March 16, 2010

The Morton Arboretum chooses Marian Kraus’ Fine Art Photography

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Most recently The Arboretum Store of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL has selected 24 custom designs from the Serenity Scapes collection of Marian Kraus’ fine art photography to be included in the store’s offering of nature-inspired books, eco-friendly art, home décor, jewelry lines, and attire. All proceeds from sales in the store go directly toward the Arboretum’s goal to encourage the planting and conservation of trees.

The featured photographs depict Kraus’s uniquely artistic abstractions of leaves, grasses, ice, trees, bark, fungus and water, all photographed by him throughout the seasons at The Morton Arboretum. The collection consists of three different design options: single square format pieces of 8” and 12” in size that are float or flush mounted, and 10 x 30” triptychs that consist of 3 harmoniously coordinated 8” squares, float mounted on plaque board. The following  photos depict an excerpt of the catalogue pages of the various designs that are available.

“I am thrilled and very grateful to have this part of my collection be featured at The Morton Arboretum and thereby introduce my views of The Arboretum’s awesome healing nature to a larger audience and allow people to benefit from it. The Morton Arboretum is an island of peace and serenity amidst the fast paced dynamic of metropolitan Chicago and has been one of my local favorites for well over twenty years.”

The Arboretum Store also features Marian Kraus book: “Inspirationals – A Collection  of Photographs and Writings by Marian Kraus” where he shares his celebration of the human condition, most notably our experiences and the way we interact with the world around us in his outstanding nature photography book.

About The Morton Arboretum: The Arboretum was founded in 1922 by Morton Salt magnate Joy Morton (1855-1934), whose father J. Sterling Morton (1832–1902) was the founder of the original Arbor Day in 1872.

Today The Morton Arboretum is an internationally recognized nonprofit organization dedicated to the planting and conservation of trees. Its 1,700 acres hold collections of more than 4,000 kinds of trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world. The Arboretums’ mission is to collect and study trees, shrubs, and other plants from around the world and to display them across naturally beautiful landscapes for people to study and enjoy.

The Arboretum offers extensive educational programming for all ages on how to grow trees and other plants in ways that enhance our environment with the goal to encourage a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world. The Arboretum furthermore conducts leading research on tree health and tree improvement, breeds and introduces hardy and disease-resistant trees and shrubs for distribution throughout the Midwest, and presents nature-related activities year-round for people of all ages and interests.

Arboretum grounds offer an oasis of magnificently tended trees, 16 miles of hiking trails, 9 miles of roads, and 900 acres of natural areas including the prototypical, restored 100-acre Schulenberg Prairie.

Also on the grounds are the Visitor Center and Plant Clinic, The Arboretum

Store, Ginkgo Restaurant and Café, five-acre Children’s Garden, one-acre Maze Garden, an environmentally-friendly parking lot, and a paved walking trail around restored Meadow Lake. For more information please visit http://www.mortonarb.org

 

March 9, 2010

Chicago Architectural Impressions

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Take and enjoy a dynamic visual journey through one of the most magnificent and diverse cities in the world… 

 

February 5, 2010

Tips on how to take better Pictures of Interiors

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In case you are selling your home, condo, vacation dwelling, your office suite, store or the like and want to provide your realtor or your prospect buyers with photographs, or you want to create photographs for your marketing campaigns of your interior spaces, following you will find some tips that may be helpful in making better photographs:

