Switchframes make it easy for you to get your favourite photos printed, framed and sent direct to your door – without a hefty price tag. Switchframes come in popular A3 photo frame, A2 photo frame and A1 sizes; in matt or gloss black. Switchframes have a contemporary 30mm wide profile that looks elegant and professional. They are easily opened and provide quick access to your photo if you want to change it to another favourite.

Gift packs are also available for a unique present – the pack contains your choice of frame and a voucher for the print itself! To find out more and upload your image, go to our Switchframes information page.

Origin of giclee prints: Before the use of giclee printing, the methods of ink jet technology were used as an alternative option to serigraphy and lithography. Afterward, the word giclee was invented to describe the methods of digital prints used as fine arts. It was first created on the Iris graphics in the early 1990s with the help of continuous ink jet printers. Iris printers were initially used for producing the prepress proofs from the digital files for the job of colour matching. Gradually, giclee printing developed and became very popular among the publishers, artists, galleries and photographers for the fine art reproductions. Finally, in 2001 the GPA (Giclee Printers association) was formed where a clear distinction was made between a high quality giclee print and lower quality ink jet print. As the demand of art buyers purchasing high quality canvas prints have increased, the concept of giclee print became more popular.

Today’s giclee technology: Giclee printing has become a big hit among every photographer and artists. This type of printing is mainly used to make reproductions of the original artworks, photographs and canvas prints. This is more expensive than the old process of lithography which was traditionally used to get such reproductions. To get better results than lithography prints, high end archival inks are used. In this type of printing, there is a dot pattern which is not visible to the naked eyes. And its colors are very bright and fade resistant. Giclee is a technique used on various types of media. For example – canvas, archival adhesive paper, water color paper, etc.

The depth of giclee’s prints and its range of colors are far better than those of lithography prints. It has got a higher resolution than any other print. The secret behind this success is the combination of Archival Paper and Archival Pigment Inks, which makes light fastness for 100 years and can be extended up to 200 years in perfect lighting conditions. Nowadays, whether you’re interested in photography or scrapbooking or creating your own reproductions, you can easily get the art materials in cut sheets available on Internet. This type of print is more popular in today’s world because it provides depth and luminosity which represents the original work better than any other modern printing technique. Because of all these reasons, the concept of giclee printing is very popular among all the professional artists.

The 1st draw will be made when we reach 1000 members and remember the more friends and family you tell – the quicker the prize draw – plus we’re happy to split the vouchers between you!

To be in with a chance simply request to join this group and then click on the link below to authenticate your entry and make a note of the password that appears.

Join here

or to upload your photos on canvas, visit our homepage.

Exposure means achieving the correct combination of three elements:

ISO Shutter Speed Aperture

Once you have correctly married together all three, you will achieve the right exposure, meaning the photograph will not be too light and not too dark. However, while shooting at night, for instance, you may intentionally wish for your photograph to appear dark or under exposed. While at other times you may wish for your photograph to appear too light or over exposed.

ISO

On your DSLR, the ISO setting controls the sensitivity of the camera’s image capturing cells. You can increase or decrease their sensitivity by lowering or raising the ISO number. On most cameras you will have the following range of ISO numbers:

100 – 200 – 400 – 800 – 1600 – 3200

100 is not very sensitive to light, meaning a lower ISO is suitable for brighter conditions. 3200 is very sensitive to light, meaning a high ISO is suitable for darker conditions.

But be warned, the higher the ISO the more degraded the image quality becomes. If image quality is important, you should try to avoid shooting on ISOs higher than 800.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed controls the duration of time that light is allowed to hit the camera’s light sensitive cells. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds and usually a DSLR camera will have the following speeds:

SLOW MEDIUM FAST 1” – 1/2 – 1/3 – 1/4 – 1/8 – 1/15 – 1/30 – 1/60 – 1/125 – 1/250 – 1/500 – 1/1000 – 1/2000 – 1/3000

When you start to see a number with a after it, this means that the shutter speed is no longer in fractions of seconds, but in seconds. You should be able to scroll all the way from 1” (1 second) to 30” (30 seconds).However, shutter speed is also used to create two very different visual effects within your image: A slow shutter speed (1/60th sec and slower) will show more evidence of movement. A fast shutter speed (1/125th sec and faster) will start to freeze any movement.

APERTURE

While the shutter speed controls how LONG light is allowed into the camera, the aperture controls how MUCH light is allowed to enter the camera. Unlike your shutter speed, which is located in the camera’s body, the aperture is found in the lens.

Aperture is measured in F-Stops and on most DSLR cameras you will find the following range of F-Stops:

f2.8 – f3.3 – f3.5 – f4 – f4.5 – f5.0 – f5.6 – f6.3 – f7.1 – f8 – f9 – f10 – f11 – f13 – f14 – f16 – f18 – f20 – f22 – f32

Like your pupil, a camera’s aperture is a hole that gets larger (letting in more light) and smaller (letting in less light). You will see from the diagram below that the larger the hole, the smaller the number and vice versa:

REMEMBER: The bigger the number the smaller the hole The smaller the number the bigger the hole

DEPTH of FIELD

Similar to shutter speed, different F-stops give very different visual effects within the image. When using a small F-stop (f11 – f32), you will achieve a large depth of field, meaning all the image, from the very foreground to the very background, will be in focus. When using a large F-stop (f2.8 – f8) you will achieve a shallow depth of field, meaning only a very small slice of the image will be in fo- cus.

