process
From Drawing Board to Limited Edition
It is true to say that both myself, and my art are most definitely works in progress.
The very same can be said for the process that follows immediately after signing a completed artwork.
Transforming that finished pastel piece into your Limited Edition Giclee reproduction.
Since becoming a self published artist in the early 2000’s. I’ve experimented with many pieces of equipment, various cameras, flatbed scanners, and printers. Over the years each step has been a steady incremental improvement, a little like my artwork. Steady gains, occasional setbacks, but heading in the right direction.
It has taken me a quarter of a century to find that sweet spot where I can finally shout, Eureka!
For myself, the perfect camera, lens, lighting, and the best printer, ink, and paper. I have yet found. I only wish I’d known 25 years earlier.
The Camera, the Hasselblad H3D-39, and the HC 120mm F4 lens do such a wonderful job in the quality of their reproduction capacity I was completely blown away. My previous, a Canon 5Ds did a great job, but the Hasselblad went way beyond. The look, and more importantly, the feel of the files it creates, far exceeds in my view, any professional digital scan I’ve tried. Its 39 megapixel medium format CCD sensor offer a film like depth I’ve searched for over a lifetime.
Learning how to correctly use this magical piece of kit has been a slow steady process too. I had grown used a continuous lighting system when photographing work. The 'Blad' was adjusted to suit the lighting conditions (sort of), and results were very nice indeed. It was a local photographer who came to show me the error of my ways. He had put up for sale, a pair of flash heads. I had always avoided these systems in the past due to a lack of understanding. I thought such a system might just bleed out my images. How wrong I was, but then I’m no photographer!
I pondered those flash heads, and thought it worth a try. I had a feeling the Blad could perform far better than I had set it up to.
The local photographer took some time with me, and passed on some of his hard won knowledge as well as the flash heads. I will be forever grateful.
Those heads were the cherry on the icing, of a very long awaited cake.
I am so thrilled with the results. Now I’m thinking, he was probably selling those flash heads to get better ones?
I want what he’s having! Though for now. I’m overjoyed with the results I see.
For you, my long term supporters, and new collectors alike, this means your giclee print holds the physical presence of the studio artwork, exactly as it left my drawing board.
Stephen