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Welcome to Stay Focused online magazine
01st January 2021
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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. |
About this Photo – Hiking Yosemite
12th August 2022
Backpacking in the National Park
In the Spring of 1971 I graduated from college. I had already been drafted and taken my physical exam and was now waiting to get called up. So myself and my girlfriend decided to take a trip to the west coast. We ended up backpacking and were gifted a bus ride from the San Francisco are to Yosemite National Park by my generous uncle.
This article is the another in a series of articles that I’ve called About this photo to draw attention to a few of those memorable photos that may be hiding in a shoebox or on your hard drive.
Written by: Arnie Lee
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner Takes to the Sky
06th August 2022
Inaugural Flight of the B787
NOTE: This article was originally written for the maiden flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner in December 2009. I’ve republished it here since the Dreamliner has been become one of the mainstream aircraft for long haul passenger flights.
Original date: December 2009
A few short years ago, the Airbus A380 was the object of an extraordinary amount of excitement. During its years of development the A380 was the talk of the industry. I recall my first sighting of the whale-like A380. It appeared to float in the sky as it made its first landing at Chicago O’Hare. A few short months afterwards, I watched as the A380 landed in Sydney, Australia after completing the first commercial flight from Singapore. Here’s a short story about the first A380 commercial flight. In both cases, I was a lucky camper to be able to capture these moments on digital film.
Fast forward a few years and the object of excitement is changed. On Monday December 14th (2009) I arrive at the office in Grand Rapids about 7AM and open an email message telling me that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is about to make its first flight the next day from Paine Field near Seattle, Washington. During preceding months I had been planning to witness this event, but its date was postponed several times. To put it mildly, I am totally unprepared for Tuesday’s event and start to panic.

