World travels yield a full gallery

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Thomas and Deb Fenwick really click.

Once Thomas and Deb Fenwick stepped out of the computer programming world, they embraced a life of photography and travel.

Thomas turned his keen eye and attention to detail on the places they saw, captivated by the light and the ability to look at nature – landscapes and wildlife – in a different way.

This led to the opening of Fenwick Arts Studio & Gallery, located on Day Road. Thomas does all the shooting. Deb does all the matting and framing. Collaboratively, they make decisions on sizing and other matters.

“Part of our goal is to make the art enjoyable,” Deb said. “We both are perfectionists in our own way. He has been known to rip up prints.”

The Fenwicks prefer their studio location to a downtown space, as they’re still very much in travel mode.

“We can have opens, we can be part of the studio tour and have a work and gallery space,” Deb said.

The Fenwicks are one of six working studios open to artists and visitors during this weekend’s Summer Studio Tour.

“We really enjoy the studio tour. People come in and want to see your work,” Deb said. “You know they’re not going to buy a giant print, but you get feedback. It’s fun to talk about where you took the images.”

The Fenwicks’ studio walls are a testament to the miles they’ve logged and the natural treasures they’ve seen around the world. A particularly arresting example is their three-week journey to Antarctica.

The stories Thomas shares are nearly as wondrous as the scenes he photographed. The king penquins, elephant seals and a three-mile-long iceberg are particular favorites.

The Fenwicks also have traveled throughout the United States and Europe and to South America and Mexico. But not all Thomas’ images are so far-flung.

The Olympic Mountains continue to inspire him, as do scenes from his own Bainbridge back yard. There are very interesting things in Eastern Washington, too, he said.

A lot of Thomas’ images are patterns within patterns for that abstract feel, but he also has a playful eye and the patience to wait for the right shot. The level of detail he gets comes from the cameras he uses.

Thomas switched to all-digital photography because of the chemical wastes and because “we can produce the images we want with digital.”

“When I started getting serious, I thought do I really want to go the film route,” he said. “I got started doing black and white when my brother set up a darkroom. I learned to load film tanks by feel.”

Through the years he embraced color photography, but once digital cameras measured up to his exacting standards, he made another switch. He relishes the complete control digital affords.

Thomas loves to print “big stuff,” but smaller, more detailed views captivate him as well.

“If it doesn’t have the detail I want, I’ll keep the size down. A lot of times I’ll do it smaller,” he said. “It depends on the integrity.”

His working size is a 13-by-19 print. He processes all of his images, which are printed on an Epson inkjet printer with ultrachrome inks in the studio.

“We don’t end up with a thousand of anything,” Deb said, and Thomas doesn’t manipulate his images.

“If you go to that place, you’ll see the same thing,” she said. “He captures the mood.”

“For us panoramas work. From a marketing point, it’s harder for people to go buy a frame,” Thomas said. “A lot of what we have is in a smaller size.”

The Fenwicks happily accommodate clients who want a photo sized differently or prefer a print sans matting.

When the traveling mood strikes, they close their studio and pack their camper.

“There’s a lot of places I’d like to get back to and not when a cruise ship has been there and disgorged a load of people,” Thomas said.

He tends not to take too many shots at a time. Usually the first or second frame works, he said. Sometimes, as in the case of the fast-flying birds, that’s all he can do. Other times, he has the luxury of shooting a sequence of frames.

Deb hails from New York State, Thomas from Mississippi. They met in New Jersey and ultimately decided to move someplace that had water, mountains and nature. They opened an atlas, narrowed the search to Washington and Oregon and then looked for jobs in their field. The answer was Seattle.

Although they looked on Bainbridge for a getaway place, they first bought on Camano Island, but the commute was too long.

“Bainbridge is a more relaxed atmosphere with a wonderful town feeling and that’s what we liked,” Deb said. “You’ve got all these lakes where we can take our camera.”

Thomas started getting into photography more heavily in 1998. He took a couple of months’ leave from work, went back and decided he wanted something more. In 2001, he became a full-time photographer.

Because he wants to “take something nobody else has taken,” Thomas happily gets up before dawn or drives all night to get a shot. He studies his craft, too.

“I collect photography books out the wazoo,” Thomas said. “I look at other people’s works for inspiration.”

The Fenwick Arts Studio and Gallery is open by appointment. Call 842-3384.