Great photos are born in the camera

We recently merged StayFocusedPress.com with ArnieLee.com. Thus Stay Focused is now part the arnielee website. We’re all here because we love taking pictures. You’ll find helpful hints and tips for turning your snapshots into gallery quality photographs. These tips are short and right-to-the-point. Our goal is to get it right in the camera. To search for articles of interest, click on a keyword in tags (sidebar). You’ll also find articles based on our 50+ years of experience in photography. We happily share our know-how with you so in hopes that you’ll discover new ways to enjoy your picture taking even more. Note: You can click on any of the photos to enlarge.

Using Smaller Frames

On my computer desktop, I have a folder labeled “To Be Printed”.

Every once in a while as I’m editing my photos, I’ll drop a copy of a favorite image into the folder. As the number of images within the folder grow, I feel compelled to make prints and get them up on the wall.

Years ago I realized that I didn’t have to always make huge prints. By printing smaller sizes more photos would see the light of day and keep from setting my wallet back too much.

To make best use of the limited wall space, I started to use sets of identically sized frames. They are light weight with glass or plexiglass to protect the prints and easy to hang.

A few of the favorite photographs get special treatment – they are printed in a larger size.

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these are all 4″ x 6″ prints

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here is a small section of the wall with three different sizes

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these are all 8″ x 8″ prints

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these two prints are mounted in larger 16″ x 20″ frames

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this single print is 24″ x 36″

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So get those images out of your “To Be Printed” folder.

When your “To Be Printed” folder gets filled again, you can simply change the photos.

Remember that you don’t have to think big; smaller sizes make attractive displays.

Visiting Monument Valley with the Grandkids

I have a habit of revisiting fabulously gorgeous places. Some have a magnetic attraction that just keep me coming back.

Each fall I ferry Mom’s car to Arizona and then back to Michigan in the spring. When I can make the arrangements, I ask one of our grandkids to come along to keep me company and in turn share some wonderful sites with them.

The small town of Kayenta, AZ lies along the route between Phoenix and Michigan. A few miles north of the town along the Arizona/Utah border is Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park – a most unique and eye-popping location. There you will leisurely drive along the 17-mile dirt road to view a multitude of amazing cliffs, buttes and mesas.

These photos were taken at a spot with with either the iconic West Mitten Butte or Merrick Butte in the distance.

Taken April 2011

Taken July 2014

Taken Nov 2014

Taken Apr 2015

Taken Apr 2018

Taken Apr 2019

The photos are a great way for me to remember this magnificent area. Hopefully the grandkids will recall their visit in years to come.

Bringing the Feel of Paris to My Living Room

As the river Seine flows from central France to the English Channel it disects Paris the City of Light. In turn, the river is responsible for the large number of bridges that connect the two sides of the city – known as the left bank and the right bank.

By far, my favorite is the Pont Alexandre III, an elaborately decorated structure with gold colored statues at both ends, intricate sculptures arranged along the width of the arches, black elegant light posts, a generous pedestrian walkway.

I took this photograph of Pont Alexandre III in 2008. Notice how the gold painted sculptures contribute to the bridge’s beauty.

I decided to add a touch of Paris to our home and had the photograph made into a large canvas print. It is a wraparound canvas – the image edges fold over the internal wooden frame to create a simple hanging piece. The canvas print now decorates our living room.

Here’s a close up of that canvas hanging. Its size is 36″ x 24″. You can see that the print closely resembles the original digital image taken in 2008.

Moving even closer to the canvas you can see more of the bridge detail. Despite the rough texture of the canvas print surface the detail remains quite sharp.

From the above photo I enlarged a small section. While you can clearly see the textured surface, you can also see how the print retains its sharp detail.

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What’s your favorite vacation spot? You can easily bring your past travels into your home.
Don’t let your photos sit in a proverbial shoe box. Get them out of there and show them to the world.

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Zambriskie Point is of my favorite areas to visit in Death Valley. I am awed by its magnificent landscape created by millions of years of erosion. When climb the steep path from the visitor entrance, you’re immediately greeted by the heavily textured, sandy colored alluvial fans.

