hqspmotion

Brush Strokes on the Landscape

Posted by Ellie
 

The Journey Passed in a Blur 2

The landscape at the side of a highway is sometimes a surprise of delicate shapes and textures, especially at this time of the year. Gone are the beautiful greens of summer and the brilliant leaves of fall, but the shapes of branches and trunks against the gentle hills, punctuated by the shapely evergreens look like brush strokes on the landscape canvas. A bit of intentional camera blur gives a sigh of movement that is perfect for the grey December mood. Soon the snow will cover everything with a softly deceiving blanket.

My posts are all on my blog: https://www.elliekennard.ca .

#unsharpsaturday #softfocussaturday +Unsharp Saturday v2.0​ by +Alex Lapidus​ +Julianne Bockius​ +Jetski​ +Patrice Christian​ +Nadia Cantou-Pewinski​ (sorry it's late)
#hqspmotion +HQSP Motion​ curated by +Anja Wessels​
+Photo Mania Canada​ by +Giselle Savoie​ and +Mark HELM​

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Grace and Resilience

Posted by Ellie
 

The Journey Passed in a Blur 1

There is something that I love about the bare pre-winter landscape with its white birch trunks slim and a little twisted against the rich tones of brown, green and gold vegetation. The black and white project this fortnight had a theme of 'blur' and so I took many unsharp and intentional blurs to be able to pick one that worked best. The photographs I took on this car ride on the highway were so much nicer in colour that I hadn't the heart to strip the life out of them and turn them black and white. I like how the movement in the image reflects the resilience of these slender trunks and bushes and how they have survived storms of wind, rain, ice and snow to grace the fields at the side of the road.

My posts are all on my blog: www.elliekennard.ca .

#unsharpsaturday #softfocussaturday +Unsharp Saturday v2.0 by +Alex Lapidus +Julianne Bockius +Jetski +Patrice Christian +Nadia Cantou-Pewinski
#LandscapePhotography +Landscape Photography +Margaret Tompkins +Dave Gaylord +Eric Drumm +Jeff Beddow +David D +Bill Wood +Tim Newton +Chandler L. Walker +Ronald Varley +Hamid Dastmalchi +Sylvia Ting
#hqspmotion +HQSP Motion curated by +Anja Wessels

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Victoria Park Fountain, Halifax

Posted by Ellie
 

Another photo from my day spent at the summer craft market (NSDCC). After my period of volunteering on the information booth was over and while I waited for Steven to finish his inspections with the Standards Committee, I wandered around the park, which is really just a narrow strip of grass and stately trees between two city streets. The focal point is this little fountain. At the moment it has unsightly roadworks on all sides and a single photograph would not have done it justice. This is a composition of multiple exposures, showing it in its full glory.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
(Themes below found from the documents kept up to date by (me) the +Public Calendar of Daily Photo Themes – Lean Mean Theme Machine)
My posts are all on my blog: https://www.elliekennard.ca

#unsharpsaturday #softfocussaturday +Unsharp Saturday v2.0 by +Alex Lapidus +Julianne Bockius +Jetski +Patrice Christian +Nadia Cantou-Pewinski

#hqspmotion +HQSP Motion curated by +Melania Pierce and +Anja Wessels

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Racing Through a Dandelion Field

Posted by Ellie
 

Sharp Focus on Blur : 6

Plus Post Week 6 Blurs and Unsharp Photography:

Taking a Picture? or Making a Photograph?

I had a ‘Eureka!’ moment yesterday, while thinking about the latest lesson of the Blurs and Unsharp Photography: Guided Play 2015 mentorship. I looked at the work that was in my mentorship album and I considered the thought, experimentation and planning, as well as processing that had gone into each of the photographs.. I realized with a shock that I was no longer ‘taking pictures’. I was making photographs!

Up to this point in my photography I have always done my best to show my viewers the scene that I saw before me. I wanted the picture to be in focus – I saw it sharp, (or more or less sharp) didn’t I? I saw it in colour, so mostly I wanted accurate colour. This was a kind of documentary photography and there is nothing wrong with that. But I was often left feeling that I had somehow cheated the viewer. When I stood in front of the scene I didn’t just see nice clear objects or great colour. I felt much more than I saw because all of my senses and my emotions were at work, not just my eyes. My heartstrings were being pulled, which was what prompted me to stop and capture the scene in the first place. But all of that is very, very difficult to communicate using a still photograph. I felt dissatisfied. I needed to be able to convey the emotion that the scenes brought to me. Does a misty, drizzly landscape with a soft light give me a feeling of calm? How can I make the viewer of a photograph experience that when there is no damp in the air, when the soft sound of rain on leaves is absent? Does a fast running dog in a bright, sunlit field of dandelions give me a feeling of exhilaration and joy and freedom? How was I to help make you the viewer feel all of this with me? I had to learn to use colour, light and tonality to produce a more powerful reaction in the viewer. More, I had to learn how far I could push an image to do just that. And when to hold back. Again, it’s exhausting, but so exciting at the same time.

This week I was given the tools (and the understanding) to be able to do that. It’s no longer just ‘taking a picture’. It’s all about ‘making a photograph’. In the photograph accompanying this post I hope you get a sense of the energy, joy and excitement as well as the speed of Joni racing through a field. I hope I have given you more than just a snapshot of a fraction of a second of that race, but a share in the whole run. Maybe you can even feel the dandelions under your own feet.

Thanks to all in the mentorship – +Alex Lapidus and assisting alumni and other students alike. All have been a terrific inspiration, help and encouragement to me. And of course to the +G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers

I hope you are enjoying accompanying me on this journey of discovery. I have a long way to go in my learning, but I feel that I am well on the way.

9 separate images taken in multi-shot mode, edited in Lightroom and processed and composited in Photoshop.

Are you not able to comment on Google+ because you don't belong? Would you prefer to comment on my blog? It's right here with all my G+ posts on it: https://www.elliekennard.ca .

#hqspphotoart +HQSP Photo Art curated by +Paul Howard +Anja Wessels
#hqspmotion +HQSP Motion curated by +Melania Pierce and +Anja Wessels

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