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at the helm.
Artists and writers from all walks of life can use the Fastback system to create books of their work for any number of uses, from sending portfolios to galleries or potential buyers to self-publishing a children's book for small audiences as small as a mother and child reading at home.

Today, 70% of Fastback Creative Books' clients are photographers, who utilize the company's services to fashion professional volumes of their work. The process does not require the use of ready-made templates, and each book is given its own graphic treatment. Stephen Leftokis, a nature photographer and owner of Pacific Landscapes in Berkeley, said not only was he pleased with the quality of the product he received from Fastback Creative Books, but has also seen a very important outcome from his use of the product: increased sales.

"I've sold a few thousand dollars in prints to people who have seen the book," he said, adding that the positive effects have yet to slow. "I have a meeting with a big corporation that needs 25 to 30 prints for their walls, and they found out about me from someone passing the book to the right person."

In addition to the Berkeley location, Fastback Creative Books opened a second location in New York City this November, and is currently servicing clients across the country; prices vary on products depending on the size and scope of a project.

The Press for Printing
For those photographers looking for quality printing alternatives in an increasingly home-based photographic world, however, there are several options available as photo-ready ink-jet papers become increasingly sophisticated. Bergger Digital, based in Rockford, Il., recently announced a new line of digital printing papers, called New Generation. The line is designed for the highest quality fine-art reproductions and inkjet technology (including giclee), and comes in two finishes. Bergger's PN 61 papers have a slightly textured
surface, with a natural white hue and matte finish PN 62 has a brighter white
hue and a natural paper feel, and contains minimal optical brighteners, which give a printed image greater clarity, depth, and detail.
Similarly, Oriental Photo, famous for its photo papers used by legends such as Ansel Adams, has unveiled a new inkjet photo paper product, Graphica, which is fiber-based, for a deep, textured print meant to appeal to, as Sina Navidbakhsh of Oriental's North and South America Agency, "the serious photographer."

"We are known all over the world for our photo papers," he said. ""Now we're introducing a high quality inkjet paper that we feel will be just as well-received. It's fiber-based, so it's the thickest paper you can buy." 8.5" x 11" sheets of Bergger and Oriental inkjet papers retail for approximately $30 for 10 sheets, and the paper can also be purchased in rolls for large printings.

Flash Forward
Even with such an array of products available, though, some shoppers might still feel overwhelmed, and in that case there is always the option of a deftly enveloped gift certificate. That will leave photographers at all levels to navigate the stores and Web sites themselves, and to discover on their own that no photo geek, no matter how far gone, ever truly has everything.

Learn more about this author, Jaclyn C. Stevenson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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