Tuesday, October 11, 2011

blurring the lines of style


I've been thinking lately about what I could try to vary my style and add some extra story and emotion to my shots.

I very often rely on the auto focus function of my cameras but I'm realizing that some creative out of focus, some serendipitous blur, might just be what the doctor ordered. I use bokeh blur all of the time, but I'm talking about missing the focus a bit to soften the subject and add interest. I've seen some really great examples of this out there, and I'm sure that sometimes they are magical accidents, but in any case, I'm after that magic! You'll notice in my shot above, the sharpest focus is on the leafs in front of the puppy, that plane where her paw reaches out, creating a softness as the shallow depth of field starts to blur her baby face.

This shot by Ali's Looking Glass is a great example of what I'm talking about. The expression and black and white also add to the emotion in the shot, clearly, but I think the blur does something extra special. What do you think?

-Cara, of CaraRosePhotos


true sight by ali's looking glass

7 comments:

Kelly Warren said...

Wow, I think both these shots are magical. I tend to rely on the auto-focus quite a bit as well, but I find lately, I'm branching out from that.

Ashley Sisk said...

What a beautiful example - I love how soft focus really allows our eyes to wander.

urban muser said...

these are wonderful photos. who could resist that pup---in or out of focus!?

Anna said...

I totally agree with you, a bit of softness can add magic and mystery. That's the beauty of shooting in manual, we get to control the look of our captures. Beautiful examples!

Andrea said...

these are both great examples! perhaps I'll try a little manual focus sometime...

Kirstin said...

These are both such emotive pictures and I think you are right, that the blur adds that little bit of magic.

christina said...

such brilliant art.
you inspire me to dive into shooting in manual.
XO

Post a Comment

thank you for visiting. take a moment and say hi!