An Interview: Artist Julie Low Launches 

Fancy The Collection With The Help of Canon

By Lou Freeman

About the author: Lou Freeman is a world renown Atlanta based Photographer specializing in Commercial, Glamour, Wedding, Beauty Shots, Portraits, Head Shots & Architecture Photography plus Live Photographic Workshops. Lou is a Public Speaker for Creative and Motivational Seminars as well as  featured on Creative Live and KelbyOne Photography Workshops.

Julie Low: Fancy the collection.

What inspired you to launch Fancy The Collection?

You have known me for a long time. My long career has been incredibly fulfilling on the commercial side in branding, catalog design, advertising, etc. My “sweet spot” in business has focused on luxury brands and fashion, as well as home and hospitality decor clients. I have remained relevant and have been sought out for knowing what is on-trend. With age, I have begun to crave an even freer creative experience. So I have gravitated to creating art and photography that is trend-forward and ideal for upscale home and hospitality spaces.

How have you prepared and made the transition?

As you well know, there is such a technical component to photography and creating art. Having experience with technology tools like Photoshop, image resolution, file formats, and even how to build a website has given me a leg up (a fat leg, LOL!). Of course, you and I have worked together over the years. You know I have directed a lot of photography, but I knew nothing about the science of the camera, and recently working with you to learn this has given me a wealth of knowledge.

Speaking of photography, what camera did you choose?

Of course, you are a Canon fan, and I had to follow your lead. I bought the Canon EOS-R with a 24-105mm lens. I have had so much fun shooting, making lots of mistakes, and learning so much. I hope to sell prints and incorporate some of the photography into my digital art pieces. 

You printed some of your work recently. Were you happy with the results?

Yes. I am in the testing phase right now to see how my images will best print. I have sent images to a professional lab in Atlanta and have also printed on your Canon Pixma Pro-1000. Wow! Seeing my prints roll out of the printer at 17”x22” was so rewarding. 

Yes, you were very excited. You also used Canon paper and ultimately the software. Tell me about that.

The first images were printed right out of Photoshop. Yep. Wasted about half a day doing that. Remember? They didn’t seem as rich as the original files on my screen. Then I pulled the images into Canon’s Digital Photo Pro image processing software and the difference was stunning. Colorful, rich, images were the result. The paper was Canon’s Premium Smooth Fine Art paper. The result was ... well really fine ... art. It was gorgeous! The high-resolution images printed smooth, with a lovely matte finish and a wide color gamut. So much color range and detail.

Canon recommends a 24-hour drying time, but since I had to hit the road that evening, that had to be cut short. I set each one out to dry for at least an hour. Then I was very careful packaging them and getting them home. Handled ‘em like a newborn (big laugh). Fortunately my beautiful prints traveled perfectly without incident. 

Will you be making your own prints in the future?

I am still getting my products completed and launched via my website (fancythecollection.com). I hope to have that finalized by mid June. I will outsource to the Atlanta lab for a while to evaluate the sizes most requested. Then I will decide whether to purchase a Pixma Pro-1000 or -2000. Like all the Apple products I use, I am a believer in keeping with one brand or “system” of products designed to work optimally together.

Any final words?

The future is looking bright. I am passionate about my new direction and happy to be putting all the right tools and technology into place. Hopefully, taking it slow and doing my research will pay off. Then on to my site launch and finding happy customers with blank walls. My website touts first thing on the home page that it's good thing to be naked, but not when it’s your walls, right!? LOL