Photo to Canvas

10/21/2026

CANVAS VS METAL
For me canvas wins! No brainer! The reason so many people are drawn to metal prints is the glossy finish provides insane vibrancy and detail, but also creates major reflections. When you see these aluminum prints in a gallery they are lit specifically to avoid the reflections!
And before you comment about how the metal prints are also available in matte sheens, yes im aware. And welp, I think they look cool in some settings but it’s definitely not the classic look we are all used to from seeing canvas paintings. The aluminum is always a very modern look so it can look a bit odd in a non modern decor. My opinion and I’m sticking with it! And if you think canvas doesnt hold detail, I beg to differ!

Oh yeah and its cheaper!

10/16/2026

Good couple trips to Hood River lately. With summer behind us I look forward to focusing more on my space there and getting to know the community. Stoked to have finally met one of my first customers Erin Valverde Pollard in person and photograph her amazing pencil drawing. I've been printing her husbands art for years and she connected me with the space I ended up renting. Thanks Erin! So happy to become a part of this community.

10/14/2026

HOLY TACO TIME let’s talk about lights y’all.

When I am shooting art this is what I use! Godox sk400ii V. Two of ‘em! Loaded up with my polarization film (available from polarization.com) in these handy rings I designed and 3d printed! Nerd alert! Pretty cheap and they work great!

10/08/2026

09/26/2026

Morning walks at Columbia have become an essential part of my routine. The best way to start the day, especially with as stressed as I’ve been recently. Today was my first of the season with fog so I dragged the camera along. It was a pretty sad walk after reading this week that Portland is moving forward with demolishing Columbia Pool, which was cherished by our neighborhood.

Shooting in Northern Washington this week and now these has me feeling really good about getting back into photography. It’s been interesting seeing how differently I look at things and frame the world after printing so many other people photos over the past 6 years. Exciting stuff, I look forward to sharing the Washington pics soon.

Thanks for reading-

09/25/2026

This video is not a discussion about the ethics of ai art and imagery. If you post comments about that they will be taken down. This is about people that are trying to use ChatGPT or other ai bots as an editor for their images when they do not possess the skills to do said editing on their own.

The bottom line. ChatGPT SUCKS at editing files and producing a solid printable result. So if you want to add some colors or remove some people from your image without doing it properly, the results will not be good. Im too busy to reach out to everyone that sends me low res ai images so BE WARNED. They will likely get printed and you will likely be unhappy with the results.

I will be posting videos like this regularly as it’s only going to get worse, and thats going to happen very quickly. Buy your buddy who has photoshop a b**r and let them do it right (even if they use PS AI lol).

09/23/2026

My editing software for artwork photography is……Phocus! But I realize most of you probably don’t’ have Hasselblad cameras, so in this case my recommendation would be Capture One! I know a lot of people in the industry that are big fans.

The reason I love Phocus is it has an incredibly workflow using my iPad to wireless tether then I can airdrop everything over to my Mac in a Phocus ready session. Its color rendering is amazing, and I also love how easy it is to make make color profiles right within the session and not having to use the Calibrate color checker software. There is a bit of a learning curve but I’m getting there!

I try to avoid Adobe software for this because, well, I’m just tired of Adobe and their AWFUL customer support!

09/11/2026

What a great way to spend my day!

Talented young girl is Olivia E.H. Good job!

09/10/2026

People ask me about the gear I use to photograph art so let’s talk about that! Today is my camera!

I used Sonys for years but last December I upgraded to a Hasselblad and I couldn’t be happier! I have one lens for this camera, a 75mm (medium format) and thats all I need! Fitted with my Hoya Filter USA Linear Polarizer of course!

Next up, the software!

09/08/2026

Photographing art in a way that eliminates almost all reflections is a very helpful practice. And here is how I do it! I use a linear polarizer (not a standard circular polarizer) and polarizing gels on my strobes. I even designed and 3d printed these handy slip on mounts for the gels! The dual polarization kicks them reflections right outta dodge which means I can shoot through glass, and most importantly artists can apply glossy varnish if they desire before photography.

Years ago I would request that artists bring me their pieces pre varnish to avoid reflections. But the problem is their varnish drastically affects the saturation of their colors so I find its way more accurate to shoot this way after they varnish!