City Escapes Nature Photography: City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

Newsletter

June, 2010

Our Spring / Summer 2010 Release is Out

Our newest release takes us to the Oregon coast, where we get to see a bit of personality from harbor seals; to Glacier National Park, which is perpetually stunning; and to the Gulf Coast, where the egrets reign supreme. (The Gulf Coast images were taken only one week prior to oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill beginning to wash up onto the Louisiana shoreline in significant amounts.) There is also a “lucky” elephant and a rainbowed waterfall that are not to be missed. Come find a new favorite image, and, as always, we’d love to hear what you think!

Why Should I Consider Canvas?

One of the questions we get most frequently is about when to choose canvas prints. While it is true that the choice of a traditional print versus a canvas one is very much an issue of personal taste, for those who are considering canvas, that particular bit of information is not all that helpful. Here, then, are some points to keep in mind when debating canvas versus traditional prints.

Canvas adds a beautiful texture and a classic feel to many photographs, especially images of the natural world. The very slight roughness of the canvas surface lends a certain three-dimensionality to the image, emphasizing textures and depth. Additionally, many clients and visitors to our shows tell us that canvas evokes the impression of a painting; indeed, several viewers have mistakenly confused some of our canvas-printed photographs for paintings.

Additionally, no glass is used to frame a canvas print. Being glass-free has several advantages:

~ the necessity for glare control is eliminated.

~ the piece is lighter in weight than an identically-sized, framed paper print, and is therefore able to be hung in places where a heavy frame might be too much for the supporting structures.

~ no glass means no irritating streaks on glass that are difficult to remove.

~ shipping is safer, as there is no glass to break if the box gets dropped or mishandled. While severe mishandling could still break the frame, broken glass creates the possibility of damaging the print underneath, or more importantly, the person opening the box. No glass means no glass shards.

Canvas prints are also framed without the use of mats, though a frame liner (a smaller inner frame set within the larger outer frame) is often used to the same effect as mats. The use of this double-frame can impart a sense of greater substance to the canvas print, compared to the same print traditionally printed and framed. And of course, for the most streamlined look of all, a Gallery Wrap canvas print has no frame whatsoever.

We hope this helps in your decision-making process. If you are still unsure, we recommend visiting a local gallery and seeing the differences first-hand. Because these are visual media, nothing beats actually seeing them with your own eyes.

Happy Father’s Day!

We want to wish all of the fathers out there (again, especially ours!) a fantastic Father’s Day. May you have no lawn work or car maintenance to perform on your special day.

June’s Fun Fact

The male Namaqua sandgrouse, a bird found throughout the western half of arid southern Africa, has found a unique way of ensuring that his chicks get enough water to drink. Every morning, he makes the round-trip flight to a watering hole, a journey of up to 80 km, where he soaks his underbelly feathers. The feathers absorb up to eight times their own weight in water before the sandgrouse returns to his nest, where his thirsty offspring drink the water directly from his feathers.