Red River Paper Pros: Kah-Wai Lin

Kah-Wai Lin is a landscape, travel, and nature photographer based in New Jersey who has led hundreds of photo tours and workshops and has presented at over 250 seminars around the world. He was awarded First place at the International Photography Awards in 2015. Named as one of the top 10 exhibitors in the world by Photographic Society of America in 2015 and 2016, Lin was also honored in 2016 by being appointed as an Artist-in-Residence by US National Parks Service. In recognition of his photographic excellence and invaluable contributions to the photographic community, he was the recipient of the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.

The Client

I was leading an annual winter aurora photo workshop in Norway and was doing a personal creative assignment while photographing the landscape there.

The Assignment

I photographed this aurora image on Senja Island, the second largest island in Norway. It was a cold winter night and I was monitoring the weather and aurora activities in my hotel room and realized there was a good chance of seeing strong aurora activity in the next hour. I told my attendees to get ready and we went to the Bergbotn Viewpoint, which faces the amazing fjord landscape to the Northwest. Once there, everyone eagerly began setting up equipment in anticipation of the show, which began as predicted. No matter how many times I have seen them, I am always excited to witness these magical lights in one of the most spectacular settings on earth.

The Execution

Successful aurora photography is determined by many factors, including the precise prediction of aurora activity, chasing the weather, understanding the environment, and technical and esthetic knowledge of photography. This was a very fast-moving aurora; therefore a short exposure time of 3.2 seconds was used in order to capture its distinct shape. The image was made with a single exposure, thanks to the moonlight illuminating the mountain and fjord.

Post Production

I used Adobe Camera Raw for converting the raw image and then Adobe Photoshop for most of the post-production workflow. The Nik Collection is among my favorite plug-ins.

The Output

The image was output on both Red River 60lb Polar Matte and 60lb River Linen papers using an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 printer. The Red River 60lb Polar Matte papers have excellent performance in terms of accurate color reproduction and are able to show the gradation of color tones extremely well. The contrast between white and black is also very well presented. On the other hand, Red River 60lb. River Linen has a textural surface that significantly enhances the visual sensation of fine detail in landscape images.

Contact Info

Website: www.kahwailin.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kahwailin

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kahwailin

E-mail: [email protected]

Favorite Papers

UltraPro Satin

UltraPro Satin looks and feels just like traditional photo lab paper and features a medium depth luster finish.

Favorite Of: Jim DiVitale & Peter Randall

River Linen

River Linen adds a special dimension to your printed image with its premium quality linen surface paper.

Favorite Of: JVS & Helene Glassman

Aurora Art

Made using fine 100% cotton rag content, Aurora Art White and Aurora Art Natural offers the look and feel of fine art paper.

Favorite of: Marilyn Sholin, Matt Hoyle, Susan McCartney, & Kaitlin Walsh

Arctic Polar Satin

With its crisp blue white shade, Arctic Polar Satin ensures your images will project more brilliance. Its state of the art microporous coating will enhance details and color saturation.

Favorite of: Al Francekevich & Susan McCartney