Virtual Art Museum

personal, photograph, travel, , , , , , , , , , , ,

from the digital archives

In one of my previous careers I was a frequent traveler.

Beginning in the early 1980s, business has taken me to France dozens of time. During my free time I’d often visit the city’s extraordinary art museums.

Musee d'Orsay
Musee d’Orsay in Paris

Early on I was able to photograph most of the artwork. However, some years later many of the museums began to put a moratorium on photographs. Now that most of us are unable to visit museums these days, I’ve come up with an alternative.

Below you’ll find a small set of photographed artwork that I have collected over the years. Most of these photos were taken at the famous Musee d’Orsay.

Please feel free to enjoy this artwork as you take a walk through my virtual art museum

Also available is my Virtual Art Museum video for those of you who prefer to just sit back and watch the masterpieces scroll by.

[Click on any of the paintings to enlarge]

Vincent Van Gogh

Church at Auvers
Vincent Van Gogh

Thatched Cottages at Cordeville
Vincent Van Gogh

Dance Hall in Arles
Alfred Sisley

Footbridge at Argenteuil
Henri Matisse

Luxe, Calme et Volupte
Edgar Degas

Dancer with a Bouquet Bowing
Edouard Manet

Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets
Paul Gauguin

Yellow Haystacks
Vincent Van Gogh

The Siesta (after Millet)
Paul Gauguin

Vairumati
Paul Gauguin

The Red Dog
Vincent Van Gogh

Self portrait
Claude Monet

Woman with a Parasol
Gustave Caillebotte

Floor Planers
Claude Monet

Le Dejeuner
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Grande nu
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Portrait of Julie Manet
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Young Girl Seated
Vincent Van Gogh

The Church at Auvers
Claude Monet

Les Coquelicots
Pierre-August Renoir

Bal du Moulin de la Galette
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Dance in the Country
James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Whistler’s Mother
Claude Monet

The Boat at Giverny
Thomas Couture

The Romans of the Decadence

For those of you who prefer to view these artworks more leisurely, here’s the same Virtual Art Museum video.

Virtual Art Museum
“Here Heather” Music by Lee Bartley
Photos by Arnie Lee

Written by: Arnie Lee

What’s your POV?

personal, photograph, techniques, ,

It pays to have a different point of view

Most everyone has an opinion – a point of view if you will. But in photography, the POV acronym has a special meaning.

Point Of View refers to the position of the camera when you click the shutter. By varying the camera’s position you can easily change the composition and “interest quotient” of your image. A simple change in the position of your camera can turn your photograph into a winner.

And of course you’re the key to making this happen.

Try moving closer or further away from your subject. Bend at the waist. Get down on your knees. Turn the camera from the horizontal to the vertical orientation. Lift your camera above your head. Point the camera downward. I think you get the point.

For some suggestions, check out a few of the examples below.

[ Click on any image to enlarge ]

Look Down

For these shots, I’m viewing the subject from above. I’ve filled the frame to emphasize the subject rather than the background. All of these are shot using a standard focal length.
Eye Level

Lowering your camera to meet the subject’s main feature gives a more intimate feel. Moving closer or further away from the subject changes the scale (size) of the subject. Just a few steps can make a noticeable difference. Kneeling or bending over may be part of the routine to get the shot.
Look Up

By shooting upward you can get a very different capture that alters the facial aspect in portraits. Doing so may also emphasize or exaggerate the height of the subject.
How Low Can You Go?

For a couple of these shots, we had to lay prone on the ground to produce a more dramatic view. Some of the newer cameras have a swivel viewfinder for composing low or ground level pictures.

After you’ve paid for your camera, photography is just about FREE. So get out there and show yourself and others that you have an interesting POINT OF VIEW.

Written by: Arnie Lee

Aircraft Nose Art

personal, photograph, travel, ,

Artists at Work

I’m lucky to have had several interesting careers. One of these was to develop flight simulation software.

Among the most enjoyable parts of our business was to attend the well-known summer Oshkosh air shows. At Oshkosh are acres upon acres of aircraft of all makes and models from vintage to classic to state-of-the-art to futuristic.

visitors viewing the warbirds at the Oshkosh air show

As a history buff, I love wandering among the hundreds of war planes covering the fairgrounds. Rather than show you the warplanes themselves, I’ve collected a series of artistic pictures that adorn the noses of these aircraft.

Enjoy the nose art that inspired our courageous airmen in years gone by.

[ Click on any image to enlarge ]

Written by Arnie Lee

A Learning Experience

equipment, nature

how Google helped me solve a problem

As an avid outdoor-nature photographer, I’ve always believed in the saying: “you can never have too many mm’s between you and a distant subject”.

Recently I decided to add more mm’s to my camera bag and purchased a Sony 200-600mm lens to accompany the Sony A7 III.

My first opportunity to use the new lens was on a trip a few weeks ago to Florida.

This is one of the first images that I snapped. As I closely reviewed it in the viewfinder I could tell that it was obviously out of focus.

The first thing I did was to immediately check the lens setting to use autofocus. It was.

I then checked the camera menu to see if it all settings were correct for autofocus.

Next I took several more photos but no luck.

They were all severely out of focus.

Disappointed, I decided to set this lens aside for the reminder of my time in Florida.

Upon returning from this trip I planned to send the lens back to the vendor for repair or exchange.

However, before calling the vendor for a return authorization, I spent a few minutes googling “Sony 200-600mm autofocus problem”.

To my surprise I found a post that was identical to my problem. When I purchased the lens, I also purchased a circular polarizing filter (huge 95mm) to help reduce glare. The individual who wrote the google post explained that his filter interfered with the lens’ autofocus mechanism. By removing the filter, his images were no longer out of focus.

So I took the filter off my lens to see if this solution applied to my problem.

BINGO. The autofocus mechanism worked perfectly and produced this image.

I’m happy that Google helped me solve my problem.

I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to take advantage of the extra mm’s during my stay in Florida. And I’m reminded that I need to test out new equipment before I’m in the field. I’ll continue to search out for a filter which may not interfere with my camera’s autofocus. Perhaps a different brand has properties that enable the autofocus to perform correctly. We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m ready for my next opportunity to get outdoors with this lens.

Happy shooting!

My Portfolio

nature, personal, photograph, travel, ,

Fine Art Photography for sale

In my travels, a camera has always been close to my side. Photographs such as these are my way of remembering some of the amazing places that I’ve visited over the years.


Oxbow Bend, Tetons

Merced River, Yosemite

Huntington Beach

Monument Valley

Cottonwood Creek, Tetons

Madison River, Yellowstone

Bryce Canyon Nat’l Park

Zion Nat’l Park

From the tens of thousands of photos that I’ve taken, I’ve created a portfolio of my favorites that are available for sale online in a variety of sizes and finishes shipped directly to you.

Visit my portfolio of fine art photographs at Stay Focused.

Winter is Fading

nature, personal, , ,

This year’s Michigan winter has felt long and unpredictable. December was decidedly frigid and harsh. During other times, we’ve seen surprising warm spells intermixed with lots of cloudy skies, frozen temperatures and snow.

But as I ventured outdoors yesterday, my camera noted a subtle change taking place. I’m seeing that old man winter may be relenting.

Last weekend we turned our clocks ahead an hour – a signal that spring is on its way. I’m hoping for an abundance of sunshine to warm the air.
 
 
Written by: Arnie Lee