Because it’s how I remember things. It’s how memories unfold in my mind. when I close my eyes and try to remember, this is what I see: lovely, blurry scenes. I’ve been shooting this way for a while, for three or four years now. Not exclusively, of course, but more and more. I intentionally throw the focus until it feels rights. Until it looks like what I see in my mind. So often, these are the images I revisit, the ones I come back to again and again. These are the photographs that tell the real story. They spin like records on a turntable– soft, scratchy, inexplicably magic.
If you’ve not yet tried it, go ahead. Today, I invite you to intentionally throw your focus. Fiddle with the lens til you find magic. And please, share the blur. Share it with us here today.
Sue says
Like you, Andrea, I have experimented with blur in many ways, most recently playing with intentional motion blur while watching festival dancers –
http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/7/she-dances.html
http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/8/he-dances.html
http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/9/they-dance.html
iHanna says
Blur makes everything soft, and kind and gentle. This is me in that way:
http://instagram.com/p/R1BLhQqxqN/
fro says
I love blur ๐
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51727087@N04/7132124527/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51727087@N04/7644864452/
Caro says
I love blur and all things bokeh as well!
Here are two my most recent examples…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carito345/8225383662/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carito345/8117579158/in/photostream/
reb says
the blur is one of my favorite aspects of photography. ๐
http://www.humbleplacesphotography.com/blur/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathair/8227532388/in/photostream
Sandee says
Nice blur photos everyone! It's funny what a little blur can do for the view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34977978@N05/3764443458/
Sherry G. says
Blur and a Westie and a first snowfall = a magic moment.
http://flic.kr/p/dwum4w
claudia says
Love this shot!
I love blur too. I sometimes forget about my 'beauty in the blur' set-working my way to 100! Here's one of my latest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/8210634254/
Jade says
Blur certainly is a magical thing. A recent photo of our square's giant Christmas tree: http://tinyurl.com/bvfojg9
damiec says
I think about this a lot. The ability to control blur was one of the main reasons I was so determined to trade up to a dslr a few years back. The impressionistic aspect of blur creates this interesting dynamic for me. It takes me back to that real life moment when i took the shot – how i felt in it as life moved around me and i stood still for a second, but it also introduces a universality to the image. This is especially true for me when people's faces are blurred, it becomes easier to put myself inside someone else's picture and feel it.
I help run a flickr group called bokeh people. http://www.flickr.com/groups/bokehpeople/pool/with/5182309870/
for images where what's blurred is people that is chockful of images that move me just this way.
Here's one of my own recent bokeh people shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiec/8067571244/
Mika says
The more I take, the more I love blur photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/80103009@N04/8230439036/
damiec says
I think about this a lot. The ability to control blur was one of the main reasons I was so determined to trade up to a dslr a few years back. The impressionistic aspect of blur creates this interesting dynamic for me. It takes me back to that real life moment when i took the shot – how i felt in it as life moved around me and i stood still for a second, but it also introduces a universality to the image. This is especially true for me when people's faces are blurred, it becomes easier to put myself inside someone else's picture and feel it.
I help run a flickr group called bokeh people. http://www.flickr.com/groups/bokehpeople/pool/with/5182309870/
for images where what's blurred is people that is chockful of images that move me just this way.
Here's one of my own recent bokeh people shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiec/8067571244/
Alexandra says
I think this is one of the first photos I took where I realized blur/not having anything in particular in focus could add to a photo.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alxleask/7084895329/in/photostream
janina says
I'm in the middle of doing a photo-project comprising nothing but blurred images and can't wait to put a little gallery together to show on my other blog. In the meantime, this is a recent post. Not one of my best, but I like its dreamy effect.
http://jmnartsy.com/2012/11/19/sailing/