Tag Archives: flickr explore

University Avenue on Fire: a photograph using the photo impressionistic technique “in the round.”

University Avenue, with it’s boulevard of apple trees slices through Toronto’s Hospital District. It is a ribbon of colour bound by bleak institutional architecture. But miracles happen here every day. That’s what I love about this picture. The way the colour explodes out of the darkness like hope rising from despair.

My obligations as a lawyer have kept my camera in its bag for far too long. But an adjournment allowed an unexpected shooting opportunity.  Walking up University Avenue between Sick Children’s and Toronto General Hospitals I found these trees breaking out of the shadows.

It was unclear to me how I should capture the scene. Traffic was busy and the sidewalk was a stream of scrubs, suits and patients. After a couple of tests I decided to use a photo impressionistic approach by photographing the trees “in the round.”

a photo impressionistic image of apple trees in fall colours photographed in the round.
Apple trees on University Avenue’s boulevard photographed in the round © stephen d’agostino -all rights reserved

I love the way in the round technique deconstructs a complex scene into its essential elements in an impressionistic way.

This picture is composed of about 20 images photographed “in the round” technique; meaning I walked around the tree to the extent possible taking pictures from different positions. The images were merged using an opacity blend which deconstructs the scene reducing it to its essential elements.

This picture was well recieved on Flickr where it received over 40,000 views on the first day thanks to its selection for Explore. That makes 21 Explore images for me in the past 2 years.

Prints can be purchased from Daylighted at https://www.daylighted.com/picture/7586/university-avenue-on-fire-toronto

My 21st image on Flick's Explore
My 21st image on Flick’s Explore

 

A Photo Impressionistic Approach to the Cactus Garden at the Phoenician

Sometimes you just know how a picture is going to turn out; sometimes the joy is in the surprise. This image is a perfect example.

I saw this scene while walking through the cactus garden at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale . What caught my attention was the repetition in the receding saguaro and the strong vertical elements. Creating depth in an impressionistic images has been a challenge for me.

photo impressionistic photograph of cactus
The cactus garden at the Phoenician. © Stephen D’Agostino

To create the photo impressionistic effect I used the high-speed montage approach I am developing. I shot a burst at 60 fps while panning,  The images were then brought  together in Photoshop using an opacity blend. I could have created the same effect using a dark neutral density filter and a slow shutter speed but composition would have been an issue for me. The high-speed montage approach is more suited for  photo impressionism on the fly.

The result was better than I had hoped. The vertical elements created a texture I had not seen in the viewfinder adding to the scene’s depth.

Flickr selected this image for its Explore page yesterday; about 9,500 views in 24 hours. Thanks to the curator at Flickr who championed this image.

Fall Colours In The Round: A Gallery

Trees have always been an important subject in art. For me they bring to mind the power of an Emily Carr or the drama of Ansel Adams. They are grounded. They reach for the sky.  A natural subject for impressionist photography.

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This photograph of a tree in fall colours is from a series shot right in front of the Legislative Building Queen’s Park, Toronto. It is composed of about 50 images merged together using an opacity blend. This photograph appeared on Flickr’s Explore page on October 23, 2014.  https://flic.kr/p/oQiuYg © Stephen D’Agostino

When I started experimenting with in the round photography I first turned to trees. Visually trees are roughly symmetrical which lends themselves to the technique because fundamentally in the round photography relies on pixel averaging.  When similarly placed  pixels are roughly the same it is more likely that a strong image will emerge after the opacity blend.  As a result the  trunk is a natural anchor for the image. The leaves feather towards the sky. The background details wash away leaving the subject alone in the frame.

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A flaming red maple tree in front of  Ontario Veteran’s War Memorial on the grounds of the Legislative Building Queen’s Park, Toronto.  This photograph is composed of 40 images taken around the tree then brought together using an opacity blend. © Stephen D’Agostino

The genesis of this series was an unexpected opportunity. Early on a gloomy Saturday I set up  on the South apex of Queen’s Park Cres to photograph the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  As the light improved I noticed the trees behind me, along the street edge, had started to turn colour  and with the road closed for the marathon it was possible to photograph around the trees.

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A Maple tree just starting to turn photographed in the round. This photograph is composed of about 50 images brought together with an opacity blend. It appeared on Flickr’s Explore page on October 27, 2014. © Stephen D’Agostino

What I love about these photographs is the way the technique captures the form and colour of the trees while just hinting at the detail.  Trees have always been an important subject in art. For me they bring to mind the power of an Emily Carr or the drama of Ansel Adams. They are grounded. They reach for the sky.  A natural subject for impressionist photography and one I keep coming back to.

The other thing I love about this technique is the way the foregrounds seem to twist, circle or band. The result is always unexpected. I can pre-visualize the tree itself but the foreground is always a surprise.

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A maple tree in front of Queens Park, Toronto photographed in the round. This image is composed of about 40 images photographed around the tree then brought together using an opacity blend. It appeared on Flickr’s Explore page on October 25, 2014 and generated 22,000 views that day. © Stephen D’Agostino

These in the round impressionistic photographs have been well received on Flickr.  Four of them appeared on Flickr’s Explore page. One generated 22,000 views in a single day.  That is a stark contrast to the way my photo impressionism was received a couple of years ago when I often receive comments asking if I had a neurodegenerative disease or hadn’t learned to use auto focus.