This day as I walked up the path I could barely see two people standing on one of the flat areas in the distance. They looked like ants on the rocks. The juxtaposition of the tiny figures against the huge backdrop of these badlands was an interesting view.

My equipment was a Sony NEX-7 camera with a medium 18-200mm zoom lens. This is the image that I captured of the couple. The EXIF data tells me that the lens was zoomed to 44mm.
The above photo was the only one that I took of the couple. When I viewed the image in my “computer darkroom”, I wanted to see how the scene would look if I had used the zoom feature of the lens. I magically zoomed by cropping the original image. The result is that the the couple and the rocky landscape show up in much more detail. Which one do you preferr?

While I like both images, I prefer the zoomed in version. This is an example of composing your image after the fact.

A few years ago I upgraded from a Sony NEX7 to the newer Alpha 6000.

The A6000 became my everyday walk around camera. But I didn’t want to let the NEX7 collect dust, nor did I want to spend a lot more investing in more glass.

The one drawback is that this lens is manual aperture control and manual focus but I decided that I could live with these limitations.

So I started looking for an inexpensive lens. My preference was to go wide so I did a little looking around and found an affordable 8mm fisheye. I’m a fan of the way the images are elegantly distorted by lens’ curvature. The lens adds lots of interest to common everyday scenery and subjects. The lens I chose is the 8mm Rokinon fisheye for about $300. When the 8mm lens is coupled on the camera’s APS-C sensor it is equivalent to a 12mm full frame lens. To use the lens, I set the camera to Auto ISO and using the manual exposure mode (M) rotate the aperture ring on the lens to a specific aperture (f/stop) and dial the shutter speed until the exposure indicator is centered.
Measuring about 3″ long and weighing just a few ounces, it is miniscule compared to the two other DSLR fisheyes in my equipment stable. The Rokinon 8mm has a well-marked aperture ring, smooth focus ring, a small built-in sunshade and lens cap that total covers the outer lens surface. I am very happy that when mounted, my fisheye camera is very compact and easy to carry.
The important question is how does this inexpensive fisheye perform? I’ve taken hundreds of photos with the 8mm. I’ve found that the images are tack sharp. The resolution of the NEX-7 is 24MP and with this lens I’ve made several 16″ x 20″ enlargements including three below.
roaming through the cypress groves in the Everglades	amazed at the super bloom in Death Valley
viewing part of Mammoth Hot Spring in Yellowstone	a very wide view of the front porch on our house

The compact size of this camera/lens combination makes it a great way to have a tag along camera and use it for the wide views without having to change lenses.

For many excursions, I carrythree cameras: this fisheye combo, a second with a long lens telephoto (80-400mm) for wildlife and a third with a medium zoom (24mm to 200mm) – all without breaking my back with the weight. In the case of the 8mm fisheye lens, I have a winner at a very decent price.

Having done a little looking around, I know that there are other inexpensive fisheye lenses available for all of the major brand cameras. If you too like the interesting effects that the come from the ultra curved lens surface you’ll be able to find a fisheye to add to your camera bag.

I’ve taken an awful lot of photos over the years – some were for professional purposes, some as obligatory family responsibilities (wedding, birthdays, etc.) and some (many, many, many) for my own pleasure.   In this last category are a group that I consider fun photos. I’ve put a large number of them into my snapshot gallery.   I’m happy to share them with you so please click here and I’ll take you to see them.

I’ve completed major changes to my Fine Art Gallery to organize and make it easier to navigate

My portfolio is quite large so I will continue to add new photographs to seven albums as time permits.

Why not take a few minutes to visit my photo Fine Art Gallery.

