Having always been inspired by the Impressionist painters, in these works I have tried to convey a similar effect.
Concentrating more on how something feels rather than what it looks like, is actually quite a meditative approach – I have to be in the right frame of mind to think that way and to go out with the intention of shooting in that particular style. I can’t just switch that on and off, I need to be in the right mood.
Once you lose the photographer’s imperative to capture everything in sharp focus to get the maximum amount of detail, it opens up a whole new way of capturing images and one which I have largely followed with most of my personal work. I love playing with aperture and my (current) most favourite lens is a Zeiss (previous a Canon) f2 wide aperture acquired for that very purpose. I just love the results from these lenses but the focal point is very small in relation to the rest of the image – in context, the eye of a bee might be crystal clear but its wings and body would be completely out of focus or blurred. Or the stamen of a plant in crisp focus whilst its petals and leaves are not. Or the entire image might be very slightly out of focus completely. This opens up a whole new way of exploring imagery and one which I personally gain great enjoyment from.
A few examples of my ‘impressions’ of nature. This is an ongoing project