  1.  Walk around within the space, spend time in some of the areas and see which perspective feels the best to you
  2.  Seek out an interesting angle of the room / space as opposed to shooting dead on
  3.  Arrange the furniture and accessories of the space you are photographing and “unclutter” it. Keep the golden rule of “Less is More” in mind.
  4.  Add a flower bouquet or a bowl of fruit, or any other uplifting accessories to your arrangement and let it be discretely visible in the shot (as opposed to smack in the foreground).
  5. Oftentimes it is helpful to turn the lights on even during daytime. When dealing with numerous different light sources at the same time (daylight + incandescent + neon + candle etc.) in many cases the least problematic approach is to dial the white balance setting on your camera to “Auto”.
  6. If possible, try to avoid using your built in flash, unless you have a really good one or several good supplemental ones. In many cases the built in flash provides an uneven lighting effect as it overpowers the main center area or foreground of the picture but keeps the remainder of the scene dark. To create even and balanced lighting is an art. 
  7. Experiment with the different exposure settings on your camera, i.e. auto, manual, aperture priority etc. Notice the different results. For me, the one that provides the best results in most cases is either “manual” or “aperture priority”. When you opt to shoot on manual setting, keep in mind that the longer your exposure time becomes the more likely you will require the stabilizing support of a tripod or some other stabilizing device. When shooting in aperture priority mode, make sure your aperture is set on a minimum of 5.6 or preferably even higher.  
  8. If your camera or lens provides you with zooming capabilities, experiment with those as well. Contrary to common belief the widest angle is not always the most advantageous.
  9. Shoot with the light and not into it, in other words, try to shoot away from windows and into the rooms from the window.
  10. Compose for the “feel” of the space and what grabs you most about it and not so much for the conventional belief what others would want to see.
  11. “Comb” your scene on the edges along the frame of your viewfinder or screen to make certain that you do not have unwanted objects poking into your picture frame.
  12. Try to hold your camera straight on a horizontal axis and consider to get down on your knees as opposed to tilting the camera and shooting down into the scene as this distorts the even lines of your composition.
  13. Depending on what the final application of your photographs is and how good of a job you did, you may want to edit your final picture choices in one of the many photo editing software packages available, i.e. Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom or even the ones that come preloaded on your computer. Experiment, experiment, experiment…

These are some of the most important things that come to my mind that can have a strong positive impact on your approach and final results and it is my hope that they may be helpful to you. And if you have a specific question, feel free to post it.

And if you do not want to spend all the time and effort in creating a satisfactory or outstanding photograph, hire a professional architectural photographer. Superb architectural photography requires the consideration of seemingly countless technical as well as artistic and aesthetic aspects which the pros have mastered over the years of being in business. You can see more examples of outstanding architectural photography here. 

Happy clicking!

 

January 12, 2010

Books worth a read

Posted by Marian Kraus under Books that Inspire | Tags: , |
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Mark Matousek – “When You’re Falling, Dive”  Do survivors of life’s greatest trials possess a secret knowledge? Is there an art to survival – a map for crossing the wilderness – of daily life? Why do some people blossom through adversity while others do not? Through numerous interviews with people who have overcome adversity, Mark shares very inspiring stories how people master their lives. 

 

 

Mitch Joel – “Six Pixels of Separation” An awesome book about the connectivity of us all who partake in Web 2.0 and how now everybody is connected to everybody and what we can expect to come in the years ahead. It clearly sheds some light onto the somewhat confusing and at first overwhelming tapestry of the various networks and social media platforms and gives insight how to maneuver them.

 

 

Arjuna Ardagh – “The Translucent Revolution” There is a growing phenomenon happening throughout the world, a gentle but profound revolution in human consciousness. It is something that has been experienced directly by millions of everyday people from all walks of life. The book delivers the author’s dialogues with thousands of writers, teachers, and workshop participants around the world who have been touched by a radical awakening, and whose lives emanate translucence.

 

 

The idea and desire for my book “Inspirationals – Photography and Writings by Marian Kraus”  had sprung up in 1990. Since that time, during which many 180 degree changes in my life had occurred, I had scribbled snippets of wisdom and insights, thoughts and phrases that had caught my attention during conversations, readings, meetings, walks and meditations on napkins, notebooks and the like. My intention was to “one day” refine, organize and harmonize them with my fine art nature photographs. More here…

 

 

January 12, 2010

What Photographers sometimes do to get the shot…

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Wild photographers going all out to get that amazing shot! A fun and fastpaced video showing the wild poses, equipment and stunts used by photographers all over the world. Images copyright by their owners. An Image by Interface production. World stock images: www.interfaceimages.com

And if you enjoyed these, here are some more. These do also include filmmakers

 

December 6, 2009

Inspirationals – The Book

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The idea and desire for my book “Inspirationals – Photography and Writings by Marian Kraus”  had sprung up in 1990. Since that time, during which many 180 degree changes in my life had occurred, I had scribbled snippets of wisdom and insights, thoughts and phrases that had caught my attention during conversations, readings, meetings, walks and meditations on napkins, notebooks and the like. My intention was to “one day” refine, organize and harmonize them with my fine art nature photographs.  It was a seemingly long drawn out process which in the end was completed in 2007. The time span however was essential and necessary to reveal the contents of the book. All my photographs and accompanying writings mirror stages during the gradual process of departure from dependence and corporate life. They furthermore reflect aspects of changes a person has to apply to break patterns and habits which no longer serve ones’ well being. Because after all, if nothing changes…nothing changes.

