Phil Castle, The Business Times

Technological advances that have turned what are ostensibly telephones into cameras also have made photography less challenging.

But H.L. Sanders contends there’s more to creating quality images than pointing a smartphone and touching the screen.

“It’s not the camera,” Sanders said.

It’s also the photographer, he said, not to mention composition, perspective, lighting and content.

Sanders combines in his Grand Junction business new technology with what he considers an old school approach developed over a career that’s spanned more than 50 years. “Time brings experience. Experience brings wisdom,” he said.

Sanders operates A Different View, a firm that offers a variety of services, including architectural and culinary photography as well as images for advertising and marketing. The work helps real estate agents, construction businesses, restaurants and others, he said. “Good photography helps sell products.”

The venture is the latest for Sanders, who operated Precision Visual Communications and Progressive Air Imaging in Grand Junction. He previously worked as a photographer for the U.S. Department of Energy and served in the Army.

Sanders traces the origin of his career back to Grand Junction High School and a pilot program that taught students television studio operations.

After graduating from high school, Sanders enlisted in the Army and completed a nine-month instructional program in photography, motion pictures and video production. He served as reconnaissance photographer in the Vietnam War.

Sanders subsequently worked as a photographer for the U.S. Department of Energy office in Grand Junction. He said he was involved in a variety of work, including scientific and advertising as well as presentations shown worldwide.

He said he was offered an opportunity to lead a five-year photographic project in Saudi Arabia, but decided instead to start his own business.

Precision Visual Communications handle a variety of architectural, culinary, fashion and scientific Imaging, including closeup photos of aircraft owners and their aircraft over scenic landscapes.

Over the years, Sanders endured a series of setbacks that included a fire that destroyed his studio and the theft and destruction of Cessna 206 he purchased for Progressive Air Imaging. He said he closed his businesses in a downturn that began after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

He said he’s eager with A Different View to go back to work for himself as well as continue to enjoy his passion for creating images.

While he initially was skeptical digital imaging would ever equal film for quality and resolution, he said he’s since changed his mind. “I am a digital advocate.”

Technology has advanced, in fact, to a state that surpasses human eyesight.

An understanding of physics, chemistry and the operations of film cameras are no longer required. Technology also enables photographers to focus less on mechanics and more on their subjects and artistic expression, Sanders said.

But it’s not just the camera, he said. Other skills remain important in creating quality images, including those involved with composition, perspective, lighting and content.

That makes the combination of new technology with an old school approach something a best-of-both-worlds difference he can offer clients.

For more information about A Different View, call (970) 260-1575, email hlsairphoto@q.com or visit https://adifferentviewllc.godaddysites.com.