Using the computer, I check for flights from Grand Rapids to Seattle for later in the day. I spot a $520 fare on United Airlines. However, without additional verbal confirmation of the first 787 flight I decide to wait to book the United flight. Owing to the three hour time zone difference between GRR and SEA, I have to wait until noon to confirm that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is indeed scheduled to fly on Tuesday at 10AM, weather permitting.
Back to airline reservations. Wouldn’t you know that the earlier $520 fare is long gone leaving me with a much more expensive $950 flight. Oh well, that’s the cost of procrastination. Next I make hotel and car reservations and a call to my wife to let her know of my sudden excursion to Seattle. By 1PM I head home to pack my bags and photo equipment to arrive at the airport by 3PM.
Travel from Grand Rapids to Seattle by way of Denver is uneventful and I arrive about 8PM. The one hour drive from Seatac Airport in Seattle to the hotel near Paine Field is in heavy rain. Owing to my late arrival, I have to settle for some elegant fast food for dinner. Back at the hotel as I set my alarm for 7AM, I am wondering if the rain will interfere with tomorrow’s flight.
Bzzzzzzzz! Time to awaken. I draw back the window shades and see that it’s dark, cloudy and drizzly ourdoors. I quickly dress, prepare my cameras and drive to the nearby Future of Flight Museum that sits at the north end of Paine Field. There Mary Brueggeman hurriedly prepares me a parking pass and entry ticket to rooftop viewing area that overlooks the airport. Inside of the museum things are setup for this special “787 First Flight Event“, complete with champagne, continental breakfast and informative Boeing 787 Dreamliner displays.
I take a quick trip up to the rooftop to determine the best spot from which to photograph the takeoff. Once outdoors, I can feel the cold drizzle and strong breeze. I’m still wondering if the flight will take place. Although it’s still quite dark, the 787 is sitting next to a lighted building across the field about a half mile away. At 7:45 there are only a handful of others outdoors, mostly from local television stations doing their broadcasts of the event. Satisfied that I’ll have a good shooting location on the roof, I head back inside to grab some hot coffee and breakfast pastry.
By 8:30, the museum is a beehive of activity with about two hundred guests. You can hear the excitement in their voices. I bundle my coat and head outside again, this time to stake out my shooting position. By now three dozen others have already done the same. Across the field, we can see hundreds of Boeing employees streaming along the tarmac parallel the the taxiway. They too are here to see their new “baby” make its first flight.
After standing outside where it’s a damp 40-degrees for almost an hour, my feet and hands are cold. As the clock draws closer to 10AM, the rooftop viewing area is now jammed with about 400 onlookers with cameras staring at the motionless Dreamliner across the field. The strobe lights atop the aircraft have been flashing, but the aircraft shows no movement at all. Although it’s a half-mile away, I can hear its engines spool up. The 787 is finally moving and the crowd lets out a collective cheer. The sleek blue and silver aircraft follows a pilot card to runway 14R and then slowly parades 6000 feet along the taxiway as if it strutting its stuff for the Boeing employees and executives. Next it taxis to the far end of the airport just off of runway 34L. It sits there for a few minutes and then taxis into position on the runway. Everyone is now anxiously anticipating the takeoff.
Approaching from the south I see two small, low flying jet aircraft heading directly for runway 34L. These are the chase planes. Everyone knows that it’s now show time. Like a perfectly co-ordinated dance, the 787 engines spool up and the aircraft is finally rushing down the runway with the chase planes appearing to hang just overhead. The timing of the chase planes is exacting. The guests are now cheering loudly as the 787 races forward. At about the 5000 foot marker, the nose wheel comes off the ground. A few seconds go by and finally it’s airborne. The cheers are even louder now with lots of applause.
As it flies passes us, the Dreamliner is only a two hundred feet off the ground. The myriad of camera shutters are still snapping away and heads are turning to follow its path. As it slowly departs to the north, you can clearly see the distinctive bow of its wings as if they’re flexing. What a great looking aircraft.
Congratulations to all of the Boeing employees and subcontractors who have made it happen.
Written by Arnie Lee
Time Travel
05th August 2022
Time Travel
Photos that jog my memory
I grew up in New Rochelle, a suburban city not far from New York City. Some of the older readers may remember the George M Cohan song 45 Minutes From Broadway which was a reference to New Rochelle. Others may remember this town as the home of television character Dick Van Dyke. New Rochelle is only a few miles from the New York City border.
In 2007 I traveled back to New Rochelle to attend my 40th high school reunion.
For me, this was truly time travel. I couldn’t help but feel that I was turning the clock back 40 years to the year 1967. I was anxious to renew friendships with former high school classmates with whom I graduated from New Rochelle High School.
I hadn’t flown into LaGuardia Airport for a few years and was surprised by my flight’s arrival approach. The pilot navigated our plane over some landmarks that were very familiar to me from my youth. With my camera joined to myself I was able to capture some of these landmarks.
Follow along and I’ll take you on this short time travel photo tour in the aircraft that took me over my youthful romping area.
First Commercial Airbus A380 Flight
04th August 2022
An Unexpected Image
03rd August 2022
A Miscue Turns a Photo Into a Favorite
During the 60’s my favorite pastime was photography.
Having only an after school part time job, I used used many techniques to make an expensive hobby more affordable.
I remember buying 100-foot long “bulk film” to reload 35mm cartridges into shorter five foot 36-exposure lengths. This was enough for 18 cartridges of film – enough for the summer season for about the same cost as buying 6 individual rolls of Kodak or Ansco film.
Next I learned how to develop my own film. I constructed a small darkroom in my parents’ basement where I would hang the still-wet film on a clothesline to dry. Not long after I earned enough to buy an enlarger. Wow, I was in photo heaven. The enlarger let me make my own prints and I would patiently watch the image slowly appear (under a safelight) in the developing solution. I was having all of this fun for a fraction of the cost of sending the spent film to my local photofinisher.
Mine was a hobby was like that of many others where you just seem to keep spending your earning for the latest gadgets – easel for holding photographic paper, new developing trays for bigger enlargements, paper dryers for drying prints, color drum for making color prints, etc.
Perhaps you can now see that my association with photography goes back a very long time.
From all of those years spent in the darkroom in the 60s and 70’s there is one event that I remember well. It was a darkroom miscue that had a happy result.
But first a quick intro to how to develop a roll of 35mm black and white film:
In a dark, lightproof room, you remove the exposed film from its cartridge and slide it onto a metal reel. The reel is placed into a stainless steel tank with a specially designed top which lets you complete the development in normal room light. Pour the developer solution into the tank for a designated time – usually 6 to 8 minutes and then pour the developer solution out of the tank . Next pour plain water into the tank for one minute to halt the film development and discard the water. Then pour in the final solution called fixer for 5 minutes. This desensitizes the film from light and makes the image permanent. Now it’s safe to remove the film from the tank and give it a final rinse wash in water for ten minutes.
These operations are done with all of the liquids – developer, water and fixer – at a temperature of 68 degrees F. On one occasion, I inadvertently washed a developed roll at a colder temperature. I wasn’t paying attention and unknown to me at the time the final rinse water must have been a lot colder.
I removed the film from the reel and hung it on a line to dry. But when I finally looked, several of the frames looked very weird.
Sometimes a mistake turns into a favorite.
Written by: Arnie Lee
About This Photo – Summer 1970
02nd August 2022
