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John is ferocious in hi pursuit of images that are “true” to the photog- rapher’s intent. He likes watching his work slide out of the printer.
PART III SHARING YOUR WORK
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LANDSCAPE TWEAKS: The art of enlargements
mounting) comes first in this project, with a special em-
time: Landscape photography re- quires patience and countless reshoots. Photo editing and printing add hours more. And planning and hanging framed photographs requires deliberation; figure at least an hour for lining things up be- fore the photo goes on the wall.
We are working backward here: Start by hanging the frames and shoot to fill.
Why can you see a glorious landscape and take your best shot, only to be disappoint- ed in the result?
I got my start in photography with snapshots of my kids. Be- ing a gear-head, I began buying second-hand cameras that were well beyond my needs and skills. The equipment pro- duced mistakes that led to experimentation. The snapshots became portraits, seldom posed but always studied. Then I noticed that I was taking profiles and shots from behind that were more about light and form than the nominal subjects of my work. It was a short step from there to the largely people- free landscapes, cityscapes, and other scenes that dominate my work today.
budget: John Hall estimates that all his gear, including computer and hard drives, has topped $8,000, but you can start this project with the equipment you have. A single large print and the framing that goes with it can run about $150. For the same amount, you can buy a set of inexpensive frames from Ikea or Target.
It’s not easy to capture natural beauty and get it up on a wall. The secret to making successful enlargements is in dozens of tiny adjustments at different stages of production: when you set up your gear, while you are shooting, when you go to the digital darkroom, as you print, and even as you prepare to hang the framed work.
I love the immediacy of the digital medium. There is no wait- ing to see how the shot worked out. The digital darkroom lets me play with my captures. I use it, not to repair bad work in the field, but to further abstract my images. Photo editing also lets me increase the coherence of a set of images so that when I hang them they fit together. —JHH
This sketch is a picture of the wall, an elevation drawing. Using graph paper makes planning easy. A box equals a foot. Always start by figuring out where the middle photo will be. Here, it’s marked with an X in a circle, centered on the wall between the corner of the room on the left and the door- way on the right.
What usually comes last (framing and
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CHAPTER 7: PROJECT IDEAS
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phasis on steps for creating an art gallery in your home or office.
Choose a wall in your home or office where you want to display a set of, say, three framed photographs. Consult the sketch below for an example of how to plan your gallery. The most important measurement is the height. Many people hang pictures too high so that you are looking up at them. For better results, the top of the frame (not the center of the im- ages) should be slightly above eye level.
CASE STUDY: john
gear: All you have. A camera with at least 10 megapixels and a home printer are recommended.
John Hall is a lawyer and serious photographer who spe- cializes in portrait and landscape photography. He’s a seri- ous technophile, too, with a Nikon digital single-lens reflex camera (D2-X), a Leica range finder (m8), and a closet full of analog gear. John is meticulous in image editing, and when he gets something he judges good enough, he prints it out on his Epson large-format printer.
space: Walls for hanging the photos, and space at home to spread out your prints.
Step 2: Frame. To display large photo- graphs as fine art, frame them with wide mats. A frame shop can usually give you good advice about both size and subtle variations in matte board such as color, texture, and cut. As a general rule, the width of matting should approach half the size of the narrowest dimension of the im- age itself. Thin, simple, dark frames work well with photographs.
REQUIREMENTS
WORKFLOW
Step 1: Lay out the gallery.