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This image is my favourite in this series. A maple tree photographed in the round, Queen’s Park, Toronto. This photograph is composed of about 40 images brought together using an opacity blend. © Stephen D’Agostino

 

For more information on the technique see my post What I Have Learned: In The Round Images.

To view the gallery just click on one of the images.

 

Featured on Explore: Soho Soft Focus

I am coming to understand this about photo impressionism: there is no one size fits all technique. You have to open your imagination and pre visualize the effect before pushing the shutter. You have to experiment. You have to push your boundaries.

Just Bokeh: a soft focus approach to West Broadway at night.
Just Bokeh: a soft focus approach to the lights on West Broadway at night. Photo impressionistic take on busy Mercer St. Soho New York. © Stephen D’Agostino

Photo impressionism has many faces. The soft focus approach is popular but I have never really given it a chance preferring to concentrate on multiple exposure and slow shutter images. A recent trip to New York changed that for me.

The first technical challenge was understanding how to override the Nikon 1 V3’s powerful automated tools. The solution: use a DX lens and manual focus mode for better aperture and focus control. The buttery rich bokeh is a function of a large aperture setting.

My personal favourite: a photo impressionistic view of West Broadway at night.
My personal favourite from this sequence: a view of West Broadway at night. Photo impressionistic take on busy Mercer St. Soho New York. © Stephen D’Agostino

To a great extent I think this approach works because of the bokeh. At night the images become dream like.  Colours that formerly defined background elements move to the forefront. Often they seem to dance. Look at the view of the World Trade Center below.

Photo impressionistic view of the World Trade Centre featured on Flickr's Explore 18/10/14
View of the World Trade Centre from Soho. Featured on Flickr’s Explore 18/10/14. Photo impressionistic take on busy Mercer St. Soho New York. © Stephen D’Agostino

The built form of  the World Trade Center seems to melt into a pillar of light. For me it has become a lighthouse of hope, and strength overlooking the street below. I was excited to learn this morning that the curators of Flickr’s Explore page had added it to today’s list.

I am coming to understand this about photo impressionism: there is no one size fits all technique. You have to open your imagination and pre visualize the effect before pushing the shutter.  You have to experiment. You have to push your boundaries. I love it!

A note about Flickr. I have and do use a number of photo sharing services to test reaction to my images. I keep coming back to Flickr because it seems to attract a broader aesthetic in its range of users. All of my images chosen for Explore are collected at https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-impressionism/sets/72157638979727914/ My photo stream can be seen at flickr.com/photos/photo-impressionism/.

Photo impressionistic take on busy Mercer St. Soho New York. © Stephen D'Agostino
Photo impressionistic take on busy Mercer St. Soho New York. © Stephen D’Agostino

Featured on Flickr Explore – Photo Impressionistic Dragon Boat Racers

My exploration of photo impressionism started with dragon boats and I keep coming back. Is it the power, the visual rhythms, habit?  I just don’t know. But the resulting images never fail to please.

The photograph below is composed of about 30 images brought together using an opacity blend and  recently appeared on Flickr’s Explore page. It was taken at Toronto’s International Dragon Boat Festival on Toronto Island.

For more of my dragon boat images on Flickr see https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-impressionism/sets/72157622514064785/

photo impressionistic image of dragon boat racers
Dragon Boat Racers

Selected for Flickr’s Explore Page: jellyfish

I spent Canada Day exploring Ripley’s Aquarium and a new camera; Nikon’s mirrorless N1 V3.

Ripley’s Aquarium is a visual buffet; well laid out exhibits and exotic subjects. It has a wonderful collection of sharks and stingrays. But for me the Jellyfish Room was the highlight.  Where else can you spend a few moments with these ghostly aliens.  The image below is from that visit.

Although this shot is not typical for my genre I really love it.  I think  it captures the delicateness and  movement  of the jellyfish while maintaining the alien quality I experienced.  So you can imagine my excitement this morning to find that  Flickr Explore had chosen it for today’s page. This is my 5th image chosen for Explore  in the past 12 months.

Thanks to the curator who championed my picture.

almost alien, a jelly fish pulses through the tank at Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto
almost alien, a jelly fish pulses through the tank at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto

For those who keep track of these things,  being selected for Explore resulted in just over 10,000 views in one day.

Featured on Flickr’s Explore – Apple Trees In The Round – updated

I have been using Flickr for a couple of years to test photo impressionistic ideas. From my experience the Flickr community is more engaged than the other photographic communities I have tried. That is important to me when I am trying something new.

So you can imagine my excitement this morning when I discovered Flickr’s Explore editors had selected my latest in the round experiment for their feature page. The exposure from that means dozens of new followers, many interesting points of view and a bit more acceptance for photo impressionism as a genre.

Thanks to the curator who championed my image.

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Update

For what it is worth, looking back at the views on this image and the others I have had featured on Explore, you can expect about 8,500 views over 3 days on average if you are lucky enough to be selected. For all of my photo impressionism images fetured on Explore  see https://www.flickr.com/photos/photo-impressionism/sets/72157638979727914/