Photography Points of View

Experts stress composition when they’re referring to how to place your subjects in the viewfinder to get that best looking photograph. Your subject may be a face, a full body portrait, a tiny flower or a majestic canyon.

You have many ways to approach those subjects: move closer, move farther away, bend your knees to lower your viewpoint, point the camera upwards slightly, climb onto a nearby bench to take in more of the subject, and so on.

By simply changing the angle of your camera in relation to the subject you can get totally different – and hopefully better – results.

Here are a few samples of how I’ve come up with different angles.
 

 

It doesn’t take much to make your snapshots slightly more interesting. And remember that these days with digital cameras (or cellphones) – it’s pretty cheap to take a few extra “experimental” photos. Have fun!
 
 
Written by: Arnie Lee
 
 

Taking In A Wide View

I enjoy taking panorama photographs. When I look at one it’s as if I can scan the horizon from left to right or from right to left and experience an entirety of what’s in front of me. A panorama is wonderful way to capture landscapes and scenic subjects. 

I have a couple of cameras that are able to automatically take panoramas. My cellphone camera also has this feature. The amount of detail that is recorded in a panorama is quite amazing. Keep in mind that the enlarged panoramas displayed here have been reduced in overall size to fit on your screen – about 1600 pixels wide. Most of these original panoramas are more than 10,000 pixels wide!

Below are a few panoramas that I’ve taken over the years.

Click on any of the images to view the enlarged panorama.

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Arches National Park, Utah 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Badlands National Park, South Dakota 2016 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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Cannon Beach, Oregon 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Crater Lake, Oregon 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Dantes View in Death Valley National Park, California 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona 2020 iPhone 11 Pro Max cellphone

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Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 2008

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Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, Montana 2021 iPhone 11 Pro Max cellphone

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Mono Lake, California 2016 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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Monument Valley, Utah 2019 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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Painted Desert in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona 2016 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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St Louis Waterfront in St Louis, Missouri 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood, Oregon 2017 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin 2013 Sony NEX-7 camera

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Rim of Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 2017 Sony ILCE-6000 camera

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If your camera or cellphone can capture a panorama have you tried it yet? The high quality of the images will amaze you.

Written by: Arnie Lee

High Quality Desktop Printer

I’m an ardent believer that it’s better to get your photographs off of your hard drive and into print.

About ten years ago, we had a 13″ wide printer to handle some of our smaller photographs. However, after it died following a long and generous life, we chose not to replace it. Since then we’ve been using a variety of photofinishers to reproduce our photographs.

After strolling by the Epson booth and seeing some of their impressive photograph displays, I talked to one of their customer representatives and am now considering their new Surecolor P600.

The P600 is a replacement for their previous R3000 model. It connects to your computer setup via an Ethernet connection or via WiFi. You’ll need a desktop area of 24″x36″ for the printer. The top loader automatically feeds 13″x19″ paper for borderless printing. There’s a front loader for feeding single sheets of specialty fine art papers up to 1.3mm thickness. For panoramic prints up to 10 feet long, the P600 accepts the included roll feeder.

The P600 uses nine high capacity ink cartridges including three types of black ink for smooth toned black and white photographs. The many photographs on display at the Epson booth demonstrated excellent quality on a variety of papers including these panoramas. In the past, I’ve had positive experiences using many fine art papers from Epson’s wide selection.

 
 
I asked the Epson representative about my concern about clogged ink cartridges when the printer is sits unused for a short while and was told that the ink will remain usable for up to six months from installation.

The list price of the Epson Surecolor P600 is $795. For more information, see the Epson P600 webpage for details.

The P600 is now on my short list of equipment purchases. I’m anxious to print several panoramas that I’ve stored on my hard drive – again, the hard drive is not a good place to keep photographs.
 
 
Written by: Arnie Lee
 
 

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