PUBLICATION CENTER

Dave Orbock is a charter member of the International Association of Panoramic Photographers. When the organization held an exhibition at Maryland’s Prince George’s Community College, Full Circle Photo did the matting and mounting for many of the finalists whose work was displayed at the show. They also did some of the printing for finalists from overseas.

If there is such a thing as a “typical” photo lab, Full Circle Photo in Baltimore definitely isn’t it. In addition to processing prints from photographers with multiple clients, Full Circle specializes in printing, mounting, laminating and custom framing of all types of art, including large-format and panoramic photos. The staff works closely with each artist to satisfy their specific requirements.

Full Circle’s founder Dave Orbock is an award-winning panoramic photographer. Although he sells many images to stock agencies and Microsoft, most of his work is sold by art consultants for display in corporate office buildings, universities, hospitals, hotels and professional offices.

Each year Full Circle Photo captures panoramic group portraits of the Senate and House of Delegates of the Maryland State Legislature. To make sure he gets images of everyone in the room, Orbock uses his Holcherama panorama film camera with shift lenses.

Orbock started Full Circle Photo Imaging in 1987 when he moved his enlarging and processing equipment for printing panoramic images out of his basement and into two joined row houses in mid-town Baltimore.

Because he was still working full-time as a physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, he hired competent employees to print his photos and provide printmaking services to other photographers and artists.

Orbock retired from NASA nine years ago and now leads a team of three full-time and two part-time employees who can handle a wide range of analog and digital printing services as well as mounting, laminating and framing.

Full Circle can produce black-and-white prints up to 20 inches wide and chromogenic prints up to 30 inches wide from film. They can also output photographic prints and art reproductions up to 44 inches wide on the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 they purchased from LexJet.

Full Circle’s custom-framing department can frame just about anything, including panoramic photographs, fine art, posters, memorabilia, and mirrors. They can also design frames for fine-art pieces, including paintings, etchings, and mixed-media art. Shown here is Full Circle’s Ruth Nuhn attaching needlepoint artwork to a mat.

Pam Brumley, who received a BFA in photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design, oversees the studio’s digital services and provides personalized consultations on print, scanning, and retouching jobs.

She also produces a monthly newsletter that advises customers about the best ways to present their images at shows and in home décor. The newsletter promotes the work of professional and amateur artists and photographers, and publicizes area shows and cultural events.

Full Circle also handles many types of framing jobs. In addition to mounting on archival foam board , the staff, led by Ruth Nuhn, will mount images up to 48” wide on any mountable surface. Most recently, Full Circle completed a complicated project that involved mounting, matting and framing for 750 rooms in a Hilton hotel in downtown Baltimore.

A lot of Full Circle’s work comes from artists and photographers who need help preparing images for exhibitions. Because delivering these jobs on time is critical, Full Circle chooses suppliers they can trust for prompt help when problems arise.  Pam has nothing but praise for LexJet's technical support. Recently, a printer ink problem was solved over the phone, preventing a delay in being able to print a customer's images for an upcoming exhibit. Pam also utilizes LexJet's expertise when it comes to the selection of fine art papers for specialized printing tasks. Samples furnished by LexJet are readily available for experimentation when a customer would like to develop a certain "feel" for their image.   

To learn more about the full range of services at Full Circle Photo, visit their website: www.fullcirclephoto.com.

Read more about Dave Orbock’s extraordinary career in panorama photography on a post on Studio LexJet: How Photography Careers Evolve: Dave Orbock.