About

Hello,
We are Phil and Jody McCrain. We have spent our lives in the Pacific Northwest. We have a great love of the outdoors and the creatures in it. A few years ago Phil's thirty-year photography passion was combined with our shared infatuation with birding. The result brought to life McCrain Photography.

As birders we want to share our love of the birds and the joy of observing and learning new things about the many different species we encounter. In our pursuit of photographing birds we also find breathtaking beauty in scenery and wildlife, which we also capture and share. Yet, our passion remains portraying the essence and telling the stories of the birds.

Our primary tools in this endeavor are a 600mm lens, digital camera and tripod. Any outing, from a walk in a local park or a mountain hike includes this twenty pounds of gear. Back in our "dry darkroom" after an adventure we review the images, select the best, and print out proofs. Often only one of every few hundred images is printed. After seeing the images printed, even more are eliminated.

From those images that make the cut we decide on the best presentation. This is where Jody's creative vision comes to play. Sometimes we decide on a different crop or to print on canvas. For the traditional prints we choose double mats to enhance the individual image and highlight the features of the art. It often takes the two of us hours to agree on the best combination of mat color and texture for a few images. We jokingly refer to the mat selection process being as challenging as picking out a sofa for the living room many times in one day.

Final prints are printed on an Epson professional printer using archival quality inks and papers. We hand cut the mats, mount the images on sturdy foam core backing board, and package them. The canvas prints are also printed on the Epson printer. After they cure, three to four coats of a protective sealant are hand applied. Once this is cured, the canvas is stretched to the finished gallery wrap piece.

We take great care and pride ourselves on creating quality pieces of artwork. The result is a piece of art that we would be proud to hang in our home. We hope you will be too.

Phil and Jody McCrain