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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Five: Using the frame to define ideas > Half Dome from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004
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15-OCT-2004

Half Dome from Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, California, 2004

The familiar profile of Half Dome is over eight miles from this viewpoint, located just beyond a tunnel cutting through the middle of a granite cliff. I create a frame within a frame by shooting through some pine branches in the foreground. The branches are in sharp focus; the panoramic view beyond them is suggested in softer focus. In treating this famous view in this manner, I am implying that Yosemite can be looked at as an idea, as well as a reality.

Canon PowerShot G6
1/1250s f/4.0 at 28.8mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis10-Aug-2007 05:51
Thanks, Alina, for coming to this image. I am glad it helped you see another way to make an image similar to the one you made from the same spot (http://www.pbase.com/alina_kurbiel/image/82176575 ). As I noted, I used a longer focal length, added more trees in the foreground, and made the famous landmarks soft instead of sharp. I thought through my image carefully before I made it, just as you have surmised.
Alina09-Aug-2007 22:58
So, Phil you had very good plan to demonstrate that beautiful place in unusual way. Great master – great idea.
Phil Douglis16-Dec-2004 18:33
Thanks, Clara. I used the frame within the frame approach to create layers that pull the eye into the picture. Actually, this works well with shallow depth of field, such as here. The branches are sharper than the famous peak, Half-dome, in the background. The softly focused scene in the background is, as I've said in my explanation, a metaphor for Yosemite, the "idea," rather than picture post card view of Yosemite, the "reality."
Guest 16-Dec-2004 17:49
Part of the picture is a frame for another part (main subject). This is an artistic resource that I think serves to embellish and to bring out or enhance our subject. I guess this works when using a narrow depth of field mostly.
Phil Douglis04-Nov-2004 20:13
Great point, Tim, and thanks for this comment. It is always helpful to be able to see the forest the trees! (Pun intended!)
Tim May04-Nov-2004 16:25
This image also suggests that there is more to Yosemite than the glorious rocks - That the environment is a continuum from the ordinary to the grand.
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