I've been using the GGW photo contest as a photography class; this month's contest is my lesson. Alas, it's been less than successful, though educational. That will have to be enough; in fact it is enough. The contest for June was to create a photo of motion. I became well acquainted (for the first time, shame on me) with the "S" (shutter speed) on the camera setting dial. I even went so far as to wipe the dog drool off the camera lens.
Here, let me slobber on that for you:
What moves in my garden? Certainly not dogs:
Grasses, water, koi move. It hasn't been breezy lately so the grass had to be blown by an electric fan on a long extension cord, or wacked with a pole duster. Yes, I was walking around the garden with a box fan and a pole duster.
I wacked the Dasylirion longissima:
I wacked the neighbor's Agapanthus (gently):
I used the fan on the Carex solandrii. This one looks more like out-of-focus than movement:
Just by itself, it seemed kind of plain, but that's movement, alright:
Or this one?
I liked it better with the neighboring Begonia in the background, but it's still not a stunner:
This was underexposed and the fan was blowing too hard. I like the seed pods in there. They need to be featured.
So much for that.
Water. I shot the fountain. I stuck the hose up at the top and turned it on to get more flow for some photos, but this low-flow shot was the only one I liked, and it was because of the patina on the copper more than the flow of the water, which is sort of stop-action more than "recording a whole segment of time". It is kind of movement-y on the left side, though:
I also shot the output of the koi's grey plastic shower filter, which came out like a section of a J. M. W. Turner painting, only without Turner's stunning color or composition (or anything else), and doesn't scream "Garden!". Kind of interesting, for me anyway.
This is the surface of the pond. I think it is quite wild. The orange smear is a reflection of a terra cotta pot sitting on the edge of the pond, and the blue a reflection of the California sky. It turned out like that. I didn't photoshop or do anything to it except some crop. The colors were actually that. I love the colors! But is it movement?!? And it don't scream "Garden!" either. It maybe peeps "Monet", a little. Maybe.
Like the dew on the mountain,. Like the foam on the river,. Like the bubble on the fountain,
Thou art gone—and for ever!
Taking shots of the koi was also exasperating. Not exactly "garden", though they are indeed a feature of my garden. This one is cool as far as movement goes, but unless you know it is my koi, you don't know what the heck it is. They rocket over just like that to get fed.
Kids! Dinner!
This one displays the anarchy of a koi feeding frenzy, but lacks focus (and a lot of other things) and is too dark:
This one--I like the pectoral fin progression, but not the turn of Ranger's head, and the light is dreary:
This one has Yuki nearly still and in focus, and two other koi swimming by, but I'm not fond of the rest of it. I do like Yuki though. She's a looker.
Nothing really nailed it. You know when you nail it. I didn't. The one I like best is the smeary pond water with the amazing colors, because I like the colors. I'm happy I tried all this stuff because I would never have gotten that picture otherwise. However, It doesn't cry "movement" very much. Which one does?
I decided that this one, even if you can't tell it's two koi racing over for dinner, and is too dark, and the dodonea reflection in the upper right corner is distracting, and the bubbles are out of focus, does indeed express movement, so this the GGW photo contest entry:
Better luck to myself next time!
I particularly like the purple and green composition out of your box fan/pole duster series. I put my hand over the part of the image until it was totally square and ended up really liking that cropped verson, but hey, it's me, I really like square photos... I hope GGW likes whichever one you submit!
ReplyDeleteI like the fountain one, although the single drops of water are crystal clear they convey movement. And as you say the colour of the copper is great.
ReplyDeleteThe first koi photo. Makes the fish look like they're moving at the speed of light. That contest is a great tutorial. You're much braver than I!
ReplyDeleteThe koi do move at the speed of light when there is food involved.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the kind comments!
I really like your movement series. The idea of someone walking through the garden wacking at plants with a pole duster to make them move made me smile. And it worked. Your pictures are wonderful.
ReplyDelete