Kimberly Bell Hambor

Kim Hambor was born Kimberly Bell in Akron, Ohio. She grew up in the small town of Uhrichsville, just southeast of Akron. At the age of seven, a sculpture she had created was exhibited at the Akron Art Institute. In the seventh grade, her science fair project was a pinhole camera and portable darkroom, with which she was able to take photographs and develop them in front of the judges' eyes. For this project, she received State Recognition.

Kim's Early Career

Kim went on to graduate from the University of Akron with a degree in Commercial Art, and her early career background includes work in Columbus, Ohio with local artists on major charity events and her first shows featured her photographs as art. Kim's commercial career continued with Miller Studio in New Philadelphia, Ohio where she worked as an Advertising Photographer/ Sculptor/Product Designer. Her attention to detail became evident in product advertisements featured in magazines such as Good Housekeeping.

Wishing for warmer weather, Kim moved to Naples, Florida in 1988, where she worked as a graphic artist for Prestige Printing. She also started a successful stock photography business, in which her images were featured in numerous publications such as billboards, magazines and coffee table books. She participated in many local art shows, and was the first photographer to have their work shown as fine art in the Art in the Park shows.

Kim's Start with Infrared

When she first moved to Naples, Kim took an art class, and befriended some of the other local photographers and artists in the South Florida area. Together, they began taking photo field trips. A trip to St. Augustine to try a new photography technique, shooting with infrared film, was what stoked Kim's interest in infrared photography. When the group's photos were developed, Kim realized that she had a knack for infrared, which was extremely challenging to shoot successfully. As she aptly puts it, "It's really hard to shoot! You're lucky to get anything. Because it's trial and error, you don't really know what your exposures are. You could ask ten different people and get ten different answers [on how to successfully shoot with infrared film]. I just took a wild guess and just did it, and it came out really cool."

In 1992, Kim met her husband David on an airplane on the way back to Naples from Ohio. They were married in 1995 and now have two sons, Jacob and Luke. David has always supported Kim's love of art, and of trying new things. He built her a studio, where today she creates her works of art.

Kim's Art Today

When digital cameras first came on the market, Kim purchased one, and then was shown an article on how to shoot infrared digitally with a filter. She immediately acquired an infrared filter, and after more trial and error, was successfully shooting digital infrared. When she "wore out" her first digital camera, Kim decided that acquiring a camera dedicated to shooting infrared would be a wise decision. She purchased a Nikon D200, and had the infrared blocking filter removed and replaced with a visual light-blocking filter. Exposures are similar to normal daylight speeds. Kim transforms the digital images in Photoshop and uses archival inks and papers to produce fine art giclees.