Kent Porth Nature Photography is based in a state of the art production studio located at 107-B Vista Oaks Drive in Lexington, South Carolina.  While not maintained as a retail storefront, Kent always has a large inventory of framed prints on display and available for purchase.  As you will see when you walk in, however, this is a "working" studio.

When Kent started his venture into professional nature photography, he spent a lot of time visiting some of the most successful nature photographers in the western United States.  One of the common business traits of these photographers was that they all owed their printing and framing operations to maximize their profitability, and to maintain control over the quality of their finished product.  As a result of his time with these proven professionals, Kent invested a lot of time, energy and resources in learning the art of printing and framing.  He also invested in state of the art printing, mounting and framing equipment to have a full service studio.

PRINTING
Kent utilizes Epson large format printers exclusively.  He currently has an Epson P9000 44" printer as his primary printer, with Epson 24" and 17" printers as ancillary printers.  While Kent uses several of Epson's fine art papers and canvases, as well as many of Epson's photographic papers, the majority of his fine art prints are printed on a selection of Hahnemuhle's world famous fine art papers. 

MOUNTING
Kent uses a 44" x 68" heat/vacuum press to mount his images.  This system assures a perfectly mounted image, especially when Hahnemuhle's heavy fine art papers are used.  Kool Tack Preserve Ultra adhesive foamboard is Kent's primary mounting substrate.  This heat activated (low heat), archival quality foamboard is expensive, but worth it.  While meeting the necessary archival standards to assure no long term damage to mounted prints, the product is completely reversible.  This allows the prints to be removed, remounted and presently in a different frame format in the future.

MATTING
Kent only uses conservation quality mats from Crescent and Neilson Bainbridge on his prints.  Most prints are matted with solid core Crescent Select 8 ply mats.  When more color is required, only Crescent Select whitecore mats are utilized to assure that the exposed core of the mats will not yellow with age.

Kent cuts his mats with a 40 x 60 Valiani CMC with a pneumatic table which assures the highest degree of accuracy available in mat cutting.

FRAMES
Kent builds all of his frames personally.  The frames are cut in a separate location, and assembled at the studio.  All frames produced, whether 6" x 10" or 40" x 60", are produced the same way.  Each mitered corner is cut, sanded, glued in a frame vise, and then "v-nailed" to assure that the corners will look the same decades in the future as they do the day they leave the studio.  Frame corners that separate over time are simply unacceptable. Kent uses both modern miter saws and old school European "chop machines" to cut frame molding.  While many different moldings can be obtained for custom framing projects, Kent is extremely selective on the moldings used on his images.  The frame moldings must have a core of quality wood or wood laminate, and have a high quality stain or gesso finish which will hold up over time.  When framing photography, it is hard to go wrong selecting high quality materials with relatively simple, classic designs, and then executing the assembly flawlessly.  This formula never goes out of style, but requires time and attention to detail to accomplish.

OTHER EQUIPMENT
Kent's studio has many other capabilities including ultra high resolution image and document scanning with Epson scanners, and ultra high resolution art and document digital capture utilizing the industry leading Phase One products.

Kent's ability to offer high resolution image capture, state of the art large format printing, and the highest quality custom, archival quality framing in one location separates his studio from most others in South Carolina.