Eating During Covid

For a year now, we’ve all been dealing with the Covid pandemic. This deadly virus has affected almost all of our activities – work, school, travel, shopping – just about everything. To combat this disease, we’ve been asked to change our habits. As a result businesses had to drastically change their operations or close altogether to comply with government mandated health rules. Being involved with restaurants, I’ve watched closely as the food service industry has responded to forced dining limits or closures. In many localities, on-premise dining was prohibited so many restaurants started or increased take-out and/or delivery service. Some places allowed outdoor patio dining as long as the establishment’s seating arrangement allowed for social distancing. As the weather turned colder, the popularity of outdoor dining dropped so restauranteurs looked for other ways to keep customers coming back. Below you can see some of the clever ways that are used to keep winter outdoor dining safe and warmer.
These transparent igloos are spaced about ten feet from one another. Seating capacity is limited by local rules. Each has its own lighting and space heaters to keep patrons comfortable.
This tent has a slightly higher profile. Again the seating capacity is determined by local rules.
This classic delivery truck has been converted into a luxury, private winter dining area. The inside was cheerfully decorated for the Christmas holiday.
With snow outdoors, the small space heater keeps the interior warm. Patrons continue to wear their outdoor clothing but are protected from the elements as they dine.
The greenhouse structure and the ice fishing tent are other ways that restaurants have tried to accommodate customers during the cold weather.

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We’re hearing that this pandemic will most likely be with us until Fall 2021. But until the warmer months arrive, many restaurants will continue to look for innovative ways to keep customers coming back.
 

 

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Just recently we merged the StayFocusedPress.com site into this ArnieLee.com site. As such, we’re fixing a few glitches and making changes for easier navigation. As many of you have noticed, we’ve been “off the air” during the 2020 pandemic year. Soon we’ll be adding new content as we continue to bring you new articles about photography and picture taking. Please stay tuned as we get back on track.

April 22, 2019 “49th anniversary of Earth Day. Reflections on this movement.”

NOTE: I’ve written about Earth Day with minor variations for quite a few years. For this article I’ve made several corrections and additions.

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With a few exceptions, I’ve tried to celebrate Earth Day annually since I was a student. In 1970 I was studying resource economics at the University of Michigan so the environment was a central part of my curriculum.

Senator Gaylord Nelson was a major force in organizing the first Earth Day. He wanted to focus our attention on the environment, to measure the effect that the world’s population is placing on our limited natural resources, and to implement the urgent actions to keep the earth sustainable for generations to come. Since then, a generation or two has passed and yet Nelson’s urgency has not translated into the wide and responsive action that many of his disciples would have hoped.

Is Nelson’s intent is now gaining traction? Two years ago, the Paris Agreement was signed. Also known as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change its goal is to combat climate change. Effective since November 2016 with 195 UN member countries participating, actions are aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Sadly President Trump has announced his opposition to the Paris Agreement. Procedurally he will have to submit notice of withdrawal no sooner than November 4, 2019 with completion to be effective one year later. This policy stance shows how controversial environmental issues remain among our electorate.

Within the past couple of weeks, one Democratic candidate for the 2020 presidential election has based his platform on environmental issues. Governor Jay Inslee of Washington state wants to focus on ways to deal with climate change. Many supporters are hoping that Trump is not reelected in next year’s election and that the next administration will rejoin the Paris Agreement. For those voters who support of the goals of the Paris Agreement, the 2020 election may be their opportunity to weigh in.

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Stick with me a while as my mind has become unstuck in time.

The phrase “unstuck in time” comes from the pen of the late Kurt Vonnegut. I recall meeting him in the late 1960’s when he was invited to be “writer in residence” at the University of Michigan (U of M).

Vonnegut often visited “The Brown Jug Restaurant” for coffee and to smoke cigarettes. As an aside, he claimed that smoking was the slowest form of suicide. My wife Kris, also a student, waitressed here and would sometimes serve him. Due to her hearing difficulty she admitted that she wasn’t a very good waitress and frustrated Vonnegut with her (lack of) service. More to the point, his stay on campus as writer in residence ended prematurely when he abruptly left saying something like: “I’m leaving Ann Arbor since I have nothing more to teach you about writing.” So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut photo courtesy of Colleen Taber	the author and his dog living “60’s back to nature	Fifth Dimension
James Taylor	Gordon Lightfoot	Motown’s Four Tops

The 60’s was a very vibrant and exciting, yet conflicted era. My high school yearbook quotes Charles Dickens: “it was the best of times and it was the worst of times….we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way”. This was the period of Viet Nam and Kent State, living off the earth and making peace, hippies and long hair. We were contemporaries of heavy metal, Motown, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, James Taylor and Woodstock music. With this as a backdrop, we happen upon the ENACT Teach-In at the U of M.

