonally. Being down low enough to the ground to keep the portrait intimate, that is, at about eye-level with the bird, was also critical.

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Foggy January

I’m really appreciating being able to get back to making photographs. Earlier this week I saw fog again when I awoke and took off, straight to my favorite lake! There were Canada Geese in large numbers and a distant Bald Eagle perched on the opposite shore high in a tree.

Even when working at a location I’ve been to a thousand times, I need to take time to absorb what I’m seeing and feeling. What moved me to start the process was the mist rising off the water against a winter woodland and a large stone in the foreground.

In the field, I used a Canon 5D Mark II camera and a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II lens on a Gitzo tripod with a Really Right Stuff  head. I like to work with the mirror locked up and a 2 second self-timer. This image was made in color and converted to black & white. I developed the image further using levels, curves, shadows/highlights, and some sharpening. When all was finished I applied sepia toning to emphasize the mood.

(c) 2013 Paul Grecian

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Looking Up

It’s hard for me to not anthropomorphize the behavior of animals looking up to the sky as being spiritual. There just seems to be a natural interpretation of any animal with their eyes searching the “heavens” as seeking guidance or being lost in a sense of wonder.

As someone who spent their college career in the study of animal behavior, any form of anthropomorphizing was unscientific. As an artist now, I don’t have to fight that urge. In fact I think it has become a part of my image-making process. I look for the “expressions” in animal subjects that relate to my own emotions and feelings. My work isn’t just about the animal in my image, but also about how their behavior speaks to our own lives.

This little kit Red Fox was part of a den I worked at for over a week. I  feel like I caught it in a private moment of youthful contemplation of the universe. Color isn’t important to the image, so I rendered it as a black & white. To instill a sense that it was unaware of my presence, I composed so that it blends into its surroundings but made sure that the eyes and ears (pointing forward with its line of sight) are clearly visible.

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