Art Prints: From Start to Finish

On June 20th I photographed Tyler and Jessy’s wedding in Wilson, NC. All my wedding packages include an art print. An art print is an image that I created at their wedding with the bride and groom in mind. They often times don’t look like a traditional wedding pictures, which is great, because it gives me a chance to do something unique for each bride and groom. I don’t go by a formula or anything. I do however, give it some thought before hand as to what I want to do. That way I know how to capture the image (film vs. digital, etc.). Tyler and Jessy met at Barton College, and were married in Howard Chapel on campus and had their reception on campus. So, I knew that I wanted to do something Barton-ish. So, I photographed the clock tower which is a new part of Barton’s campus but has become a big part of the campus. I arrived early to the wedding so that I could photograph the clock tower as well as other areas around campus. The cyanotype process came to mind because this process results in a blue print and if you know Barton, blue is the school color. So, it seemed fitting. Of course, I am a process person. I have so much fun just making these prints. But, sometimes it can get in the way because I tend to do too much experimenting and get lost trying to find the final image. So, I thought I would share this process. But first, the final image:

Okay, so here is where it began. This is a digital image, right out of Camera RAW:

Then, I digitally manipulated it. I kind of like this version. So, I almost stopped here, but I decided to keep on going so I could see what the cyanotype would look like:

Here is the cyanotype. It was toned in borax then tannic acid (hence the washed out look):

And of course, the final image. I scanned the toned cyanotype above and then re-introduced the digitally manipulated version. Tyler and Jessy will be getting a matted version of this one: