I am thrilled to have won the panography technique challenge and to be hosting this new challenge.
For this go around, I have chosen Blurism photography.
There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of info on this technique, but there is a flickr group devoted to it (see link below), as well as a number of photos posted to 365 with this tag (see other link below). There are a number of photogs here on 365 who do really impressive work in this style. @joemuli and @rachelwithey being two that readily come to mind... and @humphreyhippo has done some as well... also @beachradish, although she left 365 quite some time ago...
Now "blurism" seems to cover a multitude of sins, but i tend to think it works best when it hints at the subject, when the subject is recognizable in form, but is deliberately rendered out of focus to achieve a specific purpose (atmosphere, mood, etc)...
the flickr group appears to run the gamut, but, and i'm happy to debate this, i tend to think that blurism is not about ICM, or bokeh, or using a lens baby... or failed focus... although all these things are open to you... rather, i think of blurism as a purposeful approach to photography - a deliberate choice made at the time of shooting... the challenge is to use this technique to make an interesting image...
if you are just starting out with photography, the easiest way to achieve blurism is to set your camera to manual focus when you compose your image, and then decide on what the appropriate amount of blur is for the subject you've chosen... if your camera doesn't have a manual focus option, it's still generally pretty easy... pick the widest aperture available to you (lowest number f stop), focus on something much closer, or much further away than your subject, keep the shutter halfway pressed down, and then compose your shot...
(and in case you're wondering, look at the list of previous challenges below... i was rather at a loss for ideas!)
This challenge starts Today Friday January 2nd and will run until Wednesday January 14. Photos to be considered for the challenge should be taken and posted within that time frame.
Please tag your shots technique36.
As a bit of background for those new to this challenge, the host selects a specific technique to try. The technique may be brand new for some or just a challenge to be creative or practice for others. Previous techniques have covered quite a bit of ground:
1. Low key
2. Motion blur
3. Split toning
4. Flipped reflections
5. Long exposure
6. Professional looking portraits
7. Mini portraits
8. Rim lighting
9. High/fast shutter speed
10. Vintage in modern
11. Double/multiple exposure
12. Forced perspective
13. Zoom burst
14. Multiplicity
15. Panning photography
16. ICM
17. Shaped bokeh
18. B&W
19. High key
20. In the night
21. One-light lighting
22. Refractions
23. Selective color
24. Tilt-shift
25. Into the sun/flare photography
26. white background
27. macro photography
28. Shooting blind
29. Framing
30. Light painting
31. Slow sync flash
32. Silhouettes
33. HDR (High Dynamic Range)
34. Minimalism
35. Panography
Constructive & kind feedback is encouraged. Feel free to share tips, suggestions or how you were able to get the terrific photo you did. Posting your photo on this thread is encouraged but not required.
I will look forward to seeing the wonderful images that you create.
@aponi I think the Flickr group would say yes, but I'm kinda dubious... Light trails and soft water from long exposure are techniques unto themselves in my opinion... But like I said, I'm open to debating the point... That said, why not try the technique as described above?
@mmhagler13 hi Michelle... The swing shot is lovely, but I wouldn't consider it blurism because the child in the swing is nicely in focus... That is an example of good use of depth of field (dof) where the main subject is in focus, but other components of the image are not...
It would seem that a layer of blur (of the Gaussian type probably) over a normal frame might work in post processing? Indeed a final blur layer at small opacity (20% or less) is a Scott Kelby technique for his oxymoronic "sharp yet soft" effect especially suited for complex landscapes. I'll give that a try later this week if I find some time.
This is quite some challenge! I shall definitely give it some serious thought. Since there are so many new members I'm sure that one could redo some of the earlier techniques.
Here's a "processed for..." attempt. Field Blur in the Photoshop Blur Gallery seemd to work way better than general Gaussan Blur. You can read more in the the album posting. Not shot this week, so not eligible for the challenge, info only...
I also see another technique in Scott Kelby's Photoshop CC book, he has an example in "special effects," try the radial filter in Camera Raw. Will also work for Lightroom 5. Create a very small filter, slide the "sharpness" all the way left to -100% and make the effect "outside" rather than "inside" the circle. Then pull the center of the filter right off the frame. For even more effect you can add a second. The nice thing about this technique is that you can adjust many other parameters to compensate for any "washed out" tone that you want to bring back. In particular, pull the "noise reduction" all the way up to +100% to give a slight extra, yet quite noticeably different, quality to the blur effect.
Of course you could use the adjustment brush and paint over the whole frame, but that's a real pain, as well as slowing ACR (and Lightroom) down to a crawl with the whole frame under the Adjustment Brush. I'd not even try that. :)
@frankhymus cool. @northy will give this a go tomorrow hopefully! I played with the idea in fall with leaves and color. Can make for interesting abstracts.
Thanks for the shout out,@northy love the challenge but have a minor problem- camera exif/Info doesn't show up when I upload the image-using IPad editing apps - so there will be no exact "dates"on records but trust me, dear -not gonna cheat, wink**;)
Not sure about this -- seem to be a lot of options out there but it isn't that clear to me what the exact components have to be to constitute blurism and not something else (e.g., motion blur)...does this fit as a starting point?
@northy cool challenge, and thanks very much for the shout out. I love Beachradish's photos but I'm not sure you can still view her 365 ones. This is the link to her website http://beachradishimages.com/ would thoroughly recommend anyone interested in the challenge having a look at her shots.
@northy I agree with your definition here. For me, blurism is the result of choice of focus point, not another technique (like panning, or long exposure), and everything in frame should be out of focus.
Rachel @rachelwithey is right - Beachradish is the master of this technique. She's also on Facebook and Twitter.
@joemuli if you can't take a perfectly gorgeous blur shot every single day, i will eat my hat ;p
@salza yeah... i debated that... i think you're quite right... probably good to revisit some of the older ones...
@lisaisgoingtofrance hi Lisa... welcome to 365! it's a great community :) you can submit as many (or as few) for the challenge as you like... just be sure that your images were taken during the time period noted above, and properly tagged...
@lambda - love the pov on that! yeah, i think it works... i might try for a little more blur, though to see if you can push it further and still have a recognizable image (a kid on a skateboard)... :)
Just uploaded my 3/365 image, not sure if it worked but I kind of like how it turned out and the blurriness actually adds another element to the photo..
please feel free to take a look:)
This is one of my attempts. my first at a technique challenge, out of focus is perhaps a good place for me to start, hope it fits a bill even if just a little??
I just happened to shoot this one while I was working on abstract/bokeh shots. Not quite out of focus enough for abstract but I think works for blurism.
@rachelwithey Thanks for the Beachradish connection - I was inspired by her on 365 but really she's too good for the site. Might have a go at blurring. Love your dog!
Are challenges only for upgraded members? How do I post a photo if I have already posted on for the day? Sorry new member here & still figuring out how to use the website. ;)
Aww. Beachradish was awesome. Mine just look crap XD I never understood how you could make them look so good, a lot harder than it appears to not end up with out of focus poops.
@mrsstove hi Rhonda... anyone can participate... if you only have the one album, then you will need to use a spot in it for your submission to the challenge...
@northy How do I post my photo on here? I have typed technique36 in the Tags section but it doesn't show with the rest of the blurry photos, so I did try again with another photo but that hasn't shown either... Thank you
@confectioner hi Marilyn... The tag puts your photo in the pool with all the other photos entered for this challenge... If you click on the tag from your picture, you will be taken to all the pictures with the same tag...
Posting your shot to this thread isn't necessary, but of course you can if you want... When your on the page with your photo, underneath the photo should be an icon w 3dots... Click on it and a small pop-up box will open... Copy the share code in the pop-up box and then paste it into a response to this thread... And then your picture will also shop up here :)
@maggiemae hi Maggiemae... it's still there... click on the three dot icon just below your shot on the right... the code is in the pop up box that will come up...
@northy Love the challenge, I have always admired @joemuli and @beachradish for their ability to pull this off beautifully. I will try my hand at it, although i am a perfectionist and it may be harder even than I fear
@hopess13 yep... i understand about being a perfectionist! but your a wonderful photographer... a bit of patience and playing around with the technique and i'm sure you'll come up with something amazing!
A couple more shots. I never thought about how much aperture would affect these shots but the shots were totally different even between f/4 and f/8. Also the difference between front focus and rear focus. Very interesting challenge.
@dibzgreasley i think they both work fine - it just depends on the comp you're after... i generally like a bit of minimalism with my blur, but that's just a personal thing :) i think you got a nice amount of blur happening there, and excellent light! nicely done!
@ltodd interesting Monet abstract feel to this... it looks a bit too bright for Wuthering Heights, doesn't it? i always think of the moors as being dark and forbidding in that tale :)
@northy true... I bumped the exposure a little in post, but basically I think the subject I chose was a little too 'unusual'. I am not sure it quite fits the blurism brief perfectly - & maybe I needed to wait for a refraction+blurism challenge! ;-D It is nice to know how to create an image like this without any photoshop intervention. I too wondered how changing aperture might change the final images.
@northy Thanks so much for taking time to reply and for your comments. I might try again... I was very pleased to have created these without post processing work. Onwards ...
Another go at this -this time I was inspired by Northy's spoon pic @northy
http://365project.org/northy/365/2015-01-07 and combined it with this challenge.
Wonderful to be able to post an image and not worry about it being sharp, I think this is the way to go for 2015, can see a series of these selling for big money as abstract canvases :)
Plus it was in and out of lightroom in a couple of minutes.
Thanks for the lesson on blurring photos. I'm just beginning with an SLR, reading the how-to book for Dummies, and playing around. Love the cheerful colors of my patio chairs in the usual beige/gray vista of winter—and the snow melted enough to see some grass!
I'm not sure if I'm understanding blurism correctly, but this is a shot from my great-grandson's soccer game. Constructive criticism welcome. I don't have an SLR.
@frida I'm not northy, but if you go to your project, click on the ... (that's the share option) and you will see a box on your left with an embed code. Copy the embed code and paste it here.
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I slowed my shutter speed down to get that soft water look on the fountain.
I also see another technique in Scott Kelby's Photoshop CC book, he has an example in "special effects," try the radial filter in Camera Raw. Will also work for Lightroom 5. Create a very small filter, slide the "sharpness" all the way left to -100% and make the effect "outside" rather than "inside" the circle. Then pull the center of the filter right off the frame. For even more effect you can add a second. The nice thing about this technique is that you can adjust many other parameters to compensate for any "washed out" tone that you want to bring back. In particular, pull the "noise reduction" all the way up to +100% to give a slight extra, yet quite noticeably different, quality to the blur effect.
Of course you could use the adjustment brush and paint over the whole frame, but that's a real pain, as well as slowing ACR (and Lightroom) down to a crawl with the whole frame under the Adjustment Brush. I'd not even try that. :)
Rachel @rachelwithey is right - Beachradish is the master of this technique. She's also on Facebook and Twitter.
Here's an attempt:
@joemuli if you can't take a perfectly gorgeous blur shot every single day, i will eat my hat ;p
@salza yeah... i debated that... i think you're quite right... probably good to revisit some of the older ones...
@lisaisgoingtofrance hi Lisa... welcome to 365! it's a great community :) you can submit as many (or as few) for the challenge as you like... just be sure that your images were taken during the time period noted above, and properly tagged...
@lambda - love the pov on that! yeah, i think it works... i might try for a little more blur, though to see if you can push it further and still have a recognizable image (a kid on a skateboard)... :)
please feel free to take a look:)
*Looks at tagged photos*
...Never mind...
Haha.
I like playing with blur, and blurry photos of children playing.
Brothers
Posting your shot to this thread isn't necessary, but of course you can if you want... When your on the page with your photo, underneath the photo should be an icon w 3dots... Click on it and a small pop-up box will open... Copy the share code in the pop-up box and then paste it into a response to this thread... And then your picture will also shop up here :)
1.
2.
http://365project.org/northy/365/2015-01-07 and combined it with this challenge.
Ice and a slice posted today
Plus it was in and out of lightroom in a couple of minutes.
My first attempt. Is this correct?
"LIFE'S LIKE THAT"
A "blurry" tail!
The Beach (in my dreams!)