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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty: Controlling perspective with the wideangle lens > La Posada’s front porch, Winslow, Arizona, 2006
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10-JUL-2006

La Posada’s front porch, Winslow, Arizona, 2006

Trains have rumbled past the front entrance of La Posada, a historic railroad hotel, for almost 80 years. Once they hauled passengers. Today they move freight cars that stretch as far as the eye can see. Using a 28mm wideangle focal length, I extend the length of both tracks and train, diminish the size of the distant train watchers for scale incongruity, and turn day into night by placing the sun behind a light tower and shooting directly into it.

Leica D-Lux 2
1/2000s f/8.0 at 6.7mm iso80 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis17-Apr-2014 00:16
Thanks, Linda, for your comments about La Posada. I may well have some other La Posada images here on phase, but there is not a specific gallery where you will find them -- they are most likely found in various galleries covering different photographic topics. However, I have another website which organizes my images on a trip by trip basis. The La Posada images are part of an exploration of old Route 66 in Northern Arizona. You can find the images from that trip in my Smugmug gallery athttp://pnd1.smugmug.com/Travelgalleries/Arizona39s-Route-66-moments-in/
There are several La Posada images posted there, including this one.
Phil Douglis28-Apr-2007 16:11
Thank you, Barry. The sun did most of the work here. I simply arranged the scene around it.
Barry S Moore28-Apr-2007 11:05
Brilliant work.
Phil Douglis10-Aug-2006 16:26
As you guessed, Kuan, this image is all about wideangle perspective, and how it stretches a scene to emphasize scale and distance. The image is unbalanced because that is how it makes its point. The emphatic light post with the sun coming out of its "bulb" becomes the focal point because of those receding lines that as you say create tension and add a dynamic thrust to the scene. The exploding rays of the sun echo the diminishing rails. There is only one vantage point, Kuan -- where I am standing. As for unity, look again at the geometry of this image -- it is made up a series of interlocking triangles. The diagonal flow of the train merges with the flow of the platform to create a horizonta triangle. The light pole and diagonal sun's ray create a vertical triangle. And even the clouds create a triangle. From my standpoint, this image is geometrically unified. Thanks for responding to this image, Kuan -- glad it challenges your thoughts.
Guest 03-Aug-2006 07:08
Phil, this is an unbalance photo, and I don’t see any unity here. But I do like the receding lines; they create tension and a sense of dynamic; theey lead our eye to investigate the place. Maybe the perspective is your intention here. Is the sun your second vintage point ( I see the sun ray as lines)? You are really challenging our thinking with this photo!
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