New Metal Prints

[naturephoto1]

I thought that I would post this regarding the new metal prints that I am putting out on display for the Art Shows that I am participating in. This is a relatively new method for printing that is a high temperature (I believe over 400 degrees) dye sublimation process that takes special pigmented inks and fuses them into and onto an aluminum substrate. There are a number of companies that now offer this process including my printer Bill Nordstrom of Laser Light Printmaking. Bill is one of the best and best known digital printers in the US and the world. I have worked with Bill for over 16 1/2 years as my Master Printer. Bill has printed all of my work that has been used by Leica Camera USA, Bogen Photo and Gitzo Tripods as well as the Sierra Club.

The metal prints are actually offered depending upon the printing company as a glossy, mat, and one other surface. These prints do not need to be placed behind glass, can be washed with water, soap and water, glass cleaners, etc. It is a very expensive process and the images remain totally flat. Depending upon the inks used they can have an estimated life of 100 years, are much more durable than photo papers like Fuji Crystal Archive that I use (60 years estimated life). I normally opt for glossy surface photos and the glossy surface that offered by Bill is a supergloss surface that is mirror like. The images appear to be sharper, with more more "Wow" factor than the glossy Fuji Crystal Archive Photo paper; additionally, the Super Glossy Metal prints appear to have even more color saturation, better contrast, greater depth to the image, more 3D effect, etc.

I experimented and put out the following 2 copyrighted images for the Wickford Art Festival (one of the oldest, biggest) Fine Art Shows in all of New England:

White Bengal Tiger as a 16" X 24" metal print:

Latourell Falls as a 16" X 20" metal print:

I sold the White Bengal Tiger and received really high praise for the new printing method.

Because of the response, I will be reprinting the White Bengal Tiger in the same size in metal for the next show.

I will also be having the following images printed as metal prints for the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, (Mystic Connecticut) for next month:

I will be displaying this copyrighted image of Lake Placid From White Face in a 24" X 30" print size:

This copyrighted image of Her-on-Him in a 16" X 24" print size:

This copyrighted image of Acadian Sunrise in a 20" X 30" print size:

Finally, I am going to let Bill do his wizardry work and make the new and first prints of the following 2 copyrighted images that I have done a little work on as a 16" X 20" metal print:

and this one as a 16" X 24" metal print:

Rich

 

[Steve Williams]

Spectacular Rich

Thanks for sharing

 

[DonH50]

Wow, impressive pix no matter the print media! I know some of the popular photo rags (had to drop my NAPP membership) have suggested metal prints but I have never really paid much attention. Will now! - Don

 

[audioguy]

W o w !!!!

 

[Steve Williams]

Rich

With which camera and lens did you shoot those last two photos?

 

[RogerD]

Hi Rich,

Just Beautiful!

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for the very kind words.

Steve,

Believe it or not, the last 2 photos were taken with the Canon G10 with the built in zoom lens.

The other photos are all digital scans from transparencies and have been restricted to their size because these are in their final forms and have been out for sale and on my website for years. Most of the slide/transparency film was Fuji Velvia 50. The White Bengal Tiger is an exception shot on Kodachrome 64. The White Bengal Tiger was shot with a Leica R4SP on a Lecia 560mm f 6.8 lens. This image was in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia for the entire duration of it being in "print". The Acadian Sunrise photo was shot with a Leica R7 and a Leica 70-210mm f4 lens (a lens made to Leica specs by Minolta) on Fujichrome Velvia 50; this was a straight shot with no filter and was used by Leica Camera USA. The Her-on-Him photo was taken with a Leica R7 with a Leica 800mm f 5.6 Apo Telyt lens that was loaned to me by Leica Camera USA for a month; Leica Camera USA used this image and it was an award winning photo by Professional Photographers of America.

The Latourell Falls photo was shot with a Mamiya 7II camera with a Mamiya 7 43mm f4.5 lens on Fujichrome Velvia 50. The last photo which is of Lake Placid from White Face was taken with a Linhof 45S 4" X 5" camera with a Rodenstock 150mm f 5.6 Apo Sironar S lens on Fujichrome Velvia 50 with a Tiffen Warm Polarizer (with built in 812 filter). In fact the photo of Lake Placid is the only photo that used any filtration at all. However, the only reason for the usage of the warm polarizing filter was the fact that we could not take the ski lift to the top of the ski lift until late in the morning; the photo was taken about 11:30 AM and the filter was used to return some of the color the was being washed out by the sun.

Rich

 

[JackD201]

Rich your photos are inspiring. Good luck on your new show, I'm sure it will be great

 

[amirm]

I am fascinated by the printing process. You said it was expensive. May I ask how expensive? I am almost afraid of the answer .

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Amir,

I have taken the response off to a PM so look for this.

Rich

 

[amirm]

Thanks Rich. Much appreciated.

 

[FrantzM]

WOW ! I second Dan these are beautiful evenon the PC screen...

Rich are these as expensive s the old Dye Transfer method?

 

[naturephoto1]

WOW ! I second Dan these are beautiful evenon the PC screen...

Rich are these as expensive s the old Dye Transfer method?

Hi Frantz,

Thanks for the kind words.

I would say no, these should not be nearly as expensive as the old Dye Transfer method. The Dye Transfer process was extremely labor intensive with I believe 4 separate perfectly registered negatives that needed to be stripped.

