© 2020 Romi Boon All Rights Reserved
My passion for photography started in my teens and later I became a studio photographer and an owner/operator of a photo-lab. Back then, I didn’t have a lot of composition know-how (other than portraiture). It wasn’t until my retirement that a friend's art career inspired me to do more with my photography, and soon the digital era didn't frighten me anymore and I began to love all the artistic aspects of photography. My friend is a life-long, professional fine artist who’s impressionistic art hangs on thousands of walls around the globe. We share the many of the same passions; hiking, biking, ATVing, RVing and travel photography and these passions took us all over western Canada and the US; it's during those shared activities that I honed in on the art of photography and composition (thanks to his help). We’ve often discussed “art”, the “art of photography”, and debated, "What constitutes it as art?". Nowadays, digital manipulation is (or can be) a large part of the photographic industry; and its controversial. Which leads me to the introduction of this photograph. Prior to this photo (Jan./2021), I never digitally altered my work, choosing instead to do only what a photo lab could do; I was a purist! In this photo though, I added the moon, BUT only after I considered how it affected the overall flow; the advantages and disadvantages; the moon is such a strong subject. It created a bullseye (or target), forcing the viewer's eye to the moon. As mentioned, a great deal of thought went into my decision to include the moon but in the end, I knew it would appeal to some viewers; perhaps you. This photo was taken at Granite Mountain, McDowell Sonoran Preserve (North Scottsdale, Arizona).
The morning sun casting was casting its warm rays on this cholla while Superstition Mountain was still in the coolness of shade. Apache Junction, Arizona.
The "Wahweap" lookout, is just north and west of Page Arizona and borders the state of Utah. The lake in the background is Lake Powell, a man made reservoir (the Glen Canyon Dam) on the Colorodo River. Its a tourist hot spot that’s famous for its scenic beauty, camping, fishing and house-boating. This is a photo of a freestanding wall at the visitor’s center. I chose to use the wall to frame the distant scene, and kept everything in focus (for those DSLR users; use a large f-stop). IMPORTANTLY, I chose an exposure for the distant mountains, not the wall. Note that this type of shot may be difficult to attain with an older iPhone. That said however, they do tend to pick up more of the shadowed light than a DSLR so give it a try!
