karen maze photoblog

but it was an acquired taste.

Most of the time, I’m something of a sharpness freak. Soft images make me crazy…absolutely nutso! That’s because softness often robs what might otherwise be a great photo of its power, its “wow factor.” The eye hunts for the sharpest point in the photo. If it has to hunt too long, or isn’t satisfied when it gets there, it’s a fail. In some cases, another element in the photo can be so powerful that the softness is not a distraction. Phew! But squeaking by on what, to me, amounts to a technicality is not the goal. Unless, that is, I’m in a situation where I can embrace the blur.

For me, this idea was born of laziness. It had gotten dark and the tripod was all the way back in the trunk of my car. I’m no heart surgeon. There’s no way I am going to get sharp images hand-held at 1/30. So I blurred the heck out of the images. I spun. I shook. I practiced my triple toe loop. And I got some images I like a lot. So much, that I started doing it even when I didn’t have to.

There’s a bigger issue at play here: Intention. It’s probably the most important element of commercial and fine art. Did you mean to do that? Heck yes! Think about why you chose to do what you did. There’s a reason, even if you weren’t aware of it at the time.

Blur is just one of the tools available to communicate with your viewer. In the case of seascapes (#1 & #3), it emphasizes the line and color. Each element of the scene flows indistinguishably into the next, like the sound of waves lapping onto the shore. It’s peaceful, serene, other-worldly. Sometimes, as in photo #2, I like to make the image completely abstract (it’s sky and sunlit ocean peeking through through the pylons under Santa Monica Pier, btw) .

In the case of the beach with mountains photo (#5), I was interested in the mood and didn’t want to get caught up in the details that can keep our minds looking, guessing, racing (is that girl too deep in the water? Where is her mother? I hope she’s wearing sun screen. What’s up with that guy’s hat?). It’s not about the people as individuals, or even that moment in time. It’s about the feeling of spending time on a beautiful beach.

For Christmas is a Blur (#6), I broke out my Lensbabies 2.0. I was interested in capturing a unique Christmas image that captured what, for me, represents the spirit of the season without being too literal.

Do you blur? I’d love to see your intentionally blurry pics. Put links in your comments below.

Ebb & Flow

Light vs. Dark

Awash

Into the Light

Beautiful Day

Christmas is a Blur

-km

I get a major kick out of being published. It raises the stakes, focuses the mind, and makes everything way more fun. This month, I can point to  San Diego Magazine and say “I shot that cover.” (Are you still reading?? GO GET ONE!)

Ok, seriously…This was my first time working with San Diego Magazine. It came about because I sent an email to a former colleague who is now an art director there. I just wanted to remind her that I’m here and available for assignments. A few weeks later, my phone rang. After a few phone calls and emails back and forth, I was driving to San Diego to shoot the job.

The assignment was to photograph food and drink from at Ortega’s Mexican Bistro in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. The directive was that people should see the photo and say “I want THAT!”

Ortega’s had many different options available to us in terms of location, props, food and drink. We decided early on to concentrate on a couple of different margaritas and two locations within the restaurant and play with those. My main concern was that the background provide some interest without getting in the way of the subject or any text that the magazine might want to place on top of the image. The colored glass window you see on the cover fit the bill perfectly.

The shoot went very well and as fate would have it, the image they selected for the cover (a Rasperry Mint Margarita, yum!) is mine. I was eager to do the job cover or not, but I won’t deny being more than happy about how it turned out.

-km

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