Today’s images are something completely different for me. The product of 40 minutes work and 204 images in a tree plantation, experimenting with slow exposures to create blurred images of the trees. I’ve seen some similar work like this by other photographers, and having sussed out a wood of straight trunked trees planted in a grid, I felt I had the ideal environment to try out this style of work.
52mm film equiv, F22, 0.7secs
I took my main workhorse lens 24-85mm, plus a 11-16mm wide angle plus a DX body. And an essential sturdy tripod. I set the ISO to 100 (the lowest I could go), and shot in AP mode with the aperture stopped right down. I didn’t take a ND filter – but I would on another occasion to slow down the exposures and gain better control over the Panning movement that yields these images. Because of the experimental nature of this shoot, I’ve appended the Image data to each shot for your information.
84mm film equiv, F27, 0.3 secs
56mm film equiv, F27, 0.3secs
This was tremendous fun, exciting work, and a steep learning curve. My success rate improved steadily through the shoot.
52mm film equiv, F22, 0.15 secs
A smooth vertical pan is difficult to achieve especially when shooting quite short expoures as I had to do. Choosing the arc through which to pan the camera is largely a matter of experimentation and I usually shot 2-3 images of a suitable scene. Monitoring the results on the camera’s screen also helped me greatly to fine tune the how and what I was shooting.
75mm film equiv, F22, 0.45 secs
The shot immediately above is a very short exposure for this kind of work but with a slightly oblique pan (unintentional) has yielded a subtly different effect.
120mm film equiv, F22, 0.125secs
A bit of a kink in the pan (image above)Â produced a wavy image of trees which I quite like. During processing I added the Dry Brush filter to produce a painterly effect. One thing I would not do in future is take a wide angle lens. Personally I don’t like the effect they produce as in the last image below but it may appeal to some of you.
24mm film equiv, F22, 0.5secs
This was an exciting shoot. It’s always nice to try something completely different. I hope you enjoy these images. I look forward to reading your comments.
LensScaper 
Really like the first two, the second almost looks like an oil painting, nice to see something different.
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Many thanks for your comment. The one you mention is a straight, barely tweaked image. The first and the last but one have had the addition of the Dry Brush filter added to them in processing. Otherwise very little substantive work was needed in processing.
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Wow, very nice pictures!
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Thanks, Victoria.
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WOW! These are great shots. The first shot is fantastic. The others are interesting but the first one works best with my eye. The image has great atmosphere. The arch created in the distance invites you in to explore the avenue of trees. It has an almost antique feel, like something shot using an old glass plate negative. Any post processing? These have certainly brightened the start to a rainy day in Sheffield. Thanks for sharing and letting us in on the technique and settings. Great work. Best wishes, Nigel, PS It was good to hear from you via email. I’m a bit slow of the mark but I will reply in due course – Cheers.
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Thanks for that Nigel. That was one of the last I took as I worked my way through the wood. The trees seems to be floating and that appeals to me. Post processing this has had the addition of Photoshop’s Dry Brush filter added. It makes an image look more like a painting and it helped smooth out some of the fussyness of the floor of the wood.
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I’ve had fun with capturing abstracted landscapes too – it’s quite amazing the range of effects you can achieve! I expect you’d like the abstracted work of Australian photographer, Louise Mann – I recommend you check out her website. These images make for a really pleasing series – thank you for sharing…
Susie
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Really interesting technique. Now I’ll have to go out and play with the idea! Thanks.
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Thank you Rob. It’s a fun idea, do give it a try.
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Awesome images Andy. Love the experimentation. That first one is killer (probably why it leads off).
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Many thanks for the comment. This was a great series to shoot, I’m pleased how some of them turned out – but there were a lot that went straight in the bin.
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These are great, Andy, particularly that first shot. Sounds like a fun way to create some awesomeness. You’re giving us all more work to do. 😉
Nicely done, man.
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Thanks Jimi. Just sharing the fun. I could never call this work!
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Nice job with these Andy, I like the second from last the best 🙂
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Thank you Denise. I rather like the gentle sverve myself in that one and the filter adds to the feel of it, I thought.
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I think it’s wonderful that you tried a new learning curve, Andy, outside your comfort zone. Whenever I’ve done that, I’ve been excited, too. So congratulations. I see some GREAT results here. BRAVO.
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Thank you so much Ginnie. Glad you like them.
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Amazing work!!! Well done!!!
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Great work!!! Some look like paintings!
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Man Andy you killed these! Really creative work, so impressive!
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Thanks Dave. I certainly had some fun getting these, glad you like them.
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Very creative shots here Andy. The first one really resonates with me, although I certainly like the others as well.
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Many thanks for your comment, Steven. Much appreciated.
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I don’t have anything technical to add, Andy…as I’m still using a point-and-shoot that has a nice zoom, a very handy macro setting, and some other frills that are largely Greek to me…but your shots are beautiful and thought-provoking. I get the gist of what you’ve described as your various processes for capturing the images you did…and I think you were rewarded with some amazing results. A DSLR is down the road for me a little bit, but I enjoy reading the technical aspects of your image-making. Thank you for sharing the info…and your photos. 🙂
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Thanks Scott. You can do a lot of things on a compact as I know – one is in my pocket most days - but you would have trouble shooting these shots with a compact, but you could always try….it would be an interesting experiment.
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You’re welcome, Andy…and I do know that I can take blurry pictures with my camera…just not this pretty. 🙂
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Andy, that first one made my jaw drop. Absolutely fantastic!! I am a big fan of this type of photography but always seem to forget to take these kinds of pictures.
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Many thanks for your comment, Adam. I don’t quite know why I hadn’t thought of doing this before. Better late than never!
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This is awesome. I love the first image! I’ve seen this done before. This is now going on my bucket list of things to capture.
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Stunningly beautiful..magical images. WOW!
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Very cool Andy. Now, I’ve got to try it!
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I really like these, especially the first one where the forest floor looks liquid.
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Thank you. I’m not really quite sure how I got that effect
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This technique is great fun to try and very rewarding when you get the image you want. Great work.
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Yes, I agree, it is a fun trick especially if you pull it off; for me the fourth from the bottom shows great artsy potential. I like it! Keep going, Andy! 🙂
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Thanks Janina. It was a fun day out certainly.
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