This year, two of my photos were selected as part of the Art Wolfe Environmental Photography Invitational (EPI) competition. Darkeness Bleeds Daylight and Winter Shore were both selected in the Landscape Category by the panel of judges with Winter Shore earning the “Highly Commended” honor. Over 1400 images were narrowed down to just 100 images by 69 photographers. Large prints of all the winning images are on exhibit in the Art Wolfe Gallery in Seattle from May 18 to June 30. To view this year’s winning EPI photos you can go to www.epinvitational.com.

The Environmental Photography Invitational is an event for the advancement of photography as a unique medium capable of bringing awareness and preservation to our environment through art. The Environmental Photography Invitational is a premier North American photography event. The selected prints will celebrate the world’s diversity along with the creativity and originality of photographers. EPI is an annual community event involving foundations, sponsors, politicians, and photographers to promote environmental awareness.

Even though Mt. Shasta is only 60 miles from my home, I find it difficult to photograph, and as a result I have very few photos of it that I like. As the full moon approached in early May this year I thought I might be able to get a dramatic photo of it with the meeting of three natural events, the near full moon rising over the mountain, lupine and other wildflowers growing in the grasslands at the mountain’s base and some great sunset light to set the mood.

In this line of work, things rarely go as planned or hoped. The flowers and the moon were there on cue, but the sky was clear and less than dramatic. Also, the wind in the grassland was blowing enough to create entirely too much motion in the foreground flowers. In addition, the spot I needed to be in to line up the moon behind the mountain also meant the sun was directly at my back, creating very flat front lighting on all my subjects. I took several shots without really finding a good composition and not being very excited by the plain evening light. I also found there wasn’t enough light to keep the entire scene in focus while maintaining enough shutter speed to freeze the movement of the flowers in the foreground. In the end, blurred flowers, an out of focus mountain and an uninteresting sky kept me from taking any keepers.

As the light faded I packed up and started back to the car. As I hiked over the top of a hill past a patch of indian paintbrush I noticed that the mountain was glowing in the reflected twilight and the sky had become much darker and moody. The only problem was that the wind was still blowing and the forground held very little light. A full five second exposure would now be needed to get the correct exposure and still keep everything in focus. I decided that might as well try experimenting with some fill flash to see if I could illuminate the foreground.

I knew that if my flash was mounted on my camera I would have the same flat, front light issue that I had been having with the sun before it set. I also knew that at close range the shadows cast would look very unnatural. However, with the five second exposure time I had time to trip the shutter on the camera and walk off to the side to manually fire my flash at a position and distance to create some nice, somewhat natural looking fill light. The single strobe of the flash also helped freeze the movement of the flowers caused by the wind. After several tries I was able to fine tune my approach and create the photo at the beginning of this article. It still isn’t the photo I have envisioned from this location, but it is the best photo from the session. In the end I was glad I took the time to get the camera out again and experiment a bit.

I often get questions about the signing and numbering of photography prints. As with any art work, piece of music or writing, the author adds his signature as a way of identification and as a stamp of completion and approval. I sign and number all my prints. At some point I might offer non-numbered, open edition prints, but at this point all my prints are part of limited editions. I generally sign and number prints on the white border below the print with an acid free, archival ink pen. I sign on the lower right and number on the lower left. I sign close to the print edge so that a collector can choose to have it matted with the signature showing or so that the matte covers up the signature. Some photographers sign directly on the printed surface like a painter, and I have done this at times, but prefer not to write on the print itself. If I, myself, am having the framing done for a show or for a client I also sign and number the matte with a pencil in addition to signing the print itself. When I number the print I write it as a ratio of the print number over the total number in the edition. i.e. - 15/200.

In the darkroom days when an image was mastered from film an entire edition of prints was often produced all at the same time. So, by definition, the edition actually was limited. In these days of digital imaging we can create an infinite number of prints of varying sizes from our digital “master” whenever we please, so thier isn’t a functional reason to limit the number of prints. However, art buyers still value limited edition prints becasue they know they are purchasing something that hasn’t been mass produced and will continue to be a somewhat rare and collectible item. Deciding how to establish edition size can be tricky and will be different from one photographer to another. If editions are limited to only 10 prints this will increase perceived value, but will also strictly limit the photographer’s ability to create income from the photo over the course of his career. On the other hand, an edition of 1,000 prints is large enough to decrease the value of each print in collector’s eyes. Most photographers I know have limited editions between 50 and 200. Some also apply other rules to their limited editions. Some photographers have a sliding price scale so that the print price goes up as more of them sell. In theory, this encourages more early sales while the price is lower and then increases the price as the print gains popularity. Other photographers will reserve the first five or ten prints in an edition for gallery shows and special clients, or just to archive for the future.

It is important to carefully set edition numbers. Once an edition number is set it can’t change later. It is important to find a number small enough to be considered limited but which does not remove the image from the photographer’s portfolio too early in his career. It is also important to specify if the edition includes all print sizes or if each sizes constitues a separate edition.

To date, all my prints are in editions of 200 total, so no more than 200 of any image will be produced regardless of print size. At this point in my career none of my editions are in danger of selling out, which is good because I plan on selling them for many years to come.