Showing Off Your Photographs

Digital gives us the opportunity to take hundreds and hundreds of photos for almost no cost at all. This is an amazing turnaround compared to the price of using film cameras that had a processing charge saddled to each roll of film that we shot.

So what are we doing with all of these “free” photos? Are they sitting on the SD memory card or cell phone? I’m sure that my friends and relatives are impressed as I flick through the tiny screen to show them my recent vacation shot – NOT!

Well, to be frank, my fingers are tired of flicking the screen. And my friends and relatives typically avoid asking to see pictures of my travels. So I decided to print – yes you heard it correctly – print some of the photos.

	One afternoon I collected a set of my favorite nature shots and sent them to the photofinisher. A few days later received back a short stack of 8″ x 10″s and 8″ x 12″s Now the issue is how do I present them? I didn’t really want to arrange them in a conventional album that would sit on the top of a coffee table. No, I longed for a different way to display them. I decided that I’d show them off by making a small gallery in an unused room. The room is well suited for this purpose with a large, uncluttered wall painted white.
Rather than “hanging” the photos, I decided to make a very miniature shelf system. I bought a few 10-foot lengths of “J-TRIM” used to install vinyl house siding. These strips are lightweight and inexpensive. Use scissors to cut to desired length.	Use a tape measure to mount the J-TRIM level about 54″ above the floor. I used these ribbed plastic anchors (3/16″ size). Here I’m drilling a hole through the J-TRIM into the drywall.
Next you push the plastic ribbed anchor into the drilled hole.	Then fasten the J-TRIM to the drywall with one of the screws.
By themselves, the prints are too flimsy to stand on the miniature shelf. I purchased these sheets of mat board precut for the 8″x10″s and 8″x12″s.	Using the 3M spray-on adhesive, I mounted the photos onto the mat board.
I found it necessary to use this Scotch “mounting putty” to keep the photos from falling from the miniature shelf.	The putty is pasted between the photo mat board and the wall to keep the top of the photograph from falling.
Here’s another view of the putty which hold the mat board agains the wall.	Here you can see the photo resting in the channel of the miniature shelf.
When all is said and done, I have a small gallery of my latest travel photographs. As you might guess, when you’re tired of looking at this group of photographs, it’s very easy to change them.

 
Material List:

2 pieces of J-Channel – 10′ Vinyl 1/2″ J_Trim @ $2.40 each (Home Depot)
1 pkg – plastic ribbed anchors #4 – 1″ @ $7.99
1 pkg – 8″ x 10″ or 8″ x 12″ mat board 25 sheets @ $12.50
1 can 3M General Purpose 45 spray mount @ $5.00
 
 
Written by: Arnie Lee
 
 

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Sometimes it’s the little things that count

I love being outdoors enjoying nature. And I’m an ardent admirer of landscapes and scenery.

When I’m hiking the scented woods, the winding trails, the golden meadows or the salty seashores, my eyes are usually drawn to the big things – the rolling hills, the roaring rivers, the jagged mountains, the immense forests.

But every so often something tiny, delicate or ephemeral catches my attention. I’m not deliberately seeking out the “small stuff” but somehow they make their way to the front of my lens as I attempt to duplicate the emotive feeling that I get from seeing them.

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Yellowstone NP

Jenny Lake, Grand Teton NP

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Goldfield, AZ

Reno, NV

Mammoth Hot Springs

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Rocky Mountain NP

Glacier NP

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Maybe after looking at a few of these up close photos, you’ll have a better understanding of how transitioning from the big stuff to the little stuff can change your point of view in a hurry.

 
Written by: Arnie Lee

 

 

 

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Another Amazing Feat of Nature

The story goes that hundreds of years ago herds of antelope grazed on the grounds where natural forces carved an assortment of narrow passages through the sandstone to create what native Americans call Tsé bighánílíní or the place where water runs through the rocks.

This sacred Navajo monument is commonly known as Upper Antelope Canyon. This slot canyon is a phenomenal site to experience and photograph.

Since Antelope Canyon is a Navajo Tribal Park, access is is granted only through one of five guide services that operate from nearby Page, Arizona which is also home to the Glen Canyon Dam. I chose to take an extended 2-1/2 hour photographic tour.

I’ll illustrate my visit with photos that show you the scale of the passageways and canyon walls in relation to the size of an average visitor.

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This is one of vehicles used by our tour operator. The ride from Page to the canyon entrance takes about twenty minutes. Notice the vehicle’s sizable off-road tires.	,/td>
The canyon entrance is at the end of a long, sandy road, hence the need for off-road, four wheel drive transportation. The road is actually a wide channel that serves to drain the watershed for a large part of northeastern Arizona.
With five tour operators, there is a steady stream of visitors coming and going. This is the parking area immediately in front of the entrance. My experience was that each of the tours was well organized.

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Judging from the size of the two photographers here, you can gauge the narrowness of the pathways in the slot canyon. The color of the canyon walls varies greatly. Here the opening at the top of the wall is quite wide so it lets in a lot of bright light.
The pathways are very level making it easy to walk on the hard packed dirt surface. You can see that the walls jut out randomly along the pathway. As you are walking, you need to take care not to bump your head or appendages. The coloring is quite different here. The dim lighting accentuates the texturing of the rocks.

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The widest part of the canyon is a cathedral-like alcove near the entrance. Here the canyon opens to about 30 feet wide and the walls are simply splendid.

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For anyone interested, I chose the 2-1/2 hour photographic tour from Antelope Canyon Tours. The cost was $80.

Before this visit, Antelope Canyon had been on my list of “must see” places for several years. Now that I’ve experienced this enjoyable place, I am again thoroughly impressed by Mother Nature.

 

 
Written by: Arnie Lee

 

 

 

 

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