Michael A. Stipek

A combination of fine art training and the skills to print my own color photography enables me to pursue and secure on film the essence of an image. My work captures a sense of warmth, beauty and composition that few have achieved. In my creative process I strive for a balance between simplicity of composition, strength of color, and dramatic lighting techniques that lead observers to believe they are viewing paintings rather than photography. I photography all of my work, either on location or in my studio, using a medium-format (2.25 in. x 2.25 in.) Hasselblad 500CM camera system and Kodak film. I print on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper with Kodak "RA-4" chemistry. I cut my own matts and frames, using archival materials and standards. To the field of photography I bring six years of fine art education in painting and drawing, as well as several years in printing black-and-white photographs for the Denver Art Museum. I also worked as a custom color printer at ProLab, Inc. Since 1978 I have been producing and marketing my photography full-time at juried fine art festivals and in galleries throughout the U.S.