In Focus Vol. 3 No. 8

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• Panoramic Ceilings with Sunset Select Matte Canvas
• Digital Clouds on Glass and Clear Polyester: a Staircase Showcase

Panoramic Ceilings with Sunset Select Matte Canvas

Mark Andrews’ studio, Panorama Printers, stretches the boundaries of art, décor, and photography. Andrews is becoming well known along Colorado’s Front Range as one of the premier panoramic photographers, particularly among the legion of rock climbers that populate some of the hottest climbing spots in Colorado which Andrews documents.

Andrews has taken the ultra-high-resolution gigapixel pano capture to the next level with giant prints on LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas that bring mountain landscape scenery to life. His gigapixel panos are stitched from 100 to 400 shots from his 16-Mpxl Canon 1DS Mark II. Many of the prints Andrews creates feature a shot of the entire landscape and then another print that brings the viewer closer to one small section of the landscape.

Andrews is able to attain the highest possible print quality using a tight color management process driven by the Eye-One color calibration system and an Epson 11880. While his original intention was to utilize his expertise in fine-art giclee reproductions, Andrews has found a more commercial yet wholly artistically-satisfying application for his work.

Recently, Andrews employed high-resolution digital photography to re-create a patina copper pattern on a ceiling at a showcase home. The project came about after Andrews printed a panorama of Longs Peak for his accountant, who in turn introduced him to MiShell Shasteen, who owns a home staging and decorating service in Parker, Colo., about 30 miles north of Andrews’ studio in Colorado Springs.

Shasteen wanted a wall covering on the ground floor dining room ceiling. While “casting about for something to put up on her ceiling as a wall covering I took a couple of shots of a copper ceiling in the basement bar area,” explains Andrews. “The ceiling was kind of non-descript and the tiles were very muted. The first shot I took was underexposed, which showed all the colors lying underneath the patina. I showed her a couple of shots of what she had, and she had no idea it looked so good.”

So the decision was made to reproduce the copper pattern on the dining room ceiling, and Andrews went to work shooting each individual tile to be reproduced on Sunset Select Matte Canvas. At the same time, Andrews went looking for a qualified wallpaper hanger.

“Fortunately, I didn’t have to go too far into the phone book: AAA Wallpaper and Hanging, owned by Richard Lohner in Parker. I found out that he was the wallpaper hanger used for the renovation of Molly Brown’s house. I figured that if he restores historical landmarks, he probably knows his stuff,” says Andrews.

Andrews stitched the tiles together and printed them on 36-in. wide x 15-ft. long strips of canvas, leaving an extra inch on the edge so that the wallpaper hanger could double-cut the canvas for a seemingly seamless seam.

“The wallpaper hangers flipped out when they checked out the characteristics of the canvas. Not only is it tough as hot nails when they put it up, especially since most wallpapers are very flimsy, but if you want to strip it off you can pull it off in one strip. It’s a 10-minute job to strip one room,” says Andrews.

Digital Clouds on Glass and Clear Polyester: a Staircase Showcase

David Knudsen is a photographic artist whose trademark work combines steel, glass, and, concrete with sky and clouds for an effect that juxtaposes the beauty of each with photography. Knudsen took the concept of one his most well-known photographic series, Reflections on Architecture, and translated it to a staircase at the headquarters of Aston Marketing Group (AMG) in Torrance, Calif.

“I was delivering and hanging some new canvases we selected for the walls of their offices, and got to talking about the possibility of decorating their staircase with my artwork. The theme we came up with was Digital Clouds, where reflections of clouds are captured in the glass grids of modern skyscrapers. Incidentally, I only had a few photos in my library that fit the theme,” explains Knudsen. “Furthermore, I was a bit challenged because the time of season here wasn’t coinciding with getting good cloud shots, so I started researching weather patterns in other cities around the country that are also desirable for their architecture to capture such reflections.”

Knudsen settled on Chicago and Dallas, traveling to each city to try and capture the perfect reflections. Though he says he picked up a lot of great shots to add to his portfolio, none of the thousands of shots satisfied the effect he was after.

“This was quite a learning experience. Throughout the process I discovered the formula I was looking for between the weather patterns, architecture, and photo angles, and that I needed all of these from one building so that it would have consistency. I found the perfect building in Oxnard, Calif.; a huge mirrored façade with very slim trim lines between the panes of glass, and took three or four trips up there. I shot another thousand pictures or so and got what I needed,” says Knudsen.

Initially, Knudsen planned to purchase a cold lamination press, have the glass delivered to his studio, and laminate the prints to the glass with a clear adhesive. “Our consensus, ultimately, was that laminating glass with the film in between two panes of glass was the most permanent and sturdy way to do this,” says Knudsen.

The prints are sandwiched between sheets of 100 percent transparent laminate, and then quarter-inch glass, respectively, on each side. There are a total of 18 panes of custom-bent glass for the semi-circular stairway, each with prints connecting one to another in a pattern Knudsen created.

Knudsen printed Digital Clouds with his Epson 9600 on LexJet Clear Polyester w/ Edge Strips for a translucent effect. With the Epson inks, this clear material takes some extra time to dry so Knudsen set up take-up reel that prevented the prints from touching the floor.

The prints were then brought to the glass factory to be positioned between the glass and laminate for installation. “I’m anxious to see it all come together and know for sure that all my mechanicals were correct and line up with each other. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to see the prints in the very configuration in which they will be because they’re large and delicate. I won’t know until it’s all there in glass and installed on the staircase,” says Knudsen.

The project is being installed this week and an opening reception featuring Knudsen’s work is expected to officially christen Digital Clouds next month.