Greetings Fellow Sportsmen,
I'm Steven Russell Smith and since 1994 I have operated a business called Fish Artistry starting out in Zanesville and now in Cambridge, Ohio since 2000. During the past few years I have developed a solution for fishermen who catch a special fish that they would like a keepsake of, but who do not want to (or cannot) go the taxidermy or reproduction route. Such was the case of the West Virginia bowfisherman who contacted me three weeks ago. He had recently harvested a 21.1 lb. Freshwater Drum from the Ohio River which was certified by the Bowfishing Association of America as being an Ohio record fish. He wanted a keepsake of that fish, but there was a problem...
21 lb. Drum- NOT MOUNTABLE. Reproduction?- TOO PRICY. Well over $1000 not including shipping. But I informed him that I had a great solution. I could professionally photograph the fish, then using digital art techniques, create an underwater scene into which I could then layer and blend the fish. Then we could have a large print made of it for his permanent keepsake. He was very interested, so I emailed him some samples of my work...and the rest is history.
After many questions and discussions, I came up with the idea of personalizing the print by putting Dalton's silhouette into the scene drawing the very bow which he used to harvest the fish. After completing the artwork, I ordered the print for him, an awesome 30x40" metallic print in which the fish appears close to its original size! The sky is the limit as far as what I can do in creating artistic backgrounds. Dalton harvested his fish at night with the aid of specially rigged lights on his boat- so that's what we decided to depict in the artistry. It is even possible to create a split scene with breathtaking scenery above the waterline, and the fish beneath.
Although I photographed the Drum myself, it would also be possible for me to use your photo, so long as it is of high enough resolution and of decent quality. Even if your photo was captured on- scene with you holding the fish, I still may be able to do something great with it by employing advanced editing techniques to remove the hand along with glare and other flaws, as well as reposition the fish and make any necessary lighting and color adjustments, so that your fish looks great in the print! (Check out my before and after dolphin pic).
Thank you so much for taking time to read this, and for considering my artistry as a viable option for preserving your fish of a lifetime. If you have further questions, just give me a shout!
I'm Steven Russell Smith and since 1994 I have operated a business called Fish Artistry starting out in Zanesville and now in Cambridge, Ohio since 2000. During the past few years I have developed a solution for fishermen who catch a special fish that they would like a keepsake of, but who do not want to (or cannot) go the taxidermy or reproduction route. Such was the case of the West Virginia bowfisherman who contacted me three weeks ago. He had recently harvested a 21.1 lb. Freshwater Drum from the Ohio River which was certified by the Bowfishing Association of America as being an Ohio record fish. He wanted a keepsake of that fish, but there was a problem...
21 lb. Drum- NOT MOUNTABLE. Reproduction?- TOO PRICY. Well over $1000 not including shipping. But I informed him that I had a great solution. I could professionally photograph the fish, then using digital art techniques, create an underwater scene into which I could then layer and blend the fish. Then we could have a large print made of it for his permanent keepsake. He was very interested, so I emailed him some samples of my work...and the rest is history.
After many questions and discussions, I came up with the idea of personalizing the print by putting Dalton's silhouette into the scene drawing the very bow which he used to harvest the fish. After completing the artwork, I ordered the print for him, an awesome 30x40" metallic print in which the fish appears close to its original size! The sky is the limit as far as what I can do in creating artistic backgrounds. Dalton harvested his fish at night with the aid of specially rigged lights on his boat- so that's what we decided to depict in the artistry. It is even possible to create a split scene with breathtaking scenery above the waterline, and the fish beneath.
Although I photographed the Drum myself, it would also be possible for me to use your photo, so long as it is of high enough resolution and of decent quality. Even if your photo was captured on- scene with you holding the fish, I still may be able to do something great with it by employing advanced editing techniques to remove the hand along with glare and other flaws, as well as reposition the fish and make any necessary lighting and color adjustments, so that your fish looks great in the print! (Check out my before and after dolphin pic).
Thank you so much for taking time to read this, and for considering my artistry as a viable option for preserving your fish of a lifetime. If you have further questions, just give me a shout!