Something New and Different

The last time we visited, I had a whole lot of nothing going on. I was spent. I was dry. I was tapped out. And I was all of this, despite a wonderful vacation and even some highly creative suggestions from my children!

But I gave myself some time, took a few days to breathe, and instead of just passively waiting and hoping for inspiration to hit, I chose to get out there and actively pursue that creativity. And because photography is my main creative outlet, I decided to try some new techniques and even stretch myself by going in an opposite direction from what I would routinely do.

Have you heard of scanography? It is the process of using a regular, everyday scanner, that would normally be used to scan a document, to create art. I produced the above image by placing the flowers on the glass of my scanner, covering it with a cardboard box I spray painted black, and then scanning as a jpeg. Because the flowers are three dimensional, I did have to do a bit of photoshop work to get the background a consistent black, but nothing too intense. It's a relatively simple process with endless possibilities. Check out a few of the cool scanography images on flickr!

I also tried a new technique I've never attempted before.....panning. Panning endeavors to give the feeling of motion through blur, while the subject remains in focus. To accomplish this, set your shutter speed relatively slow and while keeping the subject in the same area of the frame, follow the motion of the subject with your camera. Definitely not an easy feat (at least in my book), but certainly fun to try!

In addition to trying some new techniques, I went in an opposite direction from one of my traditional methods. Normally, I work very hard to get spot on focus. But I chose instead to shoot with blur. Talk about liberating! I was able to focus on capturing emotion, rather than a technically accurate photo. Note to self....do this more often!

So the moral of the story is.....get out there, do something different! Try something new! Wake those sleeping neurons in your brain!

And while you are sharing your beautiful barn photos....share something in the flickr gallery that is completely different from what you would normally do or perhaps a new technique you've never tried. I know you'll not only enjoy the experience, but I think you'll be surprised at how it sparks your creativity!