I’m not fond of cold winter rain. In fact, it is my least favorite kind of weather.
But there is a side-effect of wet days that I do enjoy – puddles and their reflections.
For this month’s Exploring with a Camera lesson, Kat is studying artistic blur, which she defines as “softness in the edges of the photographic elements… creating this softness on purpose, for artistic effect”. Puddles are the perfect medium to transform architectural geometry, with its straight lines and sharp corners, into softly diffused watercolors.
If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that such images hold a deep fascination for me – the way puddle water and its underlying textures will pixelate and distort, creating an abstract rippled image with great appeal.
As Kat explains, in addition to reflections, there are many other ways of achieving artistic blur in camera. One is to “shoot through” something that will cause blur, such as a rainy window, atmospheric conditions such as fog or mist or textured glass. The image below was taken through our front door window on a rainy day – a day that threatened to melt the remaining snow. Shooting through the textured glass, I wanted to create a melting watery mood that captured the essence of the moment, before the wintry white was washed away.
I really like the results but I’m never quite sure about experimental images such as this one. Is there enough information for the viewer to know what they are seeing – in this case a wintry scene lit by an outdoor light? Since I know what I’m looking at, it is difficult to judge the effectiveness of this image with an unbiased eye.
But it was an interesting experiment - on a cold rainy day when the weather kept me indoors, searching for photographic subjects here at home. What do you think – does this image work as an impressionistic piece?
As for the other methods of creating artistic blur, such as long shutter speeds combined with camera motion, these are techniques that remain on my “try-that-someday” list. Perhaps a future Third Thursday Challenge topic?
(Remember: this Thursday is the first challenge of 2013! Are you ready?)
Linking with Exploring with a Camera: Artistic Blur, hosted by Kat Eye Studio