Here is a digital book sampling of what we call fine art finishing. This is a variety of manipulations applied digitally to an image with often a variety of layers and/or textures. We now offer a wedding photography package for the artist in you, combining unlimited wedding photography hours, fine art finishing and a fineart album.
Category Archives: Fine Art Finishing
In 2000 I dove head first into what I have come to call Fine Art Finishing to my photos. What is Fine Art Finishing? Well, we have our own definition of what defines Fine Art finishing. It is most definitely defined by producing an image with the creative vision of the photographer as an artist. For us it goes beyond just retouching. While beauty retouching (which we sometimes call ultimate retouching) is often the most manipulated technique on a photo digitally, fine art is another technique altogether. Our Fine Art Finishing today is not complete without the use of Photoshop CS4. We actually utilize most of the Adobe suite. Illustrator also plays a role for text and most vector creation, while In Design is utilized in our studio for most of our layout purposes.
Within Photoshop FAF begins with an image and can have a variety of manipulations done to it. Retouching, BW conversions, painting, textures, graphics, grain, vignetting, objects or other types of colorizing or isolation of color are some of the buzz words associated with our FAF. Our Fine Art Finishing is almost always done “in machine” – but you never know where or when it will take us outside of the computer! Stay tuned next week for the digital version of our NEW Fine Art book, online soon!
Photo Credit: Digital Images -Flowers by Amy A and Model Sofia In Lace, 2005 by Amy A
From 1994 to 1998 I spent a gazillion hours on the MAC, in Photoshop. I wrecked havoc on images and graphics as I found my way around PSD docs and saved lots of crap to zip disks. Yeah! A few hundred megabytes of stuff. But Photography didn’t really rear its head seriously until a trip with my best friend David. While I had always taken pictures (since the 70’s) and had stirrings of creative, photographic delight, it was that trip to Venice, Italy that photography changed my life and ignited my passion, furiously. It became my first love for a very long time and in 2002 it moved to second place, replaced by my husband and partner, Byron. But move as it may, it brought to it a whole other level and dimension with the fine art and the digital nurturing I was able to partake in due to my love nesting with Byron. With Byron by my side I learned how to make sense of my art. How to have discipline, to be consistent in my work, how to be savvy technically and how my talent was believable. And together all of it was quite the combination! Byron+Me+Photography+Art = Passionate, provocative, beautiful, love evoking imagery (among other things). Then add Photoshop in the mix, yikes! I’d say I had finally found my long awaited simmering, artistic expression all wrapped in love.
Oh and for the record since 2000 I work primarily on a PC. This is another post entirely!
Photo Credit: Negative Film Scan of Gondolier in Venice, 1998 by Amy A
My first sight of Photoshop was while living in Brooklyn in 1994. I was hanging out at a loft in Williamsburg before the art world from NYC jumped the Hudson. My friends who were involved in the beginning stages of the internet and web design were working in Photoshop 2.5 on a MAC, creating graphics like nothing I had ever seen. I was working in the hair and makeup sector of the fashion world and with art all around me it was only natural that Photoshop intrigued me. I soon began dabbling in Photoshop. In my first dabble, I scanned a negative from the 1960′s of my mother’s crashed, 57 Chevy. And ‘NO”, no one was hurt in this Photoshop process or in the crashing of the Chevy. I spent hours painting the car purple, testing the filter options of Photoshop, curves, contrast-you name it I did it to that car. And in the end the car was trashed by me in Photoshop and in turn destroyed the files and various versions of car trash. But all in all this began my 15+ love affair with Adobe. I have never been the same. So for the next week I am dedicating my posts to Photoshop and how it has impacted our photography and our finishing throughout the years.
Photo Credit: Collection of Photoshop splash screens, icons, and toolbars courtesy of Jeff Schewe. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Lightroom, and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Copyright © 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.
My husband and partner in crime is the coolest! He set me up with online publshing, where I can upload my custom designed book, magazine, porfolio, etc and then they spit out a digital edition of my project! I can then embed it on my social networks or just view it! Love it. Check out my first project, The Magic of Digital Retouching. It is a small portfolio of before and after retouched images we put together. You can view it fullscreen too.
Happy viewing!
