Impressionistic Wave

Impressionistic Wave ©Lynne Buchanan

The image above was just awarded second place for photography in the18th Annual Autumn Art Fest in Live Oak, Florida, a regional festival that draws people from North Florida, Georgia, and the Panhandle.

I made this on Molokai, Hawaii one late afternoon when I was photographing waves.  First, I made many images that froze waves in walls and I also made closeups of the tubes.  Then, to change things up, I decided to make some blurs.  I lowered my ISO and slowed my shutter speed by increasing the aperture.  To make the effect even more pronounced, I moved the camera horizontally in a slow but continual motion.  This image is my favorite one from that afternoon, since it captured a long wall with spray releasing into the atmosphere.  The painterly colors within the wave came from the ocean and from the sky's reflections.

Blurs dovetail with my philosophy of creativity so well.  I bring myself and my abilities to the scene, but I have to be open to what is happening and nature becomes an equal contributor.  There is also a big element of chance and synchronicity.  This introduces a sense of fluidity to the creative act and takes me out of my conscious mind.  There is no way I can control everything that happens and the spontaneity of my relationship to nature is evoked.