The Photo Canvas Blog

This is “In the Limelight,” our blog series that takes a closer look at some stunning canvas prints and the photographers behind them. Our “Limelight Questionnaire” gets to the who, what, when and why, while the photographers tell us in their own words what they want us to know about the shot. You’ll get information and inspiration In the Limelight!

“The Big Buddha,” 55 x 36 Thick Gallery Wrap, © Max Ratchkauskas
“I was trying to figure out a way to emphasize the enormous size of the laughing buddha in Vinh Trang Pagoda, Vietnam by putting as much sky into the photo as I could. The buddha is very interesting from the front, however, it was its profile that captured my eye. I used a Nikon D800 with a 28-300mm Nikkor lens.”

—

Why photography?

When I ask myself the question of what would I rescue from my burning house, the answer is always my photographs – and the family dog, of course :) Photography allows us to convey what we feel or see at a certain moment in time. It is visual poetry.

What are your favorite things to shoot?

My favorite type of photography is landscape photography; however, I do enjoy shooting abstract things as well, things that evoke specific emotions in the viewer.

Who inspires or influences you?

A modern day photographer who influences me is Peter Lik; his photography always evokes the word “wow.” On a more traditional note, I studied countless photographs by Ansel Adams. His iconic black and white images always amaze me.

What has displaying your work in printed form meant to you?

To me, prints of my work on canvas are extremely important. You cannot replicate the feeling that a piece evokes when displayed as a high quality large gallery canvas as opposed to viewing it on a large screen monitor. It is almost as different as looking at a photograph of the grand canyon versus being there.

How did you discover APC?

I was looking for high quality service in order to print a large gallery wrap for an exhibition. Most places could not produce the size that I required, and so, I found APC. Their work was very professional and the support staff was very helpful when I required assistance.

To see more of Max Ratchkauskas‘ photography, visit his website.

Welcome to Wild Wednesday! This series showcases the best of the extra-exciting canvases from our APC customers! Whether the subject is untamed nature, a thrilling extreme sports shot or an intense portrait, they're captured on camera by a photographer, and captured on canvas by the APC team. If it's WILD, it must be Wednesday!

Photo: Chris Narvaez – “Majestic Landing”
Canvas: 48" x 24" Thick Gallery Wrap with Gloss Finish

“This photo was taken on a recent trip to Haines, Alaska. This area can attract upwards of 3,000 eagles during the last run of chum salmon. While our group was shooting, we were surrounded by about 800 eagles. The high temperature of 13F made gripping the camera, let alone focusing, quite a challenge!

“I captured this image with a Canon 1DX, 600mm lens with 1.4 extender (840mm) at F10 and ISO800. I also used a polarizing filter and Really Right Stuff tripod. The canvas print was sized at 48” x 24” to fit a particular wall space in a commercial office. Custom canvas sizing is just one of the many reasons I choose APC!”  —Chris Narvaez

Think your canvas is wild? Contact us and maybe we’ll feature YOU!

Happy Thanksgiving from Team APC! We’re eternally grateful for your business and ongoing support, and hope you enjoy a festive day filled with family, friends, great food — and lots of picture taking!

You’re invited to spend a small part of your Thanksgiving Day and “Cyber Weekend” with our family — creating gifts from the heart for everyone on your holiday list. And in the spirit of merry-making and money-saving, here’s a preview of our most anticipated sale of the year… Continue reading →

Photo collages are great — in theory. You gather your best photos centered around a theme, and assemble them together to tell a visual story in an attractive way. But, if you’re like most of us, the time and technical expertise required to create a photo collage worthy of displaying is so daunting that those great ideas for collages fizzle pretty much as fast as they surface. To the rescue comes Artistic Photo Canvas.

Meet your new favorite “thingamajig” on the web — where mere mortals can create awesome looking collage canvas prints in, well, mere minutes.

APC’s new photo collage creator is robust and versatile enough to rock any theme. Yet it’s super easy to learn and fun to play with, meaning you can become a collage canvas ninja in no time!

Upload a few images and pick a template to get started. Keep your design simple if you’d like — or jazz it up with your own special mix of backgrounds, text, borders, shadows and glow effects. Don’t like uniformity? Go ahead and “mess up” your new photo arrangement with the touch of a button.

