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Earth Day Special
Mark Jansen Interview
Improve Your Bottom
Earth Day Photo Contest
Call for Photographers!
1st Annual AFC Grant
Dexter's Wag - DuraPlaq
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April 16/2010
Greetings!

Yesterday was tax day, a day when we are all painfully - or perhaps happily - aware of how much money we made (or didn't make) last year. Perhaps some of you have made new goals based on the "bottom line." If you are looking for ideas on how to increase your print sales, read "Improving Your Bottom Line" for some ways Fine Print Imaging can help.

You'll also want to read an interview with landscape photographer Mark Jansen, who, despite a less-than-stellar economy, is growing his business using tried and true marketing strategies.

Just in time for the fortieth anniversary of Earth Day- we are offering a great discount on our eco-friendly Bamboo paper. Bamboo is quick growing and can be harvested without killing the plant. Our Bamboo fine art paper is manufactured by Hahnemuhle, and is a lovely, slightly textured paper with a good weight and a natural white base.

"Taxes: Of life's two certainties, the only one for which you can get an automatic extension."  ~ Author Unknown

"Away, away, from men and towns,
To the wild wood and the downs,
To the silent wilderness,
Where the soul need not repress
Its music." 
~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Earth Day Special - Save on Bamboo!
"Creative Transformations" by Linda Gadbois
© Linda Gadbois
Celebrate the Fortieth Anniversary of Earth Day and save three cents per square inch on our eco-friendly Hahnemühle Bamboo fine art paper!  Normally starting at 15 cents per square inch, now on sale for 12 cents - and the more you order, the more you save!
 
Hahnemühle Bamboois a natural white 100% acid free heavyweight fine art paper made from fibers from highly renewable bamboo. Its warm tone combines beautiful art prints with environmental sensitivity. This is our most eco-friendly paper. Archival, museum quality. Light fastness rating of 100+ years.
 
Make the choice to help keep the planet green - and save a little green as well!
 
Offer good April 16 - 30!Cannot be combined with any other special, coupon or discount.

Order now!

Click here for pricing.

Mark Jansen: Moving in the Right Direction

Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen
by Kate Dardine

For landscape photographer Mark Jansen, the creative process is a release - an expression of a concept that he may carry within his mind for a long time before it comes to fruition.

Mark's photography covers some wide-ranging ground, from vintage automobile and aircraft printed in black and white to sweeping land and waterscapes in breathtaking color. "My work reflects the intricate points of nature that people never seem to notice, or can't escape to see. I like to use extreme perspective and depth of field in my shots, giving the images a dimensional quality," says Mark. He tends to work in series and primarily shoots in vertical format.

Mark started shooting in high school and never stopped. "I've always done photography - always had a business around it," he explains. His first big commercial success happened a few years back when he hung some of his landscapes - mostly 8x10's - in a coffee shop in Ventura, California. "I got a phone call from a guy who said he saw my photos and wanted to buy some prints for his office."

When they got together to discuss which images and sizes, it turned out the "office" was 135,000 square feet and he wanted imagery for the entire building! "At first I panicked. I thought, there is NO WAY that I can come up with that many images - especially since the guy wanted scenes from all over his territory. But I ended up agreeing to
do the job, which involved 300 images and took about a year and a half to complete. After that, I don't fear the size of a job anymore!"

Continue reading...
Improving Your Bottom Line
by Kate Dardine

Looking for some ideas to get your print sales moving? Here's a few to get you started:

  • Stop thinking about it and, to borrow the Nike phrase - "Just do it!" Do what? Social networking! Yes, Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In. Don't know where to start? Click here to read about getting started on Facebook.
  • Host an Open Studio and have your prints available for sale. Click here to learn about hosting an Open Studio.
  • Dust off your (snail) mailing list and send out a postcard mailing featuring one or two of your best prints. Need help designing a postcard? We now offer postcard and business card design services! Click here for more information.
  • Team up with a local, regional or national non-profit organization and work with them to raise funds - selling prints of your work! For info on how to work with a non-profit, click here. We offer a special print packages for non-profits. Call (800.777.1141) or email us for information.
  • Don't have a website (or even if you do) and want to increase your exposure on the internet? Join the Art for Conservation gallery!
  • Need help with marketing direction, pricing, image selection? Call (800-777-1141) or email and set up a marketing consultation with Kate Dardine. The initial 15 minute consultation is free. After that, we charge $80 an hour, billable in 1.4 hour increments.
Earth Day Photo Contest!
© Michael C. Roberts
© Michael C. Roberts
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd, Fine Print Imaging and Art for Conservation have teamed up to sponsor a photo contest themed "All Things Nature."


"Since biodiversity is one of the core issues identified by Earth Day organizers, we decided to keep the theme wide open to allow contestants to celebrate nature in all its forms", said Linda Helm, VP of Art for Conservation. "Our goal is to get people outside and engaging with nature through their cameras so we invite anyone and everyone to enter!"

The entry deadline is April 30, 2010 and images must have been shot within the last year. All photos will be available for viewing and voting on AFC's Facebook page from May 4th-16th, so contestants will want to encourage their friends, fans and family to vote for their image.

Winners will be announced on May 18th and 4 prizes will be awarded: Grand Prize, People's Choice, Editor's Choice and Youth 16 & under.

So join us in celebrating Earth Day and All Things Nature through the lens of your camera!

Click here to enter...
Meet Your Neighbours Seeks Conservation-Minded Photographers!

© Niall Benvie
© Niall Benvie

Professional nature photographers Niall Benvie (UK) and Clay Bolt (US) have announced a new project: Meet Your Neighbours. The project goal is to recruit photographers from around the world to document as many species as possible, both plants and animals, in their own backyards and neighborhoods.

Benvie and Bolt describe this grand project in this way-
"Common neighbourhood plants and animals are usually overlooked and undervalued, yet they are most people's first, sometimes only, point of contact with wild nature. They matter for that reason if no other. They can make us feel better, let us see ourselves in perspective.

We want people to sit up and take notice of these wild neighbours by presenting them as celebrities: photographed in the white field studio, in exquisite detail under beautiful lighting. And we need photographers around the world to partner with us in this effort.

Continue reading...
Announcing the 1st Annual Art for Conservation Grant!

Mark Lukes, President of Fine Print Imaging and Art for Conservation, has announced the 1st annual Art for Conservation Grant - a $2500 printing services grant from Fine Print Imaging.

"We are well aware of the power that strong visual imagery can lend to science initiatives." said Lukes. "That's why we're looking for the trail blazers and story tellers who stand out from all the rest."

The Art for Conservation grant will be awarded annually to a photographer or artist who is using their imagery to deliver a compelling conservation message.

Grant applications will close on June 30, 2010 and the winner will be announced on July 31, 2010.

For more information and a grant application, go to Art for Conservation Grant.
Dexter's Wag
Dexter                   Did You Know?

  • We offer DuraPlaq mounting? DuraPlaq is a cost-efficient, environmentally friendly and contemporary mounting system for fine art prints and photographs. Want to know more? Check out the DuraPlaq website and then call or email us for pricing and additional info. We are proud to be DuraPlaq's exclusive northern Colorado outlet.
  • We offer discounted ONLINE printing using the ROES system? If you have a fairly good handle on preparing your images for printing and want to save some $$ and only need one or two prints of an image, check out Fine Print Express - from photo prints to canvas gallery wraps, we've got a great selection of printing options with very attractive pricing!

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