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This is a surreal image of a cherry tree in blossom, taken in my garden in Spring 2008.
Normally when I try and photograph blossom I'm usually disappointed with the result. The straight photo just doesn't convey the beauty of what I'm seeing, let alone the smell of the blossom, the song of the birds and the touch of the fragile plants against my outstreched palm.
So this time I tried to do things differently. I've been a fan of impressionist artists, such as Monet, for quite a while, finding that their slightly unreal renditionings convey a deeper meaning and understanding of the subject matter than can be obtained with a photo realistic rendition.
In this photo I chose a longish shutter speed and deliberately moved the camera during the exposure to create the impressionistic blur.
Filename - tree blur 06.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105 zoom @ 67mm
Exposure - 0.6sec @ f5.6, ISO100
Location - Mold, North Wales
This image - 549x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Image intentionally blurred by panning during the exposure.
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