Even though I was trying to avoid this, you can check out some of the options available from both Bayphoto and from Bill Nordstrom (Laser Light Printmaking); there are other sources as well:

http://www.bayphoto.com/metalprints/

http://www.laslight.com/chromeprint.php

Bill has a special going on right now and if interested contact him and speak either to Bill or Chris; I believe they will be back from Vacation on Monday.

As Bill has indicated they have knowledge, experience (over 50 years in the industry for Bill, he is in his mid 70s), the best equipment and inks (I believe they are using special European pigmented inks), put in special care etc. to choose your lab. I have complete faith in Bill and his work, he may be a little more expensive, but his finished products speak for themselves.

Rich

 

[FrantzM]

Rich

Not sure why you didn't want to point us to the people makig thedse metal print. I find the prices from Bayphoto, very fair especially when one considers the archival quality.. although to be fair no number is given, only that the prints would last "generations" whatever a "generation" represents in years. 10, 20? I guess more than 20 years

 

[naturephoto1]

Rich

Not sure why you didn't want to point us to the people makig thedse metal print. I find the prices from Bayphoto, very fair especially when one considers the archival quality.. although to be fair no number is given, only that the prints would last "generations" whatever a "generation" represents in years. 10, 20? I guess more than 20 years

Hi Frantz,

Part of the reason for not posting this initially was so that people would not question the price that I and other photographers price their work. Some of us make or try to make a living selling photos and in my case as fine art.

Also, and I am not familiar with Bayphoto and their finished photos is that I do not know if they offer a backing material like the 1/8" plastic mount that Bill offers for added stiffness to the aluminum. The aluminum is only .045" thick- Aluminum 045 and Bill has rightfully pointed out that he has concern if the aluminum print is used alone that it could crumple or dent easily. The mounting adds substantially as an option for what Bill offers but it adds substantially to the rigidity as well as the flatness of the print and helps to prevent dings in the aluminum.

The estimated life of the photos as prepared by Bill with his inks is about 100 years, I do not know about the estimates of the other labs and the inks that they are using.

Rich

 

[naturephoto1]

As an aside and related to my first posting in this thread, totally unexpected and out of the blue I received an order yesterday from a customer in Virgina that had purchased from me in the past (it is always so appreciated when owners of my work contact me years later and are enjoying the work so much that order more). But, because he needed/wanted the size of the finished photos to be larger for their space, he decided that he wanted the photos printed on Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper, double matted with the white non buffered mat boards that I use and to be framed. So, the gentleman ordered the following 2 photos on Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper as 24" X 30" photos with double mats (32" X 40") with the Black lacquered Maple frames that I offer:

You will recognize the first photo as one of the pieces that are being shipped to me as a metal print. I have to reprint these now on the Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper and have these shipped to me so that I can fill the order. Unfortunately my last copies of the Lake Placid photo in that size had been destroyed some years ago when the sump pump in our basement failed and I lost over 700 photos, about 2/3s of my unframed, raw prints. I have copies of the other photo in house of Autumn Misty Morn, Heart Lake.

I will ship the 2 photos soon after the arrival the new prints of Lake Placid. But, I am shipping the photos without glass which will be installed in Virginia.

Additionally, I spoke with Bill Nordstrom on Friday and he informed me that the 2 new photos that I had given him some guidance really look great as metal prints; as a reminder below are the 2 photos and I am sure that what Bill has prepared are much better than my efforts:

Rich

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hi Rich!

What good news to hear about a satisfied customer coming back for more! I'm sure this made your day...I know it would for me!

I've always loved that last picture of the rocks in the brook. Would you mind if I copied it to use as a desktop background? I know I can without asking, but I'd feel better if you allowed me that privelage.

 

[naturephoto1]

Hi Rich!

What good news to hear about a satisfied customer coming back for more! I'm sure this made your day...I know it would for me!

I've always loved that last picture of the rocks in the brook. Would you mind if I copied it to use as a desktop background? I know I can without asking, but I'd feel better if you allowed me that privelage.

Hi John,

Thanks for the kind comments; it was very satisfying and made my day.

As to your request, I have sent you a PM.

Rich

 

[Steve Williams]

Rich

what kind of glass would you recommend for over your photos shown

 

[naturephoto1]

Rich

what kind of glass would you recommend for over your photos shown

Hi Steve.

I normally recommend at this point that people use a UV protective glass as a minimum. For Tru Vue products that would be their Conservation Clear. I also offer Museum Glass, but this is extremely expensive and I only recommend it to those that want the very best glass. Museum Glass offers not only the same 97 to 98% reduction in UV light as the Conservation Clear Glass, but it also has some special green coatings that allow 96% of the visible light to go through so that the images have better color, better contrast, appear to be sharper, and it is an anti-reflective glass. When the image is placed properly with Museum Glass the finished product frequently looks like there is no glass. I usually have 2 pieces on display and when people come by they tap to see if there is glass in the frame. But, with the new metal prints I may stop exhibiting it shortly and sell the 2 samples at a reduced price.

Non Glare glass that many people like (I am not a fan) will still result in hot spots that can be seen; additionally it tends to mute the colors and soften the image. Non Glare glass is usually etched or sanded on 1 or both sides and the softening of the image becomes more noticeable with more mats used. Usually only 2 to 3 mats would be suggested with Non Glare Glass. Museum Glass can be used with probably 4 or 5 mats with little or no loss of sharpness.

Rich