The effects of depth of field will be most evident when working in close up, or when you have some- thing very close to the camera (within 1 metre or so).

To give you some examples, below is a list of the digital photography software you can use for free and is made available to download online.

Adjustment of images and photos:

Infran View. With this software program you can alter the graphics at the same time crop and cut your graphics, produce slideshows and even enhance your graphics. All these features in one simple and free software program. This is also perfect for group processing.

Image Force. This is a free software program with editing and painting tools. This tool has an image editor and will let you transfer images from digital cameras and scanners. It is also best used for modifying, sending and printing you photos. Though this is a complicated program, you can be sure you’ll have quality output.

Kodak EasyShare Freeware. This is widely used for modifying, sharing and even printing your photos. This is great for amateurs since it is easier to use.

PhotoFilter. This is a simple software program. Though it has limited features, it is elegant in a way that it has a user interface and lots of image adjustments buttons, effects and filters.

VCW Photo Editor. This free version of graphic editor provides lots of editing and painting features and tools such as, text tool, color replacement, gradients, editing in any scales, selections by region or color, special effects, etc. You can also upgrade to a higher version for a better features.

Picasa. This is a freeware from google. This software has the ability to share and edit all your photos saved on your PC. The good thing about this digital photography software is that it instantly sets all the images and then sorts them by album with date on each folder. This would help you recognize all the pictures. You simply drag and drop to organize your albums as well as to create labels on each album. Moreover, Picasa like other software has the ability to share and send your pictures through uploading them in your emails, and blogs.

Serif Photo Plus. This digital photography software includes features such as, editable text, image slicing, export optimizer, image maps, smart shapes, selection tools and other image enhancement tools. Its current version is now available for free online, but you can order a CD, with a shipping charge. This could be used to put dates on your photos when you turn them into canvas prints.

ADG Panorama Version 5.0. Like other software programs, Panorama also lets you share your photos easily and generate them quickly. It has added features that embed, edit and publish 360 degrees of interactive panoramic composition directly on the web. This software is internet dependent.

Picture Shark. This freeware allows you to “inscribe” visible text or logos on the photos. Additional features includes: The Wizard user interface; the capacity to of produce real watermarks; it also has a feather that create edges between the picture and the stamp, to make the image smarter; and its support any image format. If you’re worried about copyright when you are selling canvas printing reproductions of your prints.

These are some few of the available digital photography software. As a digital photographer, you can always play with your image. Put some creativity and don’t be afraid to explore. Practice and research more on the software program that you think would work best.

If you want to checkout more of his work go to www.lwimages.co.uk, some really stunning images! If you like his stuff contact him – I am sure he’d be willing to sell some reproductions of his work.

I think it is better asked in two parts: 1) Is film dead for amateurs? and 2) Is film dead for pros?

I disagree with the popular belief that film is rapidly becoming a hobbiest niche. Just the opposite – I believe that amateurs still using film are hopelessly retro and are not long of this world, and, pros still need the resolution, color, contrast, and artifact control, not to mention medium and large format flexibility, that only film provides.

As technology improves, and some of the inherent limitations of current digital imaging techniques are overcome with breakthroughs, I believe that film will truly die. However, that date with the reaper is still a long way off.

K

Henri Cartier-Bresson (August 22, 1908 – August 3, 2004) was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism, an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography. He helped develop the “street photography” or “real life reportage” style that has influenced generations of photographers that followed.

Cartier-Bresson exclusively used Leica 35 mm rangefinder cameras equipped with normal 50 mm lenses or occasionally a wide-angle for landscapes.[6] He often wrapped black tape around the camera’s chrome body to make it less conspicuous. With fast black and white films and sharp lenses, he was able to photograph almost by stealth to capture the events. No longer bound by a huge 4×5 press camera or an awkward two and a quarter inch twin-lens reflex camera, miniature-format cameras gave Cartier-Bresson what he called “the velvet hand [and] the hawk’s eye.”[citation needed] He never photographed with flash, a practice he saw as “[i]mpolite…like coming to a concert with a pistol in your hand.”[7] He believed in composing his photographs in the viewfinder, not in the darkroom. He showcased this belief by having nearly all his photographs printed only at full-frame and completely free of any cropping or other darkroom manipulation. Indeed, he emphasized that his prints were not cropped by insisting they include the first millimetre or so of the unexposed clear negative around the image area resulting, after printing, in a black border around the positive image.

Cartier-Bresson worked exclusively in black and white, other than a few unsuccessful attempts in color. He disliked developing or making his own prints.[citation needed] He said: “I’ve never been interested in the process of photography, never, never. Right from the beginning. For me, photography with a small camera like the Leica is an instant drawing.”[citation needed]

Cartier-Bresson is regarded as one of the art world’s most unassuming personalities. He disliked publicity and exhibited a ferocious shyness since his days in hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Although he took many famous portraits, his own face was little known to the world at large (which presumably had the advantage of allowing him to work on the street in peace). He dismissed others’ applications of the term “art” to his photographs, which he thought were merely his gut reactions to moments in time that he had happened upon.

We will keep you updated with the launch of our new photos on canvas website and of course our new perspex product which many of you have been asking about.