Author: Rafal Maleszyk Fine Art Photos  

It takes a lot of determination and persistence before you can call yourself a fine art photographer. Like every passion and profession this one is no different. It is a very unique hobby, hard to define, measure or describe. Success in art always has been hard to define, it is something you cannot measure in money or quantity and quality is hard to define too. Here are some things you will have to do before you will be recognized as fine art photographer...

1. Build a strong portfolio that is original and artistic. 
You will need to take art or photography courses and decide what it is that you like the most. When you find it that will be the first great step, sometimes hardest to achieve. After you decide what gives you the most satisfaction, you will start creating strong work. Some people are fortunate enough and do not need schools, they acquire their knowledge by experimenting, reading and analyzing. 

2. Submit your photos to contests, fellowships, awards and grants.
There are thousands of places where you can submit your work online. Prepare carefully, read the rules and understand what the judges are looking for. Your work can be exceptional but remember, you have to submit only the pieces that follow the guidelines. The biggest mistake you can make is to submit work that does not fit the topic of the contest.

3. Find fine art magazines and journals.
Editors are looking for great work everyday, yours can be the one that they have been waiting for. Find magazines that feature work that is in the same genre of your work. It will take hundreds of magazine submissions before you will be accepted but trust me, the first publication will feel great. It will be easier to find magazines that are available online only, those places are not limited by the number of pages, the cost of print is zero so they can include 100 pages or 200 pages without raising the cost of production, as long as your work is strong and original you have a high chance.

Example of a digital Fine Art Photography Portfolio online.

4. What is a strong portfolio?
Your portfolio will be a collection of your photographs that have something in common. If you have many strong images that show very different topics, divide your portfolio into series of photographs. This kind of portfolio with a common topic is strong are highly appreciated because it can make a bigger impact on a viewer and is much more difficult to create.

Images with a common theme
 make a stronger impact.

5. Find an art gallery.
When you complete the above you are ready to show your work in art gallery, select carefully, do not be desperate, art gallery managers take advantage of artists all the time. There are no clear laws protecting the artist, as a matter of fact there are no laws at all. Art galleries have been in business for long time and if you are new to it, they will feel it. Do not be desperate, if you do not feel 100% confident that your work will be properly represented do not come into agreement with the gallery just for the reason to have your work shown. There are better places where you can expose your work. Always sign a contract.

6. Submit your work to museums.
This is one of the highest rewards you will find at this point, when your work is shown at a museum or included in the permanent exposition. This will raise the prestige of your work and help build your carrier.

About the Author
Rafal Maleszyk is a fine art specialist, his work has been awarded and published in numerous magazines; Silvershotz, LensWork, Camera Obscura, Black & White Magazine. 

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Author: Rafal Maleszyk Fine Art Photos

There was a time when oil painting was the ultimate form of art hanged on the walls, those times are long gone. Today's houses, offices, art galleries and museums are full steel, metal, glass, wood and photographs. Black and white analog photography has been sold for millions of dollars, now digital and color work is widely accepted as valid from of art.

Paint brushes, chisels, photo cameras and computers are only tools for creating the same thing: art. The artist is the most important, very much like a musician or dancer uses the music to express his or her vision of the world, a fine art photographer is using the camera to create the beauty on paper.

There is something magical about art, art is not just another factory producing millions and millions of products for sell, artist does not plan his work for economical purpose or political neither, artist is creating the pieces from within, there is a strong desire to imagine something and then recorded it on paper or canvas.


Black and white photography is a very powerful medium, this medium focuses on the most important, discarding the colors the main energy of the picture has to come from composition, texture lighting and contrast without confusions. A lot of serious photographers offer their work in limited edition , that makes the piece more valuable. Very few limit their work to just limited edition one, but five or ten are very easy to find. There are well-established photographers that can limit their work to 950 and sell their work for a high price. 

There is a common confusion about limited edition of artistic reproductions and photographs, some artist offer limited edition in one size and when sold open a new edition in a different size. Today's technology makes it very easy and so far there is no regulation about editions. Art should not be regulated, art's main advantage is that there are not rules or regulations. The best fine art photography work has been produced by stepping out from the rules.

Fine art photography is strong today and proves that no matter what tools you use you can create stunning work.


About the Author
Rafal Maleszyk's limited fine art black and white photography has been widely published and awarded in USA and internationally, his Hawaiian landscapes are full of European aesthetics and Hawaiian beauty.  Article Source

So many times we are struck by the beauty of monochrome landscape, it is hard to believe that the powerful beauty of nature can be translated and recorded on black and white paper making a bigger impact then color images. Today's photography is full of nice colorful pictures, brightly expressing great weather, warm sunset colors, green mountains, clear lakes, blue oceans and skies. The secret of black and white photography lies in great composition, texture, shapes, forms and contrast of the image. It is important to combine all those elements, organize all objects and shapes so everything looks united. There are usually couple of elements that are the main subject of the landscape and this is usually the focus point of the entire image. Master photographers can easily find that point and place it in the frame of the image in such a way that viewer will feel the energy of the place.

The early pioneers of photography had no choice but monochrome film, many have became masters and are admired till today, many have set standards for all kinds of photography that include, color, digital and analog. Landscape photography has evolved tremendously over the years, offering a lot of options but black & white did not die and never will. A lot of people use digital mediums to produce their work but convert it to monochrome; today it is a matter of preference.

Nature is offering great potential, weather can change the same place into hundreds different landscapes, the natural light is the essential part of the composition. Light is giving the entire image contrast, by which we can distinguish the shapes and forms and this is the whole magic.



On this image stormy weather, rainy sky is the focus point, this is hard to record such a big range of contrast, photographer has to use different techniques to keep the image bright and not loose any detail, cameras tend to overexpose the light areas and underexpose the dark areas, that results in either grey photo or photo without detail. This sky is definitely not an everyday occurrence; it takes a lot of evenings and traveling you get lucky to be in the right place when this happens. The right equipment is critical as well, lens, camera, tripod, filters has to be ready for this unique show.

In here we have an example of night landscape captured in monochrome. This is extremely hard to do, light is limited and the intensity of the moon light and the rest of the elements is so extreme that taking one image will not produce the right effect. There has to be two images taken at different settings and then connected, overlaid so we can see all the details.  

Nature really is a wonderful subject; here the field of sunflowers provided the great topic for a great image. The shapes of the flowers and color intensity were essential, notice how the sky and diverse mountain shape with dark trees are creating gorgeous photograph. Dark trees are adding balance to the background of this piece, light symmetrical flowers calming the image down, everything seems organize on the bottom of the frame until we move to the top where the sky is the complete opposite.

Author: Rafal Maleszyk Fine Art Photos
Rafal Maleszyk is a fine art photographer taking photos in Hawaii, using the digital camera Haselblad and producing black and white pictures. His work has been published in numerous magazines as well as exhibited.
Black and White Landscape Photography
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