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Your satisfaction with the quality of my Fine Art Prints is guaranteed.
If, for any reason, you are not completely satisfied with a print you receive from Robert Perkins Photography, you may return it, in its original condition, for a full refund of the purchase price, no questions asked. It is that simple.
I have organized all my available images into several galleries in an effort to cater to different interests. Note that the same image may appear in more than one gallery. For example, there are several landscapes in the Landscape gallery that can also be found in the Watercolor Style gallery.
The Landscape gallery contains those images that are considered traditional landscapes.
The Watercolor Style gallery contains images that have visual qualities reminiscent of watercolor paintings, so I print them on a watercolor paper.
The Extreme Light gallery contains images that were captured at dawn, sunset or in other unusual or difficult lighting conditions.
More abstract or detailed subjects can be found in the Art of Nature gallery and Art of Man gallery.
I have always felt that flowers are in a class of beauty all their own, so I have a Flowers gallery just for them.
One of my hobbies is the study of prehistoric Native American archeology, ruins and rock art, so I have collected my related images into The Ancient Ones gallery.
My good friend, Betsy Wilhoit, is represented in the Betsy gallery on my site. Betsy is a very talented, all-around artist. She paints in watercolor and oils, draws in pencil and pastels, and is a gifted potter. She sometimes takes photographs as what she calls photo references for future paintings. Personally, I believe these utilitarian photos are excellent in themselves, and I want to make sure the world knows it.
Betsy's gallery offers not only photographic prints, but prints of some of her artwork from other media. I expect that, over time, she will offer more prints from a variety of media.
If you simply want to see all of the available images without classification, refer to the All Images gallery, where they are arranged alphabetically.
Go to the New Images gallery to see images I have added during the last year. After a year, I fold them into their appropriate galleries, making room for the next year's new images. This makes it easy to keep up with what I have done lately.
Refer to the Galleries index page to see all the categories of images.
Ansel Adams, who was also a pianist, is purported to have said that his negatives are the score, and his prints are the performance.
Some people are surprised to learn the extent to which Ansel Adams (and most other photographers) manipulated his images, during his print-making process, to achieve the emotional content of his artistic vision. One of the roles of art is to convey the emotions - the feelings - of the artist. From this perspective, fine art photographs are not intended simply to be high-fidelity shapshots. Rather, as with all art forms, they are intended to help the observer experience an emotional transformation.
For many years, photographers performed their art in the darkroom, using traditional tools - optical enlargers, burning and dodging, contrast masks, sharpening masks, and photo chemicals and papers - to create their artwork. Some photographers still manage to hang on to this approach, but it's getting increasingly difficult to ward off the computer invasion. Today even Eastman Kodak sells digital cameras.
Most photographers admit, however, that fine art photography is not about the tools - it's about the artist. Each photographer must make a conscious effort to identify the principles that drive the translation of his artistic vision to the actual artwork. Today's digital darkroom actually uses the same tools as the traditional darkroom: color control tools, dodging and burning, masks. The difference is that you manipulate the tools with a mouse.
The point is that the basic process is the same whether traditional or digital: the photographer studies the original image and decides what the goals are to render that original into a print that conveys the photographer's vision. That goal is reached via the tools available. Ultimately, the goal of all fine art photographers remains the same: to capture and convey feelings.
I currently operate within both the traditional and the digital realms. For most of my career I have used film as the original capture medium. I have a legacy collection of over 30,000 film transparencies, so I will be continually searching that collection for images that will make great art. At the same time, digital cameras are beginning to have the high resolution required for fine art printing, so I have begun to use that medium to capture new images. One of the advantages of the digital approach is that it is a little less time-consuming that the darkroom approach, resulting in increased time available for the artistic aspects of the process.
My images are offered in limited edition print runs of 500 for each size. Each print is numbered and signed.
The prints are available on several types of paper. Unless otherwise requested, I decide which type of paper is appropriate for the particular image being printed. For example, some of my images have visual qualities reminiscent of watercolor paintings, so I print them on a watercolor paper, which has a matte surface. (Refer to the Watercolor Style portfolio.) Most of my images are printed on a luster paper that reduces glare from ambient light, thereby revealing more of the subtle colors. Some people prefer the look of glossy paper, so it is also an option. Most of the time I use Epson papers, although I may occasionally try other high-quality papers for special purposes. I use Epson Ultrachrome inks. Epson has developed ink/paper combinations that have been tested to verify their claimed archival longevity of 80 to 100 years - longer than the typical lifetime of purely photographic papers! With normal care, my prints should last a lifetime.
The prints are available in a variety of sizes. To keep my prints more affordable, my primary sizes are 8x12 inches matted to 16x20, and 12x18 inches matted to 18x24 or 20x24. However, I do offer larger sizes if desired. Call me (972.247.4378) to discuss other sizes and their prices. (Refer to the Pricing Page for standard sizes and prices.)
In 1960, when I was 12 years old, my parents gave me a 35mm camera and took me on a trip to the Big Bend National Park in far west Texas. That was the beginning of a love affair with photography and the desert southwest of the United States, and the beginning of the intuitive basis of my photography. Since that time, I have searched for ultimate beauty in the deserts, canyons and mountains of the world. I use my camera to capture the dramatic simplicity of the 'natural art' I find there.
I believe that a fine art photographic image represents the intersection of the artist's philosophy, hard work, and luck. I try to take that belief to the next level, where my philosophy and favorite subject matter are one in the same. My philosophy centers on interfaces, the places where things touch and relate to one another; where the sparks fly. And my favorite subject matter is also the interface, where things come together in unexpected ways, creating new perspectives.
I divide my time between printing my images, and fieldwork - walking the land that I love in search of...perfect light. Light is the medium of the world, exposing those interfaces. When, by design or by chance, I find the perfect combination of light and time, the world snaps into place and there are no more questions. You could not be there, so it's my job to bring that feeling of integrity - that beauty - back for you...
Light moves so fast. Chasing it is hard work, particularly if you are carrying a 60-pound backpack. I prefer to use lightweight equipment. My first serious camera body was a Nikon. Over the years I have amassed a large collection of Nikon lenses, and Nikon has never let me down. Today, they offer digital cameras, and all my old lenses are still compatible with them. What's not to like?
In the field I use a Gitzo carbon tripod.
One of the advantages of digital photography is that you can use your laptop computer to review your dailies in the evenings; no waiting to develop any film. So a laptop computer is essential equipment.
Back home in the studio, I use a Nikon film scanner to digitize my legacy transparencies. Adobe® Photoshop® is my choice of software for digital image editing. I use it to crop, dust spot, dodge and burn, and print my images. I use both Apple Mac and Windows-based computers, and a Wacom digital tablet.
I use Epson printers, Epson Ultrachrome inks (which have an archival longevity of 80+ years), and Epson papers. Sometimes I experiment with different high-quality papers (such as Arches and Fuji). My primary Epson paper types are Ultra Premium Luster, Velvet Fine Art (watercolor paper), and Ultra Premium Glossy.
My process can be described as a master image approach, which means that I first produce an ultra-high resolution master image file. Later, when I am filling a customer order for a print, I copy and resize the master image as appropriate for the order, and print it. I also use standard color management practices: at print time, my master images are color-profiled for the specific target printer. This ensures that the printed image looks the same whether I print it on my studio printer or send it out to a third-party service with a very large printer.
I matte my prints using a museum-quality, white, archival-grade matte board. I also offer the prints without mattes, in case my customer wants to use another type or color of matte board.