In the early 1960s Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a book describing the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment. Many have cited Silent Spring and the horrible 1969 oil spill near Santa Barbara as two of the impetuses for the environmental movement. In 1970 on March 11, a dedicated environmentally conscience group organized the Environmental Action for Survival (ENACT) Teach-In at the U of M to discuss, to educate and to propose solutions and laws to stem environmental problems created by the earth’s inhabitants. Speakers included Senator Nelson, ecologist Barry Commoner, Michigan Governor William Milliken and U of M President Robin Flemming.

Hoping to fill the 13,000 seat Crisler Arena, the organizers also provided entertainment by the cast of Hair (a Broadway hit show) and folk song artist Gordon Lightfoot. Among the dozen songs Lightfoot performed was the Canadian Railroad Trilogy (click for lyrics). This lengthy song is a poetic ballad describing the building of the railroads across Canada and the difficult tradeoffs between developing a strong, vibrant economy for a growing population and keeping the land pristine for the future – an apt way to point to environmental conflict in musical terms.

The ENACT Teach-In was a success and preceded Earth Day by six weeks. On April 22, 1970 more than 2000 colleges and 10,000 primary and secondary schools participated in the Earth Day Environmental teach-in, celebratory and activism activities throughout the US.

I was planning a career revolving around conservation, ecology and recycling. I studied writings from the likes of educators and humanists Kenneth Boulding, Buckminster Fuller and E.F. Schumacher and took courses such as forestry, resource management and cost-benefit analysis.

The next year I graduated with a degree in Natural Resource Economics. My great enthusiasm for things environmental slowly tapered off. After a year of job hunting in this nascent field I was still unemployed. Instead, I ended up in the computer and publishing business. So it goes.

How well or how poorly have us earthlings have done to improve the environment these past 49 years? Just yesterday I read an option piece that details how environmental issues have bounced around for 30 years between our Republican and Democratic leaders without very much accomplished. This NY Times article by Nathaniel Rich aptly describes political obstacles standing in the way of Earth Day goals.

In spite of the absence of political agreement to attack the environmental issues, there have been deliberate and urgent activities to resurrect many of the same or similar ideas from these earlier decades that call for a change in our lifestyles.

There have been numerous events that have flashed attention on Earth Day. This song with a conservation theme: Conviction of the Heart (click for lyrics) was performed by writer/singer Kenny Loggins at Earth Day 1995 in Washington, DC.

A few years back we took our young grandkids to see The Lorax, a movie based on a Dr Seuss’ book. It describes a place where the trees have been clear cut so there are no trees left. Everyone depends on manufactured air to provide oxygen for their survival. Through battle with “industry”, the hero finally succeeds in planting a single tree. This act restarts the path to regenerating oxygen naturally. While the story is a little far fetched, it presents the oxygen depletion issue to a young generation.

We later took them to see another movie – The Croods which depicts the struggle of a family of cave people to survive in a deteriorating world. They survive through human ingenuity with inventions such as fire, shoes and wheels. I hope this isn’t the only lesson for our next generation – that technology alone is going to save our environment. Yes, we are quite ingenious. But a lot of us have reservations that technology by itself will solve our planet’s woes.

I recently came across an article that describes the fossil fuels versus renewables controversy. The discussion is not only about the environment but also about jobs associated with the various energy industries. The coal industry employees about 50,000 and the more inclusive fossil fuel industry – coal, oil and natural gas – employees 190,000. The number of employees working in wind power number about 100,000 and in solar power 375,000. Additionally about 250,000 are employed in the transportation industry to develop and produce alternative fuel vehicles – natural gas, hybrids, electric and fuel cell technology. It’s pretty clear that the energy industry is headed towards more renewables.

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Photography and the Environment

Stay Focused is a website revolving around photography. So what does all of this rambling have to do photography? Well, to continue in the same vein, I thought it might be interesting to look at photography then and now to compare their individual environmental impacts.

