About myself
My Background
My name is Chris Wolfgram, or “Fish Chris” to many of my friends, based on the fact that all of my life growing up, I was a hard-core fisherman, as well as having worked in tropical fish stores, and on a fish farm. Of course I always carried a camera to record shots of my best catches. And then, because I have always loved nature and wildlife, more and more over the years, I found myself turning the camera away from my trophy catches, towards the amazing world and its creatures around me. For myself, digital cameras were the turning point. Once I could start taking unlimited shots without the hassles of film and processing, that's when the photo-bug bit. So from about 2000-2010, I did a ton of wildlife, and bird photography. However, for the last several years, I’ve really turned mostly to landscapes.
My photos say a lot about me. I am a super visually related kind of guy. Blank walls just kill me. I LOVE to see things… Lots of things ! Everywhere ! Bright colors, contrast, and detail no matter where I look ! {as I sit here typing this, wearing lime green, camo, cargo shorts. This is almost certainly why I instantly fell in love with the aluminum printing process, as well as HDR photography….. a printing medium, and type of digital photography, which in IMPO, were simply made for each other.
Anyway, I am very passionate about my photography, and it comes straight from the heart. I create images which look as nice as they possibly can “to me”. If others enjoy them too, that is just a huge bonus.
What is HDR photography
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. Dynamic range, simply means, how much variance their is, from the brightest portions of an image, to the darkest. Now, pretty much no camera on the earth is capable of taking a shot with a lot of dynamic range, and capturing all of it in a single frame. So, in a nutshell, HDR photography, is a method in which multiple frames which range from very dark (so that the brightest portions are not over exposed) to very bright (so that the darkest portions are not under exposed) are taken, in what is known as a “bracketed set”. These individual frames are then fed into a computer program, which keeps only the properly exposed portions of each frame, and combines them into a single image…. an HDR image, in which all portions of the shot, are perfectly exposed.
Some ‘purists’ will say, that this is cheating… or that this is not natural… or overly photo-shopped… However, in the real world, when you look at a scene with a lot of dynamic range, your pupils will adjust, so that you can see detail, contrast, and color, in the brightest portions of the scene, then quickly adjust back, so that you can see detail in the darkest portion of the scene as well. A static (read; old school) photo, simply cannot adjust the bright and dark portions of a photo. Whereas, in an HDR photo, all the adjustments have already been made for you. And this, my friends, is a beautiful thing.
What is an aluminum print
An aluminum print is achieved with a process in which ink is literally infused into the surface of a specially coated aluminum, using both heat and pressure. This results in a print with vibrancy and luminosity that simply cannot be matched by paper or canvas prints.
The aluminum printing process represents a new art medium for preserving photos by infusing dyes directly into specially coated metal sheets. The metal prints take on a magical luminescence which is hard to match with typical prints. Because the image is infused into the surface and not on it, the archival qualities of this unique process are unparalleled. Unlike paper or canvas prints, aluminum prints do not need to be covered by glass. In fact, the Rochester Institute of Technology has conducted accelerated aging tests on aluminum prints which show an archival value of over 150 years! Aluminum prints are also scratch resistant and waterproof.
The rigidity of an aluminum print means that no frame is required. In fact most people agree that going frame-less adds to the ultra-modern look of the print.
Economy; With Canvas or paper prints it is quite common to spend as much money or more, on the frame and glass cover, as on the print itself. Because aluminum prints require no frame or glass covering, they can often end up less expensive overall. Spend your money on the print, not the packaging.
Of course the biggest reason to buy an aluminum print is simply because, in my personal opinion, an aluminum print looks better than any other printing medium.
Final note; I hope you will enjoy my photography. If you are viewing this website on a phone, please save the link and do whatever you have to, to view it on a monitor whenever you can. Preferably a good sized monitor of at least 1080p... although 4K is better ;) The only way these images can look better, is on a large aluminum print, in good light.