This week we will be asking Ron about some of his Fine Art Photography and images.

I: Many people don’t know of your Fine Art Photography. Can you explain a little bit about your past and what you do with your fine art?

Ron:  Well, I guess my fine art photography started many, many years ago. It would be the photos I started learning photography with. They would be still lifes of flowers, landscapes and then evolved into animals and as time has passed; more intricate black and whites and painting these images.

I: How did that help you with photography?

Ron: When I was learning all the camera controls such as depth-of-field and using the shutter to blur or stop the action; it was easier to do it with an inanimate object. Of course that was film, so to save on expenses, I did a lot of it with black and white film. On my 35mm cameras, I was able to buy bulk film and reload my own cassettes. Plus I developed my own film so that kept the costs down as well. Now people can pay a higher price for a digital camera and keep experimenting with these controls and just reusing the flash cards. Another factor was to experiment with different lenses and filters. Obviously lenses are still a big part of shooting with digital. But filters have somewhat gone by the wayside. Most of those effects can be done in the post production on a computer. It probably isn’t as efficient as the filters on the camera used to be; but it allows you to do any effect with any photo. When you used a filter on a film camera before; what you got was it. There was no changing it after the fact.

I: You mentioned the painting of your images. Can you elaborate more on that?

Ron: Quite a few years ago, after Photoshop had become the ‘norm’ for digital manipulation and production, a program called “Painter” was introduced. I had been teaching Photoshop since its’ beginning and it was kind of hitting a plateau in my opinion. And I was looking for more of a challenge. Unfortunately, the first number of releases were very complicated and hard to understand. And the company knew that. They made some adjustments and when an easier to understand version was introduced, I picked up my stylus and wacom tablet (used to paint and draw with) and starting working on the program. It wasn’t long until I had mastered certain features of the program which allowed me to use my photographs as a base and paint them in the computer. Painter is able to replicate almost any medium there is. Acrylic, watercolor, oil, pen, pencil and much more. It is the experimenting and practicing in this program that gives me the results I want. Plus we have a large format printer that gives me access to producing images as large as 40×60 inches on archival art material for this art. I love it.

I: So is there any one type of subject that intriques you more?

Ron: I’m very eclectic. I still like nature. Flowers, trees, landscapes and wildlife. But I’m getting more and more involved with painting my portraits and I’m looking for everyday life situations to paint. Excitement of sporting events. Wedding images. Farming scenes. Architecture and so much more. The possibilities are endless. Especially with all the different techniques I have available in Painter. Plus it’s not just a button to push. You actually have to make the strokes and the lines and adjust the color just like using oils or acrylics. Studying art has become a big time issue for me. There’s so much to learn and so little time.

I: Where are these images available to view and purchase?

Ron: Right now we have a number of them at each of our studios in Mayville and Grand Forks. I’ve been working on a web site just for my art and it’s not quite ready for launch yet. Hopefully within a couple months it will be up and running.

I: Thanks for sharing with us about your art.

Ron: You’re welcome. I’m posting a few of my ‘art’ images to give readers some idea of what’s available.