At first, I thought this was going to be a “no brainer” – that digital photography yields huge environmental savings compared to conventional photography. But as I began to dig deeper, I see that there are two sides to this argument.

Conventional Photography

Having worked in several commercial photo labs long before the advent of digital, I’m familiar with the processes that are used in conventional (film-based) photography.

Most conventional cameras use a cartridge or canister of film for taking 12, 20 or 36 photographs. Each “roll” of film is individually packaged for sale in hundreds of thousands of retail locations. Besides the resources needed to manufacture the film, a considerable amount more are used to market and distribute the products.

Film derives its light sensitivity from a chemical mixture of silver halide that’s coated onto its surface. After being exposed to light by the camera, the film is first “developed” – the silver halide image is converted into a metallic silver and then “fixed” – the unused silver halide is dissolved. This makes the negative image permanent. Color film requires additional chemicals to form the dyes used to reproduce the various colors. And still other chemicals are used to enhance the drying of the photographic materials. In addition to these chemicals, a large amount of water is used to rinse and clean the chemicals from the surface of the film.

Conventional photographic prints are processed similarly using a silver halide sensitive paper and chemicals to develop and fix and wash the positive images. Most commercial photo labs make prints from each exposure on a roll of film.>

The environmental impact of conventional photography is significant. A large amount materials is consumed to make film and photographic paper. A large amount of nasty and toxic chemicals are used to process both the film and prints. And an awfully large amount of fresh water is used in the process as well.

Digital Photography

At first glance, the coming of age of digital photography appears to have a beneficial impact on the environmental.

With digital, no longer is there a need for roll after roll of film. Instead a single chip (SD-card or CF-card) can capture hundreds, maybe thousands of images.

Now, these digital images no longer require chemical development. Rather, the images are immediately available to review while still in the camera. For permanence, the images can be copied to your computer hard drive for safekeeping, further enhancement and presentation.

Unlike conventional processing where each exposure is mindlessly printed by the photo lab, you can be more selective. Instead you can choose to print only the best of the best images. And it’s your choice to print them using a conventional photo process at your favorite photo lab or print them at home on your color ink-jet printer.

Regardless of which camera you’ve purchased, digital photography seems like a winner from an environmental standpoint.

The Rest of the Story

As with many things in life, digital photography has a few “gotcha’s” that cloud its environmental friendly moniker.

The upside is that digital provides big savings in resources by eliminating film, packaging, paper and chemical processing. However, digital shifts the resource burden to the manufacturing and maintaining of the personal computer. Yes, there are some who make do without a personal computer. These picture takers bring their digital film to a photo lab to make their selected prints. But most picture takers collect, organize, retouch, process and present their photographs using a personal computer.

While it’s dated, a United Nation report tells us that “the average 24 kg desktop computer with monitor requires at least 10 times its weight in fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture, much more materials intensive than an automobile or refrigerator, which only require 1-2 times their weight in fossil fuels. Researchers found that manufacturing one desktop computer and 17-inch CRT monitor uses at least 240 kg of fossil fuels, 22 kg of chemicals and 1,500 kg of water – a total of 1.8 tonnes of materials.”

Of course a personal computer is used for other tasks as well, so it’s not fair to put the full blame for digital photography’s negative impact on the environment.

And to power all of these cameras, computers and accessories the need for electricity either from the wall outlet or batteries is climbing. Does this contribute to our CO₂ footprint?

Not surprisingly, manufacturers are working feverishly to add new and amazing whiz-bang features to their cameras. But now instead of buying a conventional camera every ten years or so, the buying cycle for digital cameras is a lot more frequent. Read: more resources consumed.

Wrapping it Up

We can credit the overwhelming adoption of digital cameras for saving the environment from millions of rolls of film and the required chemicals to develop the the film and prints. In addition to the great quality of digital technology, we benefit from a huge reduction of harmful photographic chemicals.

Unfortunately, from an environmental standpoint, digital photography is a mixed bag when considering the pervasive number of new cameras and extensive use of the personal computer.

