I may be a little biased, but I believe we live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet, based, as we are, on our yacht in New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds. But over time, I have become aware that there is an additional dimension to this glorious place that seems to be missing in so many of the wonderful images that we see.
I couldn't quite put my finger on exactly what that missing aspect was so I set about trying to analyse this elusive ‘something’ and decided that maybe it had something to do with mood and feeling... but that was still such a nebulous concept.
One evening, I was sitting watching yet another beautiful sunset from the mooring we were on near Pickersgill Island. I reached for my camera and took yet another image of a Queen Charlotte Sound sunset, and once again was mildly disappointed by what I had produced. True enough, I had captured the fabulous colours that were there but on this occasion, the sunset had manifested itself in the most beautiful soft pink colours.
I realised it was that soft, ethereal feeling that had surrounded me that was the missing component. I know it sounds really silly, but it truly seemed as though I had ‘felt’ that sunset as well as watched it. I simply had to find some way of portraying that whole package, something that was more than simply showing off the colours.
I had been interested in intentional camera movement (ICM) images for some time and had seen some awesome images that had been produced using the technique, but on the occasions I had tried it, I had not had much success. However, I was now wondering whether this technique could actually help to give me that elusive something I was looking for - that feeling.
What followed was a lot of frustration as I tried to master the technique. I couldn’t work out how a technique that was designed not to produce pin-sharp images could be so difficult to get right! I persevered though and suddenly, it clicked. I got my first image that depicted both what I saw and what I felt. I was stoked! But what if it was simply a fluke? What if I couldn’t reproduce it?
In all honesty, I certainly don’t get it right every time I take an image, but most times at least one of the shots I take in a session will give me what I wanted. I’ve even discovered that I can use ICM with flowers and through them, show a sense of exuberance... but more about that another time (perhaps)!
So, welcome to my world of feeling through photography.
