Wednesday, October 19, 2011

"Abstract Paintings" with my camera

Yes, these images are photographs. When people view them at art fairs they always ask the same question - are these paintings? They look like paintings but they are done with the camera, no special effects in photoshop.  
So how are they done? By choosing a slow shutter speed and jiggling, jerking or spinning your camera while pressing the shutter release. This certainly defies all "rules" of photography - holding your camera steady to get sharp images - and might look foolish to some. The result is not to everybody's liking but I have a lot of fun with it and is one more tool to express your creativity.
This technique works very well on cloudy days or in low light where it is easy to get shutter speeds of 2 to 8 seconds. In brighter light you need a polarizer filter and/or a neutral density filter to get a shutter speed of 1/4 or 1/2 second. Move the camera up and down or side to side or make small circles. It takes a little practice. Good subjects are trees as in the images below. 
Another method to achieve this look are Multiple Exposures which I will cover next time.
Give this a try and become a painter.
Susanne




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