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed photography since I was a youngster. This in turn is the reason that my picture taking has spanned more than five decades.
I categorize the photos that I take into one of two “camps” – the snapshots and the memorable photos.
This article is the another in a series of articles that I’ve called “About this photo” to draw attention to a few of those memorable photos that may be hiding in a shoebox or on your hard drive.
Unlike some people who have photographic memories, I instead have memories about certain photographs.
Most of these special photographs were taken long, long ago. They are indelible and remain riveted in my mind. And so, in this “About this photo” series, I’d like to key in on one of these unforgettable photographs to bring you back to the time and circumstances under which it was taken.
Taken late summer 1970, this is a photo of my girlfriend along Lake Michigan. We spent many weekends at this beach that summer. Usually the beach was very crowded, but on this cloudy and windy day, we had the run of the sand and shore to ourselves. The red lighthouse was a familiar site to anyone who knows this area and remains a key attraction to the beach today. It’s a lucky coincidence that my girlfriend’s jacket was about the same shade of red as the lighthouse. The reason that this photo is etched in my mind is that I’ve been married to this lovely lady for 50 years now. |
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Now let’s skip forward some 40+ years. This photo was taken a few summers ago. Here we have two young girls having fun at the same location on Lake Michigan. You can see the same red lighthouse along the water albeit at a slightly different angle. These are two of our young grandchildren. As we were walking along the beach I was reminded of the 1970 photograph when we approached the red lighthouse. I asked the two girls to pose on the bench in the foreground. This photo captures the familiar feelings of warmth and affection that has somehow remained with me for more than 50 years. |
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Along the way, I’ve taken a huge number of snapshots. However, the number of memorable photos that I’ve taken is far smaller. Yet it’s the memorable ones that have a magical ability to steer emotions, feelings and pleasure into our minds, even years later. Simply amazing.
Written by Arnie Lee
Giving Your Prints a Backbone
01st August 2022
After You Finally Print That Cellphone Photo
The overwhelming number of photos these days reside on cellphones. It’s common see friends staring at a screen as one of them swipes to show you that funny picture that they captured a few days ago.
Once in a while you may have want to get that image off of your screen and into someone’s hand. You can send the digital copy to your home printer or email it to your local Walgreen (or other local printer) to have it turned into a “real” photograph.
When it’s finally printed you can clip it to your refrigerator door with a magnet, scotch tape it to a nearby wall or mail it to your grandma to show her your graduation gown and diploma. But you may want to print a treasured photo and turn it into a proud presentation.
Here’s a few ways that I’ve done this over the years.
Dry Mounting |
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This large piece of equipment is called a dry mount press. A thin sheet of specially prepared paper is sandwiched between a mounting board and the back of the photograph. The heated press squeezes the sandwich for a short time leaving the photograph “pasted” to the board.
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This press can handle photographs enlargement up to 20″ x 24″. Other dry mounting presses are available in smaller sizes.
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Spray Adhesive Mounting |
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For smaller prints I sometimes use this adhesive spray. This one is made by 3M but other similar products are also available.
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The adhesive is evenly sprayed on the back of the photograph. Place the photograph on a larger piece of paper or corrugate since the adhesive will “overspray”. You’ll want to do this is a non-enclosed space so that you don’t inhale the fumes. Carefully apply the photograph to the mounting board.
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Ultra Board Mounting |
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![]() I discovered a very convenient product for presenting photographs called “UltraBoard”. These products are available in various sizes and thicknesses from United Industries |
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Using an UltraBoard is simple. Unpeal the protective backing from the board and carefully position your photograph onto the surface.
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The photograph is securely mounted to the flexible board and ready for presentation.
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When you finally get those images off of your cellphone you now have few ways of making a presentation quality photo.
Why not show off your favorites without swiping your cellphone screen?
Written by: Arnie Lee
How Many Pixels Do You Need?
30th July 2022
More Pixels Let You Get More Detail From Your Originals.
One of the first digital cameras that I owned was the Olympus C-2000Z. This was way back in the year 2000. With its 3X zoom lens it had a sensor able to record images 1600 x 1200 pixels – roughly 2.5 megapixels. I treasured this digital camera since it allowed me to bypass the all of the film, darkroom and scanning steps and go directly to the computer screen. While the consensus is that 35mm film is roughly equivalent to 20 megapixel resolution, the quality of printed images from the C-2000Z would not match those made with film but they were certainly adequate for computer display.
Of course we’ve witnessed so many amazing improvements in technology these past twenty years and many would argue that digital imaging quality has surpassed that of film.
Since then I’ve been lucky enough (or unlucky according to my wife) to own a succession of digital cameras. With each new model the sensor resolution among other features has steadily increased. For a few years I have been using the Sony A7 III camera. This is a full-frame, mirrorless device with a 24 megapixel sensor and has proven to deliver excellent images under a large variety of shooting conditions. This camera had about the equivalent image quality as my ancient 35mm film cameras about 6000 x 4000 pixels.
A few years ago I upgraded to a newer Sony A7R IV camera mostly for its advanced autofocus and high burst shooting capabilities. It also gave me another feature – a sensor that captures 9500 x 6300 pixels – an astounding 60 megapixels of imaging data.
Shortly thereafter on my next photo excursion by car, I headed out west with the A7R IV.
Below is a photograph that I took when I stopped to shoot a large cattle feed lot near Ogallala, NE. I was standing across the Interstate highway about 100 yards from the lot fence.
Below I have cut portions from the original image to show you the amount of detail this camera is capable of recording. These portions are not enlargements. They are part of the original 9500 x 6300 image that have been cropped to fit on the computer screen.
Here you can see the silo with the logo towards the back of the feed lot.
Hopefully you can see why high resolution equipment is useful when shooting subjects such as scenery or wildlife. Capturing so much detail enables you to crop portions of your original photograph to achieve a desired composition.
Written by: Arnie Lee
Lens Settings and the Background
26th June 2022
How Size Matters
When picturetaking, most often I’m concerned about the subject that is closest to me. I’ll pick the length of the lens that emphasizes the subject.
But there are often times that I’ll want the subject to fit in nicely with the background. By using a zoom lens, I can compose the subject in the viewfinder by varying the lens length setting.
While taking these photographs, I stood in the same place at the same distance from the foreground subject. I changed only the length of the lens (using a 24 to 240mm zoom lens).
As I’m not verbally astute enough to give you a proper explanation, I’ll show you visually how changing the lens length interacts with the perspective of the background.
My favorite is the last photo taken with the longest lens setting which emphasizes the mountains in the background.
For those that are interested, the foreground subject is the Moulton barn along Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park. The background are some of the iconic mountains of the Teton Range.

