Farnsworth Scenics started in Montrose, Colorado, by Vince and Maggie Farnsworth in 2008. Since then, they have captured the beauty of the Western Slope with stunning panoramic photos, a format Vince specializes in.
He also has a particular love for the night sky because it contains treasures rarely seen.
Long-exposure night-time photography brings out the detail and color invisible to the unaided eye.
Photographs of the night sky with the landscape are appropriately called nightscapes. These images can be very special because they convey a sense of place in an unusual way.
Guests can visit Farnsworth Scenics located in the Montrose Center for Arts (205 E Main Street in Montrose).
During the spring and summer, Farnsworth also showcases his art at the gallery at Black Canyon Corner (Hwy 50 and 347). For more information about his artwork, visit www.farnsworthscenics.com or call 970-209-7154.
Montrose Business Times: Tell us a bit about your photography?
Vince Farnsworth: I do mostly local photography in Colorado specializing in nightscapes (pictures that include the landscape with the night sky and Milky Way) and panoramas.
I also do a fair amount of deep sky astrophotography (pictures of objects in the night sky without the landscape).
I also love shooting wildlife when I get a chance. The nighttime photography is very technical and requires specialized equipment and the ability to stay up all night.
The panoramas also require special equipment. I invented a parallax corrector called the BluPano that allows complex panoramas to be shot and stitched together perfectly. The BluPano is made here in Montrose and is available at the gallery.
We can print on photo paper, watercolor paper, canvas, or metal. All prints are made with the highest quality pigment inks under my direct supervision.
Prints on photo paper are matted (we don’t sell just the print). Canvas prints can be mounted on a MountCor board if you prefer to do your own framing, or gallery wrapped so the piece is ready to hang.
We can also frame the mounted or gallery wrapped pieces if you prefer. All of the pieces are signed on the print itself, either on the border, the front of the image or the back of the image.
Titles are included where appropriate. The pieces also contain a description of the image and any other relevant information.
The matted prints are assembled so that if the matte is changed the signature and title remain with the print.
MBT: You have the honor of discovering and being the first to photograph the Dragon’s Tongue, a unique feature of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. How did you find it?
Vince: I discovered The Dragon’s Tongue by accident in April of 2012. I had been in the canyon since before dawn and had finished shooting. I was wandering around the canyon looking for a subject for the following morning when I saw a bright streak of light on the rocks.
It was quite amazing and I knew I was looking at something very special. I traipsed through some underbrush to get a better view and took many photos. I showed them to Paul Zaenger and he said he had never seen or heard of the phenomenon. We also showed Carol Dominguez who ran the Visitors Center and together we named it the Dragon’s Tongue.
Later I wrote an article for Outdoor Photographer describing the whole experience.
MBT: What is your all-time favorite place to take photos in Colorado? In the world?
Vince: My favorite places to photograph in Colorado are the Black Canyon, the San Juans and Cimarrons. I also love Maine in the fall and Iceland any time.
MBT: What has been the biggest challenge over the years to keeping the gallery running?
Vince: The challenge to running a gallery is getting the word out and then finding those who can afford to buy the work. We try to have a variety of prices so just about anyone can afford a nice piece. We do our own framing to keep costs down. Custom framing can get very expensive.
MBT: What is the biggest challenge your industry faces today?
Vince: The biggest challenge to the industry is that everyone has a cell phone with a good camera. That’s why I try to shoot unique subjects in unique ways with extremely specialized equipment — you can’t capture the images I do without great toys. I have to be creative and inventive to keep attracting buyers.
MBT: Is AI going to be a challenge for your industry?
Vince: AI is changing the world, which is good and bad. Many photographers routinely use it to replace large parts of an image such as a dull sky.
I personally do not use it to alter my images, but I wouldn’t presume to tell others how to create their art. Buyers collect what moves them and if it was made using AI that’s fine. I do use it occasionally to clean up small distractions in an image such as removing a twig or piece of trash.
It usually works better than other tools used for this. Photographing nature as it is in a beautiful way is challenging, but that’s what makes it so fun!
Jen Wolfe is a freelance contributor for the Montrose Business Times