Part of my aim was to capture and convey the interconnectedness of all that is in and around us in its most essential and purest form. My book is meant to bring the reader closer to the fragile state of our planet and the ever-increasing need for such elementary qualities as peace, compassion, truth, love, respect and forgiveness. My hope for the book is to give a person an opportunity to see the simplicity, richness and healing beauty of our natural environment.

As the title suggests, my additional intention is to let the book be a vehicle of inspiration and to provoke feelings, emotions and compassionate considerations toward oneself, others as well as the environment we live in. The books’ easily portable size of 8 x 8” allows it to be conveniently viewed when a state of contemplative reflection is sought by the reader.

The nature photographs contained in “Inspirationals“ were carefully chosen from 15 years of my journeys across the globe. “Inspirationals” has many succinct insights and observations gathered by me along the way of “uncovering, discovering and discarding”. Underlying messages such as: “You cannot think your way into better living but instead have to live your way into better thinking” are meant to shake things up a bit. 

A downloadable preview of the book is available here, where it can also be purchased. The self published book is also available on the websites of Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble.

It is my hope that you may find it helpful and inspiring in your own process and that it will bring you lots of joy on your own journey.

 

December 4, 2009

Serenity Scapes

Posted by Marian Kraus under Photography for Wall Decor | Tags: , , , , , , |
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New and Fun Serenity Scapes Collections to Beautify and Transform your Space have arrived

We recently began introducing the latest addition to my Fine Art Photography Gallery Collections. They are aimed at YOU as well as Interior Designers, Architects, Interior Decorators and all those who want to transform and beautify their work or living spaces.

So, what are they…? Serenity Scapes Collections capture insight and invite exploration into the richness of human emotions. They visually communicate all that is within and around us in its most essential and purest form and facilitate the creation of aesthetically powerful visual themes which communicate and reinforce their unique healing energy. The collections feature four main galleries with three nature and one architecture theme related galleries online. At the core of them are three different display styles and three different photo formats, ranging from photographs of 14 x 14” down to 6 x 6” square in size. The photographs of all three versions are mounted in a 3-D fashion which adds to the uniqueness of the collections.

All along the inception of these custom designs was the desire to present you a meaningful channel for the creation of your own designs with a unique mix and match, multi placement flexibility. We have put great emphasis to further improve the user interface and to enhance the user’s experience on my website. The level of flexibility you gain with a click and drag feature is meant to inspire and expand your own sense of design, exploration and creativity.  By dragging the images on the screen you have the opportunity to “pre-visualize” the layout on your own walls.

Please visit this section  often and enjoy the fun process of creating your own collages.  You can also view samples of my Fine Art Photography installations which include the Serenity Scapes in a variety of corporate, health care and residential spaces.

 An ideal gift for yourself or friends and family.

Allow my images to also transform and beautify your environment.

Happy Creating!

 

November 10, 2009

The Golden Ratio

Posted by Marian Kraus under Life and Vision | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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Can seeing according to the parameters of  “The Golden Ratio” enhance your life?

The Golden RatioThe Golden Ratio has fascinated Western intellectuals of diverse interests for at least 2,400 years. While there is a variety of mathematical and scientific explanations available that describe what the Golden Ratio is, the most meaningful explanation to me is what kind of feeling the looked upon object, and this truly could be anything, evokes within the viewer. 

The Golden Ratio is a universal principle of striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and manmade objects.  Structures, forms and proportions naturally aim towards visual enhancement of the environment where they find themselves. 

With a trained eye, one discovers awe-inspiring patterns of order and beauty everywhere. As  a result, one of the most fundamental artistic styles in my fine art and advertising photography  is to seek the Golden Ratio in anything that captures my eye’s attention and to apply the Golden Ratio principles of aesthetics and design to my photography.   

To give you a brief demonstration of how looking according to the rules of the Golden Ratio can apply to everyday seeing, by clicking on the image I invite you to explore examples which attempt to illustrate the Golden Ratio.

Broaden your perspective and reflect on your every day approach to viewing Life and your way of maneuvering through it. Let the mysterious order and similarities of seemingly random elements inspire and expand your vision and understanding of the world around you. And if you are a fellow photographer and / or artist and have not heard about the Golden Ratio in this context yet, experiment with it in your own work. Enjoy.