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This is another of my agave images, using camera motion this time, not zoom, during a 1/2 second exposure. I shot it vertically, but then I liked how it felt a little like swimming with eyes at the level of the water surface: floaty and linear all at once, which is an unusual effect.
Edit: I’m not entirely sure of my camera orientation —next to verticals in the filmstrip. It’s possible too that during movement I had some zoom slide in focal length.
Other Information
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Image Description
What was your initial reaction?
Did you have a different interpretation?
Thoughts on more saturation, texture, or a different rotation or crop?
Technical Details
Canon 5DIV with 24-105mm at 75mm
ISO 100, f/22, 1/2 sec.
Marylynne, your Agave series is excellent. The mix of gentle greens, blues and whites is very soothing. While the first two add some dynamism with their vertical orientation, the soothing feeling is enhanced here by your choice of orienting the main lines horizontally.
This is excellent, Marylynne. It almost looks like the leaves are going crosswise with one another or it’s a double exposure with the camera rotated 90 degrees. The curves and tonality create a very soothing image.
I wish I had taken notes on what I was doing. It might actually have been a horizontal shot (hence vertical leaves) with horizontal movement (the lines).
I should probably revise the explanation above as I’m not entire sure. At 1/2 second, some things will be captured pretty distinctly (vertical leaves further away or larger) while others (smaller and closer) would get smeared. Maybe I zoomed at the same time or the focal length slid during movement? The warp speed effect is there at the top.
ML
In case anyone is interested, here are the two preceding frames, which I did take in vertical orientation. The one above, however, I took in landscape orientation. I can imagine deciding I wanted those lines horizontal. How I kept the leaves vertical is beyond me.
Definitely no double exposure, as I have never really tried that, but y’all got me thinking.
There is a huge mass of agave in the back yard here. I have several that just look like fireworks, but those have the gravel landscape material as well, so I don’t love them. But yeah, there are leaves everywhere, lots to choose from, probably unlimited potential, so I’m sure I’ll get back to this cluster. Right now, I’m doing a series of breeze blocks for a calendar I’ve been wanting to make for my friends who are fans of mid-century modern architecture.
ML
Marylynne: I love the color palette you have with all of this series and am thoroughly enjoying your creativity. This one doesn’t resonate as much as the zoom abstracts but is still delightful. I’m with @Dennis_Plank regarding that second shot above. Keep them coming. >=))>
Thanks everyone. I spent the last few days in Joshua Tree and the Kelso Sand Dunes. Ironically, these remain some of my favorite images of this winter, and they were taken 10 feet from the pool at my Airbnb rental.
ML
