Fotoviva Art Prints

So the Fotoviva Art Collection continues to grow from strength to strength and we have just reached our 300th image. No prizes to him but Martyn Starkey’s equestrian picture ‘White’ is the photograph which happens to be the 300th - and what a shot it is!

A truly magical atmosphere was created with the sepia toning and elegant composition of the horse that shows the grace and beauty these magnificent creatures possess. If you like horses this is an art print you really must own! It is available printed on canvas, acrylic or poster art in a range of sizes to suit your walls.
Congratulations to Martyn and to the rest of the Fotoviva team who continue to help build the ‘quality not quantity’ collection with stunning photographic art that makes your jaw drop!

A big welcome to Martyn Starkey who has joined the Fotoviva photography team. We are thrilled to have his images available for sale on the site and he has his own unique style of work which compliments our collection.

Martyn lives in the central part of England and mainly shoots around the Nottinghamshire area. Photography and digital art have been a love of his for many years but only recently has he found the time to take some more artistic pictures.

He currently use a Canon 400d camera with various lenses and programs such as Photoshop and Photomatix for post processing. He likes to use the HDR (High Dynamic Range) technique and lots of processing to create very artistic views of the scenes he shoots. Bright colours and soft focussing abound in his work which really draws attention, especially when printed onto canvas and hung on the wall.

Martyn says “I love wide angle landscapes and really enjoy producing dramatic skies which I hope enhance what is already present in the original pictures.”

More of his artistic work will be uploaded in the next few weeks so keep checking back!

All our art prints are now available to buy online from the largest web store on the planet – Amazon. The Amazon.co.uk site offers just about anything you could possibly want from books to cds and dvds, iPods and garden furniture. There was a large selection of images on canvas already but we feel with our great collection we have a chance of becoming a strong seller. Due to limitations with their system we cannot offer bespoke sizes but do hope to add triptych canvas art options in the future. It’s still early days yet so we will see how things go over the next few months. You can find the main Fotoviva Storefront here.

Fotoviva have been approached by ITV television to supply several art prints for their ‘60 Minute Makeover’ show. The episodes will be aired in September so we will post again when we know the actual dates. This popular daytime show gets over 1 million viewers each episode so stay tuned for more details in the summer!

We have just opened a new section devoted to panoramic art prints on the main Fotoviva store. The collection of images will expand over the coming weeks and feature wide-angle landscape and fine-art views from around the world which can be purchased in a range of sizes as either poster or canvas art for your wall space.

Over at Digital ProTalk David Ziser posted a very complimentary article about our Art Prints on his highly respected photo blog. The title of the article reads:

“Please place one hand, palm up, under jaw before viewing”

David shows a picture of Graham Cormie’s ‘Hopeman Dawn’ photograph and says he particularly likes the Seascape Art Collection. “It showcases some outstanding images and is worth the visit just for the viewing of so many inspiring images…tons of inspiration available.”

Thanks to David for rating our collection so highly. His blog is well worth a daily read. David Ziser is an internationally renowned portrait and wedding photographer. Studio Photograph magazine has extolled…”Award winning photographer, David Ziser, is showing the world how to take wedding pictures.” His ‘Digital WakeUp Call’ tour was acclaimed as one of the “best ever” seminars on digital photography.

We are pleased to announce the newest member of the Fotoviva Team, Howard Goff. With a collection of stunning seascape images Howard is a great addition to the contributors and a thoroughly nice guy!

Howard told us “I am delighted to be joining the Fotoviva contributor team. As a long time admirer of the photography of Jacky Parker, Don Tiffney and Tim Wallace, I am immensely pleased my images will now be complimenting their fine work on the Fotoviva website. I have always viewed Fotoviva as a reliable, trustworthy and ethical company with high levels of customer satisfaction. Their current business strategy offers the perfect distribution channel for my needs. I look forward to forging a strong and successful partnership with the company.”

Howard says his interest in photography started in April 2006 when he purchased a Canon 30D. Initially the aim was to capture images of the beautiful places he visited on his boat, namely along the south coast of England, the Channel Islands and the north coast of France. His philosophy in life is that ‘Belief is 90% of achievement’. He also says that “My aim is to bring a smile to someone’s face each and every day.”

