Ashley Werhun

January 23, 2012 by Chris

There’s always a funny getting-to-know-you period whenever I work with a new dancer whom I’ve never had the privilege of working with, a time when translating the dancer’s prowess to a place where movement is still can be a little difficult at first. I have to explain that the more awkward it feels in the moment, the more movement it will have in the frame. Some dancers don’t ever grasp the understanding that for a dance photograph to be successful (in my particular idiom, that is) it has to exist both in a place before and a place after the exposure. Ashley is one of those few dancers that from the get-go had no trouble setting aside the idea of movement for the sake of the moment.

Ashley dances for Trey McIntyre Project, based in Boise, Idaho, and I was lucky enough to catch her on tour in Portland. She’s a fascinating and powerful dancer, graceful and unassuming: the consummate professional.

Ashley Werhun of Trey McIntyre Project

Easy Canvas Prints Review

January 20, 2012 by Chris

The first question one must ask themselves about canvas printing is, “Do you like your prints on canvas?” which is incidentally a bit like asking me, “Chris, how do you feel about sushi?” My reply is that I don’t dislike sushi but I could by no stretch of imagination call myself a sushi connoisseur. When given to me I will of course delight in sushi but it’s not something I’m terribly educated about nor constantly seek out. But I know good sushi when I taste it much the same as I know a good print when I see it and a print from Easy Canvas Prints is a fine print.

(Full disclaimer: Easy Canvas Prints offered me a free 11×14 print of an image of my choosing in exchange for a review of their product. I am in no way connected to Easy Canvas as a result and have no intention of giving a positive and/or negative review of any product bought and paid for by a sponsor. Any review of any product is my own opinion and is not purchased by a gifting me, whether via goods or cash. It is my full intention to give this canvas print away to a friend or fan of my work once this review is posted.)

As their name says, Easy Canvas Prints (hereafter ECP) is all about making canvas printing easy. Where ECP differs, however, is in the choices for sizes. Many printing houses offer canvas printing but do so in standard sizing increments and ratios (typically 4:5 and sometimes 2:3) and offer very little choice in the matter. ECP offers custom sizes up to 40″ in either dimension with either a 0.75″ or 1.5″ wrap. So yes, if you’ve been in need of an 8″x40″ canvas wrap you’re in luck. ECP even offers you a choice in mirroring the edges of your print over the wrap or a simple solid color in addition to a standard image wrap. Prices are highly competitive with other print houses as well which should bode well for ECP as there’s a lot to be said for having custom sizing available.

As stated previously, my experience with canvas prints are exactly nil. I’ve seen plenty of other images on canvas but I hadn’t seen my own and thus I spent about two weeks with this particular print of Ashley Werhun on my walls just looking at it day to day before coming up with the following conclusions. Reviewing something as objective as a print and not viewing it as a simple commodity is very important as most people and by definition most consumers will not stand with their nose perched up against a print to review a product nor are they apt to use a macro lens to view one.
Easy Canvas Prints
Overall, thumbs up!

Given that each piece is by nature custom made, someone had to cut the canvas, create the stretcher frame, and stretch the canvas over the frame. This means someone with their own eyes decided that my image was vertical (or portrait if you’re feeling pedantic) and thus put the mounting hardware in its logical place without adding an option to hang it horizontal. In a world filled with online automation having a piece custom built is a nice touch.
Easy Canvas Prints
I’ve seen a few canvas prints in the past that were done on thin canvas and only give the photos a slight texture and additionally the canvas looked pre-treated to produce a sort of glossy image. To my eye, the effect diminishes the canvas quality.

Thankfully, that is not the case here. The canvas itself is thick with a good amount of texture which the ink from the printing process eventually fills and gives a slight sheen, shinier in the shadows (when viewed from a diagonal) as more ink is needed. Color was reproduced accurately though the overall tones came down about a half-stop if I had to guess. There’s no bit of canvas left exposed as the photos suggest as this is just light bouncing off from the side of canvas.
Easy Canvas Prints
I mentioned that I left the print on the wall for two weeks before penning this review and there was something that struck me as odd (but bear in mind that I photograph primarily on flat, seamless backgrounds). There’s a very hard to photograph “gridding” effect on the canvas, only viewable on this particular image of the seamless background. This isn’t noticeable from the front is only visible when viewing the piece from the side and when looking for flaws. You won’t notice it unless you’re looking for it and more than likely isn’t noticeable on most other styles of photography. To be honest it’s not very prominent but for those of you who demand absolute perfection on your seamless backgrounds on screen and on print it might bring you a bit of dismay. This is a very small complaint for an overall excellent product.

So would I purchase from ECP? If I were in love with canvas printing I would not hesitate to do so. Turnaround is fast, products are shipped very well protected, and the actual pieces can be a wonderful treatment for your photos.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Melissa at ECP, she was very helpful throughout the entire process and really has the customer in mind. Head on over to http://www.easycanvasprints.com/ for more information about pricing and options.
Easy Canvas Prints

2011, a Review

January 17, 2012 by Chris

2011 was a wild ride. Wild. Somehow my name made it out to the masses and I managed to produce more work than any year previously on record. It took me from Salt Lake to Portland and saw me take on assignments outside of my home cities. It further marked a continuation of growth and further refinement of my style. I learned, I laughed, and I did work. So here we go, a quick review of some of my favorite images from 2011.

Danielle – The Lensbaby is a fascinating tool as is backlighting. Together they produced for me an image that was soft and dreamy, giving rise to some kind of story that needed to be told.

Hannah – She requested the use of fabric for her images and so I thought, why not?

Jorgen – An editorial image which has several implications for me in style and content in the future.

Pedro and Steven – The objective in any documentary image is to tell a story concisely and without words and this image does just that. Timing, location, and positioning.

Liz – Working with Odyssey Dance Theatre is always a special experience but actually being flown in by Derryl and treated like some kind of celebrity upon entering the studio was something altogether different. More than any frame of the over 600 selects, Liz’s improv speaks worlds to me.

Ashley – Few dancers from the get-go have the kind of brilliant attack and fearlessness that Ashley had. While on tour with Trey McIntyre Project in Portland, we were able to create some stunning images.

Chelsea (hair and makeup by Haylee Haning) – My first conceptual shoot. Of course it was going to be Chelsea in front of the camera.

Lindsey – More than any image, Lindsey’s signals a change in both style and tone in my images. Here is a portrait but also a dance image created as pure collaboration between dancer and photographer.