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About the Work
All of my early images are made with Nikon 8008s, Nikon F100 or Hasselblad 500CM cameras. After many years of using only film cameras, I transitioned to the digital cameras that I use now. Most of the images in the Gallery are made with Nikon D70 and Olympus Camedia E-10 digital cameras. The Nikon D70 and a recent acquisition, the Nikon D2x, are my working cameras now. Lenses include Nikon 12-24mm f/4, Tamron 28-105mm f/2.8, 105mm micro f/2.8, and Tamron 200-400 f/5.6. There is a 1.5 conversion factor on the lens attached to the digital cameras compared to a 35mm film camera, so that I have an equivalent range of 18mm to 600mm. The Hassy has the Carl Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 lens which is equivalent to a 50mm lens on a 35mm film camera. I use filters very infrequently and when I do it's usually a circular polarizer. Most of the images are exposed using natural light. Occasionally I use either on or off camera flash. The flashes I use are the Nikon SB-600 and SB-800 and the new Nikon wireless close-up Speedlight Commander kit. The wireless remote speedlights can either be mounted on the lens or detached and used separately.
All of my digital photographic images are made from start to finish by me. I touch up and resize the files using Photoshop CS3. I personally print each image on an Epson 2200 printer using either Epson archival enhanced matte paper or Velvet Fine Art paper which is 100% cotton rag, with an acid free base and bright white surface. The Epson 2200 uses 7 separate cartridges of archival pigment ink . This gives me the capability to print up to 2880x1440 dpi high resolution images. There are interchangeable Photo Black and optional Matte Black ink cartridges for precision ink coverage on any type of paper.
Without joining the ongoing debate about the manipulation of images, I will just say that the digital process is one more tool the photographic artist has at their disposal. When I was developing and printing my work using traditional darkroom chemical processing, I often used dodging or burning during the print exposure as well as spotting prints with photographic ink to remove imperfections in the final print. I also made use of color filters to enhance coolness or warmth. I do that now using software in which I can make corrections pixel by pixel to get the result that I wish to present as my vision of the subject. As a sometime press photographer, I am absolutely against any manipulation of an image that is supposed to document an event, if the intent is to lead the viewer to see something other than what actually happened.
My fine art prints which are intended to evoke an appreciation for what they are and not necessarily what they once were, are manipulated by me to get the effect that I want. Sometimes this is as small a correction as sharpening or soft focusing or balancing brightness and contrast. At other times the process can be as drastic as removing the background and presenting an image that pops to the front out of darkness or superimposing one image onto another. Some of the abstract or impressionistic images only use one of my original photographs as a jumping off point to create another image altogether. In any case, my hope is that you will find at least one image that will make you say "Wow!".
Frank
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© 1999 - 2007 Frank Zipperer Photography. All rights reserved.
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Nature and Fine Art Photography
