Chapter 11. Looking through the frame

Looking through the frame

How to make your camera see things the way you do.

The frame

The photographer’s view of the world is limited, boxed within the frame of the camera and constrained to its single lens. We can rotate the frame, but we can’t change its size unless we change the size of the camera. With only one “eye,” the lens can’t see depth, as humans can with our stereoscopic vision. We’re capturing images through a one-eyed box (FIG. 11.1).

At the end of a day of diving off Santa Cruz Island, we anchored the boat near a rock that brown pelicans used for roosting. Checking my compass, I knew that the sun would set behind the rock, so we got in our little inflatable skiff and waited as the sun dropped. Presetting my exposure for the sunset sky meant that I was ready when this pelican took flight. California.

Figure 11.1. At the end of a day of diving off Santa Cruz Island, we anchored the boat near ...

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