In his novel Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut might comment on this no-win situation with the phrase so it goes.

A while back, I wrote another article that might be of interest if you’re following the status of our environment.

After all of these years as an avid photographer I’m still a proponent of carefully using our precious natural resources. Aside from photographing family, my favorite pastime is nature and landscape photography. Below you can see some of the ways that I commune with nature.

	These photos were taken in many of our National Parks, Monuments and parklands. As you read this, I’m off to other outdoor places to experience more of our earth.

To the best of my ability I continue to practice “leave no trace photography” – disturb neither our wildlife nor its surroundings. Photography, whether conventional or digital, is a gift that lets me enjoy the wonders of our amazing world visually. I think many others agree.

I’ve long been conscientious about my “environmental footprint” – using recyclable packaging; choosing fuel-efficient vehicles; keeping our trees healthy; reducing fertilizer and pesticide usage. Individually I’m not making much of a difference but together we can really make a dent.

As for Earth Day – some believe that it is the world’s largest annual non-religious holiday with more than a billion participants.

Happy Earth Day!

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More Information
Here’s a few articles about Earth Day and about the conventional vs digital photography debate.

• How to Reduce Your Environmental Footprint
• How to Be an Environmentally Friendly Photographer
• Environmental impact of digital cameras compared to film
• Environmental Effects of E-Waste
• Analog vs. Digital Photography
• How Photographers Are Reducing Their Environmental Impact

For those of you who are interested in the movement, here is a link to one of the main Earth Day sites.

History of Earth Day

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Written by Arnie Lee.

Please leave your comments below or address your thoughts about this article, to Arnie via email

Canadian Railroad Trilogy By Gordon Lightfoot

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun Long before the white man and long before the wheel When the green dark forest was too silent to be real But time has no beginnings and history has no bounds As to this verdant country they came from all around They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall And they built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all And when the young man’s fancy was turning to the spring The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day And many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay For they looked in the future and what did they see They saw an iron road running from sea to the sea Bringing the goods to a young growing land All up through the seaports and into their hands Look away said they across this mighty land From the eastern shore to the western strand Bring in the workers and bring up the rails We gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails Open your heart let the life blood flow Gotta get on our way cause were moving too slow Bring in the workers and bring up the rails We’re gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails Open your heart let the life blood flow Gotta get on our way cause were moving too slow Get on our way cause were moving too slow Behind the blue Rockies the sun is declining The stars, they come stealing at the close of the day Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away We are the navvies who work upon the railway Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun Living on stew and drinking bad whiskey Bending our old backs til the long days are done We are the navvies who work upon the railway Swinging our hammers in the bright blazing sun Laying down track and building the bridges Bending our old backs til the railroad is done So over the mountains and over the plains Into the muskeg and into the rain Up the St. Lawrence all the way to Gaspe Swinging our hammers and drawing our pay Driving them in and tying them down Away to the bunkhouse and into the town A dollar a day and a place for my head A drink to the living and a toast to the dead Oh the song of the future has been sung All the battles have been won Oer the mountain tops we stand All the world at our command We have opened up the soil With our teardrops and our toil For there was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun Long before the white man and long before the wheel When the green dark forest was too silent to be real When the green dark forest was too silent to be real And many are the dead men too silent to be real

Conviction Of The Heart By Kenny Loggins

Where are the dreams that we once had? This is the time to bring them back. What were the promises caught on the tips of our tongues? Do we forget or forgive? There’s a whole other life waiting to live when One day we’re brave enough To talk with Conviction of the Heart. And down your streets I’ve walked alone, As if my feet were not my own Such is the path I chose, doors I have opened and closed I’m tired of living this life, Fooling myself, believing we’re right I’ve never given love With any Conviction of the Heart One with the earth, with the sky One with everything in life I believe we’ll survive If we only try How long must we all wait to change This world bound in chains that we live in To know what it is to forgive And be forgiven? Too many years of taking now. Isn’t it time to stop somehow? Air that’s too angry to breathe, water our children can’t drink You’ve heard it hundreds of times You say you’re aware, believe and you care, But do you care enough To talk with Conviction of the Heart?

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