Last night, as the wind danced vigorously, it lent a captivating flair to my photographs of a cosmos. Although engulfed in a sea of thoughts, my intention was to craft an edit that exuded a certain mood – the kind that strikes a chord with the viewer. How many times can the word “mood” be gracefully integrated within a single sentence? Apparently, quite a few.
The above paragraph was created with AI- the photo is all mine!
I had no idea this was part of Word Press now- I just had to try.
The thing about intentional camera movement is that you can’t exactly predict what your image will look like- and for me, that is what makes it exciting! I play with shutter speeds, aperture and filter strength and try different movements with my camera, but I am often surprised by the end result.
In case you’re wondering… although I have been taking and editing many photos, for some reason, I haven’t been posting. I definitely am not giving up photography and am actually in five photo groups (four are meeting this week!). I will continue to post to this website- once a week? twice a week? once a month? All I can say is it will likely not be to a set schedule.
I love the impressionist effect created by moving my camera while the shutter is open. It is easy, if you don’t mind taking dozens of photos to finally get a keeper! There’s a bit of skill and a lot of luck involved. This image of poppies and lupines was taken a few months ago near Saguaro Lake.
This image is an intentional camera movement capture of iris leaves. It almost looks like a multiple exposure, doesn’t it?
I forgot about this photo I took of an iris bud a month or 2 or 3 ago. It got third place in our local camera group for the theme intentional camera movement.
I am part of Find Your Voice (FYV), an online expressionist photography group created by the amazing and inspiring photographers, Valda Bailey and Doug Chinnery. I say this with absolute humility, because the majority of the group are talented and accomplished artists who exhibit and sell their work in galleries, and I am one of the new kids on the block, learning as I go.
FYV’s summer exhibition opened today! We could submit up to three images in response to TS Eliot’s poem, Wait Without Hope (see below). Valda and Doug chose which of our images to include in the show.
Because the online group is spread out across the globe (mostly UK, Europe, and US, I think), the exhibition is virtual. You can view it here: https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/en/exhibition/11861520/fyv-summer-exhibition
It takes a few minutes to get the hang of “walking” around the gallery. I recommend clicking NEXT rather than clicking and dragging; at least it worked best for me. Please visit when you have time to browse- there is some amazing art to see and inspire you!
By: T.S. Eliot
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
Whisper of running streams, and winter lightning.
The wild thyme unseen and the wild strawberry,
The laughter in the garden, echoed ecstasy
Not lost, but requiring, pointing to the agony
Of death and birth.
T. S. Eliot, East Coker
Here’s another daylily image from our backyard- shot with the intentional camera movement technique.
Summertime is time for Daylilies! As you can see from this image, they are either coming… or going! I am happy looking out my kitchen window at their colorful display.
I had a little fun this morning with an ICM image from a few weeks ago.
A lover of blur shoots a saguaro!
The above is a triptych of three saguaro detail images. I found that using intentional camera movement on the very prickly saguaro transformed it into something soft and dreamy- and quite different from the actual cactus. A white balance shift helped with this effect as well.
Dog + beach- perfect combination!
Spotted at Newport Beach
Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, grandmas, aunts, friends- and to all the wonderful women in my life!
The above image of irises is an in-camera multiple exposure with intentional camera movement.
Standing in my driveway and looking down at the street below, this is what you would see- if you turned your head very fast or perhaps had just indulged in a martini. I recently got a new variable neutral density filter that fits my zoom lens so that I can use a slow shutter speed in bright sunlight- and thus create impressionistic images by moving my camera around. Great fun!
It’s almost Spring here in Prescott- finally. Our irises are going to bloom today or tomorrow, so I took some photos of the buds and leaves over the weekend. This one was taken using intentional camera movement- you can almost see it begin to unfurl.
Here is another California poppy image created from photos I took a few weeks ago on our poppy adventure down in the valley. What a great day that was!
