In earlier years, Garnto had struggled with finding the images he wanted at the time he needed them. The success of Garnto's Nottely River Series paintings (there are currently over 20 painting in the series) in 2006 afforded him the ability to purchase the equipment needed to come up to par in the digital revolution. Being able to photograph, print, and manipulate his own images has made a huge impact on how fast Garnto can produce new work. He says, "I do not consider myself a photographer. I am first and foremost an artist. The only formal training I've had in photography was with Annie Leibovitz (Photographer for Rolling Stone Magazine, Vanity Fair, and Vogue) in 1994 while I was a student at the Atlanta College of Art. When I am photographing a subject, whatever it is, I look at it thru the viewfinder as if I was going to paint or draw it. I concentrate on composition and lighting my subject. The rest I will manipulate in Adobe Photo shop CS2 for collages, painting/drawings, & composite fine art photography. My collectors have urged me to start showing my photography. Most of the photography seen here is a direct result of images I needed for a collage of some sort. Hopefully the photography will give views insight into how I emulate images in the creative process for collages, composite fine art photography, paintings, and drawings."

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