For reference this is a photo taken with an iPhone at 4.5mm (equivalent to 26mm lens)

full frame camera with lens set at 27mm

full frame camera with lens set a 37mm

full frame camera with lens set at 53mm

full frame camera with lens set at 66mm

full frame camera with lens set at 83mm
Running out of Ink?
15th June 2021
I quickly get tired of using my computer monitor to show others a photo or two. Of course one way to “fix” this is to make prints of these pictures. But this brings up another problem – making a bunch of prints quickly drains my ink cartridges and puts a dent in my wallet too.
A few weeks ago, I saw an advertisement for a printer that uses large, refillable ink tanks. My only hesitation was about the quality of the prints from a relatively inexpensive printer. With a money-back guarantee, I decided to go for it.
Sitting on my computer’s desktop is a folder labeled “To Be Printed”. As I take snapshots or find an interesting image, I drop it into this folder. By the time the printer arrived, I had accumulated close to a hundred images.
Here’s my experience with the Epson Ecotank 2720
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![]() The printer itself is quite compact but capable of printing onto 8-1/2″ x 11″ media. I purchased the printer primarily to make smaller prints. Here’s my stack of 4″ x 6″ glossy photo paper. |
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![]() These are the first couple of prints that I made. Note the initial ink levels on the front of the printer. |
![]() During my first session with the new printer, I made about thirty 4″ x 6″ prints. |
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![]() I found the print quality to be very good for both color and black and white images. |
![]() After printing my stack of 100 of so images, the ink levels dropped only slightly. |
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Epson claims that out of the box the printer includes enough ink for about two years of “normal” printing. My guess is that the ink will not last that long for the type of printing that I intend to do. Refills cost about $50 per set. To date, I’m happy with this printer which set me back $200. Compared to other ink jet printers this is more costly, but factoring in the significantly lower cost of ink and the sparing me the inconvenience of having to run to the office supply store to get a replacement cartridge, I feel that this was a good purchase. The printer is “attached” to my computer via wi-fi so there are no cables to worry about. It also doubles as a copier and has a built-in scanner too. |
![]() The printer ink is delivered in four containers – cyan, magenta, yellow and black with an additional black container. |
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Epson claims that they provide enough ink
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