IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW

IT DEPENDS ON YOUR POINT OF VIEW - This Buddhist monk seems more than willing to get down on his knees in order to obtain just the right point of view to capture images of tourists visiting the Buddhist temple located on Doi Suthep, a mountain outside Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city. I was recently asked by a fellow photographer for some input on how to obtain interesting points of view, so here goes. If every time you shoot a subject, you shoot straightforward at eye level, your photography can become quite boring very quickly. Here are some suggestions though for adding a bit of oomph to your photographs. Look up. Pointing your lens upward from a low vantage point pretty much automatically adds interest. If you're photographing a person, this is a method for making the subject appear taller. Shooting up from a slightly low angle will render the subject as simply tall and imposing. Think for instance an intimidating Gunfighter.Get a bit lower and shoot at a more pronounced upward angle and you have Paul Bunyan. Photograph a person from above with the camera lens pointed just slightly down and you will render the subject shorter than in real life. Turn Harlem Globetrotter Jesse into Pygmy Pete. Or shoot from the fifth floor balcony of the hotel and capture a bird's eye view of the swimming pool. Another neat trick that works under certain conditions with a person, or with a statue, is to shoot just the lower portion of the figure. I photographed the feet and lower legs of a golden statue at one of the Buddhist temples in Northern Thailand. Although the statue was about life size, the photos gives the impression that the figure was of monumental height. Which way you turn your camera can have a significant effect on the look and feel of your image. Try shooting the subject holding the camera first in portrait mode, then in landscape mode. Then be daring. Turn the camera topsy turvy, and see what you get. Another great idea is to use extreme telephoto and extreme wide angle settings. Shoot close up using a n extreme wide angle lens to distort your subject. Literally get inside or almost inside your subject. The point is to force yourself, and the viewer, to see the world in a new and different way. So go out and take a different view of your surroundings and discover a whole new perspective in regard to the art of photography LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

PSYCHO-GOURMET: ROAD FOODIES

PSYCHO-GOURMET: ROAD FOODIES

BISBEE INVITATIONAL PHOTO SHOW

BISBEE INVITATIONAL PHOTO SHOW UPDATE - On the evening of November 6th, 2010, BizzArt Gallery will host the first annual Bisbee Invitational Photo show (B.I.P.S.). Entrants will be judged in two divisions, Arizona Division - open to photographers residing in Arizona and the Cochise County Division - open to photographers residing in Cochise County. Longtime photographers Larry Elkins and Ann Widmann are co-chairing the show. Terry Etherton, owner of the Etherton Gallery, will act as juror for the competition. An artists' reception will be held at BizzArt Gallery, 41 Brewery Gulch, 5PM - 8PM Saturday, November 6th. - LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

DIGITAL IS PHOTOGRAPHY'S FUTURE. FILM IS PHOTOGRAPHY'S PAST. - Now, that pretty much goes without saying. As the years go by, digital will more and more become the dominant photographic medium. Film, in a relatively few years, will be relegated to the status of an alternative photographic process. That being said, where is digital going to take us? I don't have a crystal ball. However, I'd like to suggest just a few possibilities that I think are inevitable. First, more megapixels. One caveat though. The more pixels packed into a given sensor, the more problems you encounter. The main one is each pixel becomes less sensitive to light. How will the camera companies' techies fix the problem? One method might entail creating sensors with more innate sensitivity. Another might be to find a way of packing larger sensors into smaller, lighter cameras. Here's a novel idea - larger pixels. Great. But how do we go about fitting larger pixels into smaller sensors placed in smaller cameras? Seem insurmountable? So did the feat of bringing the size of a computer down from half a city block to the size of a deck of cards. Next on the agenda? Well, how about higher ISOs - much higher ISOs? How about cameras that can be handheld in nearly total darkness? If you look at the photo I used above, you probably won't all that amazed that it was taken at ISO 6400. But prior to the introduction of high speed films such as Kodak's p3200, it was. Another 'no-brainer'? The lines between still photography and video will continue to blur. Most cameras, even the less expensive ones, will allow for both. Another given is that true 3D will become a common feature in consumer cameras. I could go on and on. What about HD easily done in camera? What about tiny cameras mounted on eyeglasses? The point is, we're entering into a whole new universe. It's not just a matter of what we expect will happen. It's all those things we don't even dream of yet. Again, it's somewhat like the futuristic films that envisioned 21st Century computers that were huge colossus's that ran endless reels of magnetic tape. What we imagine for the future is clouded by the realities of our own time. But many of those realities will most likely be stripped away. As the professor says at the end of the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy, "The future isn't written yet.".So, hop on the nearest moonbeam, and let's go for a ride. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

CHURCHES MAKE INTERESTING PHOTO SUBJECTS

PHOTO TIP - CHURCHES MAKE INTERESTING PHOTO SUBJECTS - Churches and chapels, particularly historic ones, make quite interesting subjects for your photography. Try taking both interior and exterior shots. This particular church, St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Tombstone Arizona, is the oldest Protestant church in present day Arizona. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

IN HONOR OF THE CHILEAN MINERS

I AM POSTING THIS PHOTO OF THE GOOD ENOUGH SILVER MINE IN HONOR OF THE CHILEAN MINERS TRAPPED BENEATH THE EARTH FOR 69 DAYS, AND IN CELEBRATION OF THEIR EVENTUAL RESCUE. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

CHICKENS HANGING AT RUAMCHOOK-MARKET NEAR CHIANG MAI THAILAND

CHICKENS HANGING AT RUAMCHOOK-MARKET - CHIANG MAI THAILAND - Unlike a market in the States, at a Thai market like Ruamchook, you don't find neatly packaged steaks, chops and chicken leg quarters. Much of the fish available is still swimming in tanks. Whole cows, goats and hogs are being hacked to pieces by numerous butchers. These chickens were being sold with heads and feet still attached. A visit to a market of this type is a real adventure. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

LARRY ELKINS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY - ELKINSPHOTOS.COM

LARRY ELKINS - CHECK OUT ELKINSPHOTOS.COM - Elkinsphotos.com is a gallery website featuring the fine art photography of Bisbee Arizona based photographer Larry Elkins (Yours truly). Elkinsphotos.com features eight fine art photo galleries featuring various facets of my photography. The ELKINSPHOTOS.COM gallery pages include PORTRAITS, NATURE/WILDLIFE, LANDSCAPES, TRAVEL/EVENTS, FINE ART NUDES, ECLECTIC IMAGFS, IMAGES OF ECUADOR and a VINTAGE BASE BALL PHOTO ESSAY. I hope to soon add two additional galleries - CHIANG MAI ADVENTURE & BISBEE AZ IMAGES. Elkinsphotos .com presently holds a Google Page Rank of 3. It is also listed in numerous web directories. In addition, I manage a photography related blog ELKINSPHOTOS-BISBEE AZ as well as numerous photoblogs and a ZIMBIO associated wikizine ELKINS PHOTOS JOURNAL. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS

AUSTRIAN CRYSTAL

AUSTRIAN CRYSTAL - This is a photograph of a large Austrian crystal in a shop window that I took a few years ago. I heightened the saturation of the colors in Photoshop Elements. While the resultant image is certainly not realist, the colors do reflect a heightened version of the actual colors reflected in the crystal. I have a real fondness for this image. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINSPHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY