In Focus Vol. 4 No. 11

Orchestrating New Opportunities in Landscape and Nature Photography

The same creative disciplines that helped Robert Rodriguez Jr. succeed as a music producer are helpiing him craft breathtaking mural-size prints of his nature and landscape photography

Robert Rodriguez Jr. believes printing your own images is a critical part of the photography process because there are so many ways an image file can be interpreted artistically.

Ever since he left a successful career as music producer to pursue a full-time photography career, landscape photographer and avid outdoorsman Robert Rodriguez Jr. has always printed most of his own work. He captures most of the images at various recreational areas and historic sites in the scenic Hudson River Valley, then prints them out on the Epson Stylus Photo 2400, Canon imagePROGRAF 5000, or Canon iPF 8100 in his home/studio in Beacon, NY.

Rodriguez regards the print as the final presentation of his work and enjoys printing his images big, so viewers can feel that same healthy sense of calm and peace he experiences when he’s exploring the wonders of nature.

He bought his first wide-format inkjet printer about 18 months ago and didn’t start printing on canvas or Photo Tex PSA fabric until earlier this year. This willingness to try new materials has already helped him win clients who wanted to use his images in their office décor.

He recently printed and installed a collection of canvas prints in a medical facility plus a 42 x 105 in. mural for the wall of a local coffee shop. And soon he will be installing an 8 x 12 ft. photo mural of a kayaker on the wall of a treatment room in a dental office.

These commercial décor projects supplement the income he earns from selling large framed and canvas prints on his website, and in galleries. art fairs, and corporate offices. He also sells notecards and calendars.

For a recently opened coffee shop in Beacon, NY, Robert Rodriguez printed this 54 x 128 in. mural on LexJet PhotoTex PSA. The mural depicts Storm King Mountain, a popular local landmark about five miles from the coffee shop. After installing the mural, Rodriguez added a 3 x 4 in. plaque with his name and website and notes about how and when the image was captured

Rodriguez outputs his décor prints and other projects on the Canon iPF8100, noting that “I absolutely love that printer.” He keeps art papers loaded on his Canon iPF5000 for certain 16 x 20 prints and uses the 13-in. Epson Stylus Photo 2400 for notecards and small proofs. He prints on a range of Epson, Innova, and Hahnemuhle papers and uses LexJet’s Sunset Select Matte Canvas protected with LexJet Sunset Satin Coating.

He resisted printing on canvas until he bought the 44-in. printer and found a canvas with a relatively smooth surface. “I was accustomed to printing on smooth papers that provided nice gradations in images with water and skies,” explains Rodriguez. “I thought the texture of the canvas would take that away.” After some experimentation, he has learned which of his images work best on canvas.

Learning how to print on canvas became more important to him after his volunteer work for a local environmental-preservation group started attracting corporate clients. As Rodriguez quickly learned, most commercial clients want décor prints bigger than 16 x 20.  These bigger prints are easier to install when printed on canvas or other fabrics. And because prints on canvas or fabric can be displayed without glass, they weigh less and are easier to transport. They also don’t reflect glare from office lighting.

Robert Rodriguez Jr. recently installed five prints for permanent display in the Poughkeepsie, NY offices of HealthQuest Medical Practice, a multi-specialty medical group that serves residents of the Hudson River Valley.“We wanted the artwork for our offices to have a local connection, as well as be a reflection of the magnificence that surrounds us in this region,” explains HealthQuest assistant director Stephen Heath. For three of the prints, Rodriguez used LexJet Sunset Select Matte Canvas on his Canon imagePROGRAF 8100 printer. This 32 x 84 in. canvas print extends across three panels and depicts Little Stony Point, a scenic landmark not far from the HealthQuest office.

 Rodriguez chose LexJet’s Sunset Matte Canvas because it stays true to the image and is durable enough to withstand the stretching process. He uses an HPLV spray gun to apply the Sunset coating before stretching the canvas himself.  Before printing and installing a décor job, he and his wife take pictures and measurements at the site of where the images will be displayed.  Then he recommends which images from his archives would look best in that space. In the job proposal, he includes a Photoshop mock-up showing the client how each image will look in which room.

When Rodriguez chooses photo or art papers for his other prints, he strives to inject some variety in his overall body of work. For images that would benefit from a harder, more defined look, he chooses a fiber paper. If he wants to evoke a sense of mystery or softness, he selects an art paper that obscures some of the shadow details. For some prints, he believes the media shouldn’t be noticeable at all; for other images, the paper can be used to add nuance to the overall personality of the print. This appreciation for creating contrast in a body of work by making some prints “hard” and others “soft” stems from his experience as a music producer. 

Transitioning from Music to Photography:  Making the switch from a music career to a photography career wasn’t as difficult as one might think, says Rodriguez. For one thing, he already had confidence in himself as an artist. The more he studied photography, the more he encountered similar terms, such as tonalities, harmony, and composition.  He had already learned how to improve his art through practice, practice, and more practice.

“Even when I’m out shooting, I’m working visually but thinking about some of the things I used to do musically—such as creating harmony out of chaos,” says Rodriguez.  When he entered a recording studio, he already knew how he wanted a performance to sound. Similarly, when he sets up a shot on location, he is already envisioning how the scene would look as a print.

“Visualization is important in landscape photography. You have to constantly be thinking about what you can do in the field to get the image 90% of the way you want the final print to look,” explains Rodriguez.  He uses Photoshop and Lightroom only as workflow and enhancement tools, because if the image isn’t properly “recorded” in the field there’s only so much he can do with post-processing to create the image he had originally envisioned.

“As a music producer, my job was to pull all of the elements together and deliver a finished product to the client,” says Rodriguez. He doesn’t regard a photograph as finished when he shoots it in the field, looks at it on his computer, or delivers it on a DVD or CD.

“In photography, I am most interested in a finished product that I can show—and that’s the print.” he emphasizes. Rodriguez says studying a print helps him evaluate mistakes and improve his photography skills overall. If something doesn’t look right in the print, he’ll retrace his steps to figure out how he could have made it better.  

For photography enthusiasts who agree that a great photograph is more than an image displayed on a computer screen, Robert Rodriguez Jr. will be conducting a full-day Digital Printing Workshop on Saturday, Dec. 5. The program will be held in his studio in Beacon, NY and is limited to six participants. Each attendee will learn how to edit, print, mount and mat their own images, using either an Epson Stylus Photo or Canon imagePROGRAF printer. For details, visit the Workshops section on Robert Rodriguez’s website (www.robertrodriguezjr.com).