Where’s the largest letterbox in the world? Have you discovered letterboxes of particular merit or visual appeal?

The first letter box sanctioned by the United States Postal Service was patented by Albert Potts on March 9, 1858. Though small in size it was designed for public use.

Casey, a small town in Illinois, was recognized recently by the Guinness Book Of Records as having the world's largest letterbox.

Measuring 154 cubic metres it's a fully functional letterbox used by the local folks of Casey, a town of around 2,700 people.

One Big, Blue and Beautiful Mailbox

During my own travels I’ve discovered letterboxes in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. They’re all special and, in their own way, quite unique.

The biggest I’ve seen, thus far, and a former holder of the title of the world’s largest letterbox is the one featured in this post.

I refer to it as Big Blue. It’s a significant landmark in the town of Skopun on the island of Sandoy in the Faroe Islands where I stayed for 2 wonderful nights.

The structure stands at 7.42 meters in height and 4.45 meters in width. It’s a non functioning mailbox which, with the decline of snail mail over the years, is probably no big deal.

Nonetheless I can imagine how much fun it would be for a child to post a letter into a mailbox as big and bold as the one in Skopun.

Is Big Blue a visual delight or an architectural monstrosity? I suspect opinions vary on that subject.

Either way it’s big and it’s blue, and I had a lot of fun photographing it.

It’s also one of those sites that, if ever you find yourself in the village of Skopun, you’ll want to take a look at. Even if it’s just a drive by.

How I Photographed the Skopun Letterbox

The photo at the top of this post was made to provide a relatively accurate representation of what you might expect to see if you found yourself in front of the Skopun letterbox.

I made the photo with my full frame Sony a7Rii camera at 1/500 second with an aperture of f/11 and at ISO 400.

I used my Sony 24-70mm f/4 lens at 70 mm which is considered to be a slight telephoto (i.e., telescopic) focal length.

Because the 70 mm focal length causes a slight magnification of the subject on the camera’s sensor I had to move backwards to fit the letterbox into the frame.

The result is quite realistic though, at 70 mm, there’s what’s referred to as a slight foreshortening associated with the mild telephoto focal length.

You might like to think of this as an impression of compression where the perception of distance between foreground and background appears closer than it is in reality.

Changing Perspective For A Visually Dynamic Image

After making a quite straight and safe image of Big Blue I decided, for the purpose of teaching, that a more dramatic rendering would be appropriate.

I moved my zoom lens to a focal length of 24 mm and moved in very close to the structure to make the photo directly above.

Considered by many as a classic wide-angle focal length 24 mm allows you to stand back from the world and fit a lot of information into the frame.

That’s how most folks use wide-angle lenses.

But for me it’s fun to move in close with a wide-angle focal length so as to play with perspective.

Notice how much taller and, at the bottom of the structure, wider the letterbox appears. That’s a direct consequence of moving in close and photographing with a wide angle lens.

By getting down on my haunches, and photographing from a lower angle of view, you’ll notice how the structure appears to have been stretched with its edges no longer appearing parallel to each other.

It’s an example of the kind of fun you can have with a wide-angle lens, when used up close to your subject.

It’s good to remember that photography, as art, is rarely about making realistic representations of reality.

How To Make Photos With Straight Lines

When you stand close to an object that’s much taller than you it’s inevitable that you’ll tilt your camera so as not to chop the top of the structure off in your photo.

The problem is that, by titling your camera, it’s no longer parallel to the object you’re photographing.

The more you tilt your camera backwards the greater the tilt of the structure will appear in your photo.

Assuming you don’t like the effect there are two ways to straighten the image.

The first method is really simple. Walk back and, if need be, zoom in.

If you think about it the further back you go the less you’ll have to tilt the camera to fit the top of the structure into your photo.

You don’t have to be climbing a hill but, from the camera’s point of view, the further back you go the higher your camera’s lens is in relation to the structure you’re photographing.

Amazing!

How To Straighten Lines In Photos On A Computer

It was a challenge to make this outdoor view of the lovely wooden Church of Sander on the island of Sandoy in the Faroe Islands.

It’s a lovely example of traditional Faroese church architecture with black tarred walls topped by a turf roof and a white belfry.

Faced with so many vertical lines, many of them not parallel to each other, I based my composition around keeping the white belfry at one end of the church and the black outside wall at the other end relatively straight.

It made sense to embrace the variations in vertical lines throughout the image, particularly those of the three white gravestones in the foreground.

The fact that they’re tilted speaks to the age of the cemetery and the history of this small and isolated Faroese town.

Vertical lines are an important consideration in a lot of architectural photography. Ultimately it’s your decision whether you adjust vertical lines or not in your photos.

If you do try and correct verticals you can do so in camera or on the desktop. While you’ll develop a preference for one method or the other it’s a good idea to incorporate both approaches in your skill set.

If you’re unable or unwillingly to move back then photograph the structure, accepting the distortion, but being sure to leave plenty of space around it which will be cropped out as the image is straightened on the computer.

Just remember that the more you tilt your camera backwards the greater the distortion is likely to be.

Therefore, the greater the distortion the more space you’ll need to leave around the structure to be able to straighten it without chopping off the top.

This method works fine, though it’s a little hit and miss. Just be sure you’re not too conservative when it comes to leaving space around buildings or bridges when composing your image.

Naturally, this is something you’ll come to terms with quite quickly by practicing on tall structures (e.g., buildings) closer to home.

Once you have your image you then employ software such as Lightroom (i.e., the Transform panel in the Develop module) or Photoshop to adjust the lines so they appear straight again. Easy!

It’s Time You Made Better Photos

Would you like some help gaining control over your camera?

Perhaps you’d like to learn how to use Lightroom to lift the quality of your photos to the next level.

I run private, one-to-one courses for folks just like you who live in and around Melbourne, Australia. Feel free to contact me for all the details.

In the meantime I’m sure there’s plenty of interesting letterboxes in your own neck of the woods that would be fun to photograph.

If all goes well you could put the best images together in an online portfolio or as a chapter in a photo book featuring some of your creative projects.

Opportunities for creative photography projects are everywhere. And it all starts by getting up, picking up your camera and getting outside into the light.

Glenn Guy, Travel Photography Guru