Etsy

News flash: I've set up a storefront at Etsy, here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/michaelhampson

Right now I have several prints from my Fake Landscapes series for sale. I plan to offer others soon, probably along the lines of books, thin wraps, and metal prints rather than paper. If there's anything specific you're interested in seeing there, let me know.

Fake Landscapes: The Book

I am thrilled to announce the release of Fake Landscapes, my first photo book.  The book is a collection of macro images of fruits and vegetables, lit and shot to resemble strange terrains. No digital manipulation was used, only the very basic tweaks that any photo gets. Only lighting, perspective, and other in-camera trickery turn these potatos and avocados into scenes of various landscapes throughout the day.

Fake Landscapes is available for $35 (plus shipping) through AdoramaPix. This book looks great and feels great, and holding it my hands makes me really proud of the work inside. I wanted to publish these images in a format that I really felt they deserved, and really, they look awesome here. The pages are thick, with brilliant colors and sharp lines (the book is printed on Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper), the covers are sturdy, and the binding is strong.

You can browse through a low-resolution copy of the entire book through the ordering page, but here are a few sample images:

If these look interesting, please consider purchasing a copy -- it's a beautiful photo book, and you're supporting my work as an independent artist. And you can check out my work through my fake landscape gallery for larger viewing or prints.

Fake Landscapes: $35 plus shipping

Green metallic bee, spiderwort 2

Another green metallic bee, but I think these guys look great. I just replaced a few of the other Agapostemon shots with slightly retouched versions (nothing major, just some better sharpening and JPG output) -- the difference probably isn't noticeable if you aren't comparing the two versions side by side, but these should produce better prints. I just ordered some for myself yesterday, and can't wait to see them.

On that note, I've also removed the option to buy glossy prints from my gallery. The lustre prints have the same type of finish on a higher quality paper, and since there are so many size and paper options to sort through already, I don't see a real need to offer both.

If you're interested in ordering a print of my work but aren't sure what paper type to go with, you won't go wrong with lustre. Metallic prints can look incredible, but not every image works well with it. It gives images an incredible appearance of depth and vibrance, and handles dark and shadowy areas beautifully, though brighter highlights can look strange. I've got a few more coming in this latest batch I ordered, and hope to get a better idea of what kinds of image I'd recommend it for soon.