An article was published in the October 15, 2020 online magazine iLeGaLit produced in the Czech Republic. The article (Seehttps://ilegalit.wordpress.com/2020/10/15/fotografie-james-black/) contains my short bio as well as several of my black and white photographs.
Confusing to many new, and sometimes experienced, photographers are the multitude of categories in photo contests. We sit and scratch our heads trying to understand the meaning of “Fine Art Landscapes” versus “Nature Landscapes.” Apparently, an all-in-compassing guide to categories does not exist. However, a little internet research can help photographers pick the correct entry category. The International Photography Awards (IPA) has an excellent explanation of categories that can be used as a starting point. See Categories | International Photography Awards™ (photoawards.com).
I have to give a shout-out to Pictorem – a Canadian on-demand photo printing company. Although located in Canada, their products are delivered for free in the USA and Canada. In addition, photographers can establish an account and sell their art online. All you need to know is at: Canvas Acrylic Metal & Mural Printing – Pictorem.com
My photograph of Turret Arch in Arches National Park, Utah was printed by Pictorem on metal with outstanding results.
As an amateur photographer have you wondered about photo contest reviews and their value? Here is a sample … “You have some very strong work in your submission. There’s a luscious overall tonality in many of your pictures that I can only imagine illustrates the attentive and patient vision of the photographer. My eyes continually return to images one, two, four, six and nine. This is largely because the main subjects arguably appear on a relatively large scale, and there’s also mostly a rather clear distinction between the positive and negative shapes of the image. To put this another way, there’s a very careful demarcation between what the subject is and what the subject is not. This approach works particularly well for rather traditional landscape photographs. The remaining images are commendable, but there’s such a profusion of detail and texture across most of the frames that what might otherwise be more prominent focal points are minimized and less legible. My primary suggestion is to seek more strident and demonstrative subject matter for these kinds of photographs. …I hope you can tell that I found your work quite rewarding overall. Thank you for submitting your work to LensCulture.”
See: LensCulture – Contemporary Photography
Shades of Color is an online subscription magazine based in France and published 6 times a year. Each issue has articles on:
In its most recent edition (17) I was included as one of the featured artists. See https://shadesofcolormagazine.com/shop/ for details on how to subscribe…you won’t be disappointed.
I was down with COVID for about 14 days, but I am now out of quarantine. My wife and I had mild cases, luckily, and can assure you it is no fun. One of the biggest problems is a general malaise which can border on being debilitating. Thankfully, vaccines are on the way for all Americans. Cheers!