Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 11:26AM Recently interviewed by host Sonja Vass of SBN TV for her show, The Art Corner, the show aired on Charter cable channels 22 & 17, reaching over 300,000 homes. It is available for viewing online at http://www.sbn.tv/archives/760
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 4:29PM
By Fran Memberg For The Crier
Achieving success based on a skill or talent you’re good at is a satisfying accomplishment. For Sandy Springs resident Doug Sturgess, multiply that achievement times two. It’s not just because he has a successful career and avocation, but also because each requires a different set of characteristics controlled by opposite sides of the brain.
Sturgess the physical therapist, who specializes in spinal therapy with Resurgens Orthopaedics, relies on such left brain characteristics as logical and sequential problem-solving, processing accumulated information, and planning and structure.
But when Sturgess picks up one of his digital cameras, his creative right brain takes over looking for patterns that cluster around images. An avid traveler, Sturgess always packed a camera to take scrapbook photographs. “It’s very satisfying to capture what you see while you’re there,” said Sturgess.
Yet when he visited photo galleries, he said he wondered, “Why don’t my pictures turn out like that?”
He came to realize that the images he viewed in galleries were enhanced after the original photos were taken. “Anybody can take a picture,” said Sturgess. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that anybody has the skills and post-processing equipment to turn their images into fine art.”
When digital cameras entered the mass retail market about 10 years ago, Sturgess saw an opportunity to turn his own travel snapshots into artwork. He specializes in landscape and architectural shots and, ironically for the Missouri native, underwater photography. He shoots with a Canon 20D and uses a Canon Power Shot G9 for underwater shots.
“It’s amazing how much color and life there is under the water. There are so many things underwater that Walt Disney couldn’t have dreamed up. You can go to the same place many times and see something different each time,” he said. Much of his underwater photography was taken in the Caribbean, Tahiti and the Great Barrier Reef off Australia during travels with his partner, who Sturgess said has learned to be patient during stops to take pictures. “It’s important having someone patient [while photographing] underwater, when you have to stay close to your dive buddy for safety,” Sturgess said.
Sturgess creates customized images for individuals and markets his work through interior designers and a website. He also uses the Internet to look at other photographers’ works and correspond and collaborate with other photographers around the world. “When you see an image and don’t know how [the photographer] captured it, you can email the photographer. The more images you look at the more ideas you get, and that helps you grow as an artist,” Sturgess said. While planning a trip to Italy, Sturgess communicated via email with a photographer in Venice, who gave him great ideas for the types of shots he was looking for around the country.
Sturgess’s work ranges from 8-by-12 inch prints to gallery wraps of any length up to 55 inches wide. High-definition aluminum prints are available from 16-by-24 inches up to 4-by-8 feet. Images can be printed on fine art paper or canvas, metallic paper or acrylic. He uses the Giclee ink jet process to print images, “the finest art reproduction you can do,” according to Sturgess. Prices for his work range from $125 to $1,700. Although Sturgess uses sophisticated photography equipment, he said simpler cameras can capture great pictures. “The best camera is the one you have with you. You never know when you’ll get a neat shot,” he said.
An exhibit of Sturgess’s work will be on display through January 8, at Digital Arts Studio, 1082 B Huff Road, N.W., Atlanta. To view his images online, visit http://www.dougsturgess. com.
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 4:27PM April 8, 2004
http://www.almadentimes.com/040804/travel.htm
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The famous motor sailing ship Wind Star off the coast of Roatan. |
Last chance to explore the 'Mystery of the Marquesas' on the Wind Star
The romance of the South Pacific's mysterious Marquesas archipelago, among the most beautiful and least visited islands in the world, is revealed aboard two exclusive Windstar cruises departing June 18 and September 17, 2004.
This is the last chance for cruise travelers to explore these exotic islands aboard the motor sailing yacht Wind Star. Windstar Cruises has announced that the msy Wind Star will leave Tahiti at the end of 2004 and begin sailing new itineraries in Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, the Mediterranean and the Greek Islands. The Wind Star will visit the Marquesan islands of Fatu Hiva, Hiva Oa, Ua Pou, and Nuku Hiva, travel to Rangiroa in Tuamatu, and then on to Tahiti's Bora Bora and Moorea.
“The unstructured nature of a Windstar cruise combined with the pure beauty of the Marquesas provides the perfect opportunity for travelers to script their own agendas, making their vacation together as romantic and adventurous as they wish,” says Tom Russell, vice president of marketing and sales for Windstar Cruises. “The casually elegant atmosphere found aboard Wind Star is the perfect complement to the intoxicating landscape of the South Pacific islands.” The Marquesas are unique because they are not surrounded by a reef. The great volcanic cliffs and towering mountains pop out from the deep ocean, making this one of the most scenic regions in all of Tahiti. An inspiration to artists and musicians, and renowned for its dancers, wood carvers and tattooists, the Marquesas offer a countless number of cultural, archeological and manmade wonders.
Days under sail offer breathtaking panoramas of lush, volcanic islands, pristine harbors, dramatic horizons, and at night, the world's best view of the Southern Cross constellation that commands the sky.
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 4:24PM 
Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 2:07PM 