Is your imagination already brimming with ideas? Yup, we’re thinking the same thing — a collage on canvas would be perfect for celebrating and showing off your…

best trips… best friends… favorite places… favorite things… cherished children, families and pets… dashing couples, engagements and weddings… awesome employees, coworkers and teammates… thrilling sports and outdoor adventures… daring digital designs, drawings, cartoons and artwork…

Collage canvases by APC are for you, for your clients, for your friends — for every person you care about. So get started now. Turn your images into awesome.™

Watch this short video to see how easy it is to create
a collage canvas print of your own using the APC collage creator:

By Scott Wyden Kivowitz

If you have been trying to sell more printed photographs to clients but have been unsuccessful, consider adopting a new approach — one that takes guesswork out of the equation and allows your customers to easily visualize the beauty of your work — hanging in their home. Whether you are trying to sell canvas gallery wraps or framed photographs, the strategies in this article work the same.

In the past, you’ve most likely relied on your clients’ abilities to “imagine” your photographs hanging on their walls. The problem with this approach is that many people do not possess an imagination vivid enough — or a sense of space and proportion reliable enough — to do that “imagining” effectively or confidently. The resulting lack of “vision” naturally leads to indecision and little or no motivation to buy.

To sell more prints, you’ll need to go above and beyond the call of duty. You’ll need to “fill in the blanks” for them. By employing the following approach, you’ll awaken your clients’ vision, enabling them to confidently commit to their print purchases.

Step 1: The Scene

Option A: Photograph a living room or other interior scene that is clean and elegant and features an empty wall prominently.

Option B: Purchase a photograph of a similar scene at a stock photography site such as iStockPhoto. Here’s one by Shenki.

Step 2: The Template

Now that you have a photograph of a beautiful room with an empty wall, it is time to create a template for prints. I suggest two templates:

Template A: First, I recommend a template for showing canvas prints. This one is very simple because, viewed head-on, it’s not necessary to create the wrapped edges. The easiest way to simulate the floating gallery wrap effect that is so magical is to add a very subtle drop shadow.

Template B: The second template is trickier. To simulate a framed print, you want to create an empty picture frame that is elegant. You could return to your stock photo site and purchase a picture frame template, or find a Photoshop tutorial on how to create your own.

Somewhere in the template, you can optionally add a price, or text that includes language such as “Want this photograph on your wall?” Even without text, having your client’s photograph hanging on a wall will subliminally make an impact.

Remember, once you have your templates created, you never have to recreate them.

Step 3: The Print

Take your favorite photograph from your client’s session and place it inside of your new template, whether a framed or canvas print. Save the image with the photograph hanging above a couch, for example, and keep it with the session’s photographs that you plan to upload for proofing.

Step 4: Include

Hopefully the proofing solution you are using for your clients has a place where you can insert custom HTML content. Once the gallery is uploaded and ready for viewing, add the new hanging photo image to the top of the proofing gallery, making sure it’s the first thing the client will see when visiting the gallery. Continue reading →

Want a reprint of a gallery wrapped, framed or unstretched canvas print you've previously ordered from Artistic Photo Canvas — but don't want to start a new order from scratch? No problem! You can get APC reprints while bypassing the entire canvas configuration process. It's fast and easy to do!

Here's how: Log in to your APC account by clicking the "My Account" link at the top of any page at artisticphotocanvas.com.

Figure 1 - Logging in to your Artistic Photo Canvas account

Click on "My Orders" in the navigation bar running down the left side of your account "Dashboard." You'll see all of the previous orders you've placed using this account since July 5, 2011. Browse through the list until you find the order(s) that contain(s) the canvas you want reprinted. To double-check you've got the right previous order from which you want a reprint, click on the "View Order" link to the right of any order listed. (Not the right order? Simply click on "My Orders" again and navigate to a different one.)

Figure 2 - Viewing your previous orders via the "My Orders" link

If you scroll down, you'll see the canvas(es) that were part of the selected order. Here you can confirm that the size, style, options and image are the ones you were looking for. If you want to reorder one or more of the canvases on this order, scroll up and click on the "Reorder" link near the top of the page. (To get reprints from more than one order, simply click on the "My Account" link at the top of the page and then "My Orders" again in the left-hand navigation pane and repeat the "Reorder" process.)

Figure 3 - Confirming previous order details and using the "Reorder" link

After clicking on "Reorder," you will advance to the Shopping Cart, where all canvases from previous orders you've selected for "Reprint" will have been added to your cart, exactly as you previously configured them. If your previous order(s) contained more than one canvas and you don't want to reprint all of them, you can easily delete any canvas you don't want to reorder by clicking the "X" to the right of it. You can also adjust the quantity of each item in your cart from this screen. [fig. 4]

Figure 4 - Deleting a canvas from your reorder

Voila! Having confirmed your reprint details, you're now ready to proceed through the checkout process. Ready to try it? Get started.