For more on Soulful Photography including tips and perspectives go here.
Some tips on doing photography that nurtures the Soul.
The 1st shot of this trio is a landscape (horizontal) version of the one I posted a few days ago from Lincoln Park near our home. One wonders how to do this. I do get a lot of questions. There is certainly a “how to” part. But I’m also launching a series here on the “why.” Years ago I realized some of my best photography work was produced during a difficult stretch in my life, when I was dealing with some challenges or even personal failure. It quickly dawned on me that I needed this hobby and began to talk about photography as a spiritual discipline. So stay tuned.
Now for the “how to.” Well, you need a tripod to get the smooth look on the water because the shutter is open for about 1 second. Without a tripod these shots would be all blurry. They would not be what the pros call “tack sharp!” Having the camera solidly stationary while there is movement in front of the lens gives a silky look to the water as it blurs a little from the movement of the waves as the camera lens aperture is open for a little while. This shows up on only one of these 3 photos. Can you see it? It’s second nature for landscape photographers and it’s called the silk effect. Leaving the aperture open for a little bit as something is moving in the frame creates a beautiful dynamic. One can do this with moving waves, mountain streams, waterfalls, anything that moves. So this is also done with star photography and movement in the sky is a fascinating thing to capture. Except the lens needs to be open for a longer time. One last tip. It’s helpful to have something in the picture, alongside the movement in the frame, that is stationary. In this shot I picked a small log/branch that I placed in the surf. The rocks also served this purpose.
So in summary, I do this stuff as a way to keep sane, to enjoy beauty, to nurture a constant sense of wonder, and to stay fresh in the other work I feel called to, dealing with the thorny issues in conflict and misunderstanding that seems very prevalent in our world today. I need inner peace to work on the other peace. And this is one of my habits that keeps me full of joy and peace.
For more on Soulful Photography including tips and perspectives go here.