“I have always been attracted to water. 90% of the images I take are of it or something associated with this intriguing element. I am seldom happier than when I am by water or on it. Strange considering I swim like a brick!!!”

“For the coastal shots, I always use a tripod and remote release. The camera settings used are manual exposure, spot metering, ISO 100, Raw and the picture style is set to Neutral (no sharpening or saturation). To balance the sky and foreground I use a set of ND Grads. I always check the histogram after each shot and retake if necessary.”

“I have taught myself to use Camera Raw and Photoshop. For me the post-processing is just as enjoyable as the field work. I love it!! As my skills with the camera increase unfortunately there is less to do in Photoshop. I spend 6-8 minutes on most images in a set workflow. You can see details on my Website at www.360360.co.uk.”

Howard was interviewed and had a feature about his photography in a recent issue of Digital Camera magazine. This included a couple of spreads of his images showing how far he has come in only a few years as a photographer.

“Before taking up photography I had really only heard of David Bailey and wouldn’t recognise one of his images if it fell on me. Most of my inspiration has come from DCM and its website. I have learnt much from Don Tiffney whose technique is flawless but in truth Colin Russell’s gallery has inspired me the most.”

‘Aim to get an image that’s never been taken before and will never be taken again’.
That is my ambition.

We look forward seeing more of Howard’s work in the near future, but in the meantime visit the Fotoviva site to see what he has to offer right now in acrylic, poster or canvas print.

A bit late for this but I have only just got some file copies from those nice people at Nikon. My ‘Rising Swan’ photograph was entered into a Nikon competition last year and although it didn’t win, they have featured it on the February month of the official Nikon Calendar for 2008 Must admit I’m quite gobsmacked by this but very happy, and to make it even sweeter they paid me to feature it! The print is proving very popular on the Fotoviva site and has had some great reviews by fellow photographers. You can find it in the Wildlife Art Prints section where it can be bought on gallery wrapped canvas or as a poster art print.

We are pleased to announce the arrival of UK born Jonathan Chritchley to the Fotoviva Team. His black and white photography is simply astounding and we have a nice selection of his work in the monochrome art section of the online store.

Passionate about photography since receiving his first camera as a small boy, Jonathan studied photography in the UK in the mid-1990’s. Having assisted several fashion, commercial and marine photographers, he uprooted and moved to the south of France 9 years ago, finally fulfilling his dream of photographing the ocean and the people whose lives revolve around it.

Jonathan is based in south west France, where the formidable Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic swell provide a dramatic backdrop to his photographs. He also spends much of his time travelling to some of the best water locations in the world for a growing list of clients, working in and around the ocean to create his trademark dramatic images. Emphasizing an ethereal, atmospheric quality is imperative to him in reaching the more emotional as opposed to the literal and for this he mostly chooses to make photographs during bad weather and challenging lighting situations - dawn and dusk for example.

In early 2007, Jonathan started running photography workshops on the coast in south west France and in other locations. In december he signed a deal with a UK company who have licensed 30 specially commissioned images for distribution across the UK, Ireland and northern Europe for 2008 and beyond. The photographs will be available in selected Athena and Next stores as well as galleries and home furnishing stores from early in the new year.

Jonathan uses Nikon digital camera bodies, Nikkor lenses & Fantasea underwater camera housings. A keen diver, surfer and swimmer, he lives in a converted fisherman’s cottage at the beach in south west France, 40km north of Biarritz, with his wife Belinda and children, Jack and Olivia.

We have a large selection of Jonathan’s inspiring photography available at Fotoviva and there is more to follow. You can see more of his work at OceanCapture.com but in the meantime see some of the images we have, which can also be purchased in our new Triptych Canvas Art format which is proving very popular.

Our specialist flower photographer Jacky Parker has just had her wonderful ‘Rain Bells’ image awarded 1st prize in the Plant Portrait category of the prestigous Royal Hoticultural Society Photography Competition. It took the panel of judges two days to decide on the 19 winning photographs in the six competition categories but Jacky’s beautiful shot deservedly came through on top.

The competition is sponsored by the Medici Gallery in London, where it will be on display in the middle of January 2008 for one week and also in the RHS gardens Wisley spring through to autumn next year.

You can find the winning photo in our Floral Category and it is available to buy as a gallery wrapped canvas picture or ready to frame fine art poster print.

Congratulations to Jacky!