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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Six: Vantage Point makes the difference > The long walk, St. Peters Port, Guernsey, UK, 2004
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28-AUG-2004

The long walk, St. Peters Port, Guernsey, UK, 2004

It's early Sunday morning, and St. Peters Port is bathed in the sound of pealing church bells. A nun begins her long walk through its empty streets to attend services. To set the stage for her long walk, I chose a vantage point well down the street from her. I used a waist level camera position as well, and brought the bottom of the building closest to me into the lower left hand corner of the picture. Shot from this vantage point, the wall gets progressively smaller as it recedes into the distance and leads us to the distant nun.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/320s f/4.0 at 28.8mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis30-Dec-2004 20:14
Thanks Veronicanne for your kind words. I agree -- the G3 is perfectly adequate for most travel photographs. And yes, the G3 wideangle is the same one I had on my G5 and now use on my G6. Only the adapters have changed.
I also suggest the Canon tele converter, which snaps on the same adapter you use for your wideangle.
The most important accessory, Veronicanne, is the passion, knowledge, and creative energy you bring to your pictures. In other words, it is you. As for that book of images, it is right in front of you. My galleries are designed as a cyberbook on expressive travel photography. If you have access to the Internet at night, you can browse through them at will, and not only get inspiration but instruction as well. If you are willing to ask questions, leave comments or critiques, I will answer them as soon as I can. In other words, my site is an interactive learning resource designed to help you. i invite you to join the ranks of the photographers around the world who are now using it. Thanks again, Veronicanne, for your kind words. They are greatly appreciated.
Guest 30-Dec-2004 07:08
These photos are all so wonderful. I stumbled upon your gallery by accident -- I own a Canon G3. But as a travel photographer myself I have gained so much knowledge and inspiration from your photos. It's nice to know that this camera is all I need. I had been considering an upgrade, but I think the Canon G series takes some wonderful photos. I have the standard Canon G3 wide angle attachment; is this the one you used on your palm tree photo? What flash do you recommend for the G3? How about any additional accessories?

It would be wonderful to have a book of your images so I could browse through them at night and get inspiration for my future shots.
Phil Douglis13-Dec-2004 22:01
Thanks, Alister, for spotting the crap on the right hand edge. It never should have been there. I made your suggested crop and it looks much cleaner.
alibenn13-Dec-2004 16:23
I love this too...My one nit would be to shave a fraction of the right hand side to get rid of the wall which creates an opressive overhang from the top right. I feel by doing that, it lightens the image and to my eye takes away the unsettling feeling. The plane sky above the nun creates a much cleaner line...try it, it changes the entire feel of the image and creates a more harmonious composition.
Phil Douglis06-Nov-2004 04:58
I see exactly where you are coming from on this one, Maureen. Do you know what I think is unsettling you. The scale incongruity between the door and the nun. She is dwarfed by a door that is so much larger than she is. It almost seems to be inviting her to walk through it. But if she does, she will be late for church, and we wouldn't want that, would we? I wanted this picture to be all about her journey. That's why I took that vantage point and used the wideangle lens. We don't want her journey to be negated by that doorway she must walk past, yet the scale of that door just keeps on drawing her in. I never looked at it that way before, but that is what seems to unsettle me about this image. I'm still glad I made it. The job of an expressive photograph is to stimulate the viewer's imagination, and this one has done that to yours.
Guest 06-Nov-2004 04:44
There's something about this photo that keeps me coming back to it. The simple lines, the way the nun looks almost dwarfed, yet appears to be walking briskly, as though she's on a mission to get somewhere. There's a certain sense of peace captured here, yet something about the way you've captured it is a bit unsettling, too. Could be that dwarfed thing.
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