Newsletter #140: March, 2017
© Chris Harris. All rights reserved.
I bought a paint brush & put it in my camera!
Hi everyone,
I bought a paint brush, put it in my camera, and headed out on two different day trips to the grasslands. My goal was to ‘paint’ the landscape with my camera!
My technique is simple; I shoot handheld multiple exposures with slight camera movement. What I love most is that these images require very little post processing. The less time spent on the computer, the better!
With me on both these excursions was friend Zoë Ducklow. Zoë, a photographer, journalist and storyteller, was working on a documentary film assignment for her journalism degree at UBC. As her topic is based on the Chilcotin Ark, I offered to take her to the grasslands, a rare and endangered landscape in the southeast corner of the Ark. We had a blast!
Here are a few ‘paintings’ I made while Zoe filmed her documentary.
This is the 140th consecutive monthly Newsletter; my TWELTH YEAR without missing a single month! Enjoy!
Our goal at the Chris Harris Gallery is to share photographic adventures and inspire others in the creative process. Please share this Newsletter with friends. We appreciate your interest and continued support for my work.
Contents:
1. Saturday: off we go to Farwell Canyon!
2. Sunday: off we go to Churn Creek!
1. Saturday: off we go to Farwell Canyon!
It is said that all painters paint ‘with their blood’. From that we can say that all artists, of whatever medium, respond differently to any given environment. We all see light and colour differently, we interpret form differently, and we all see from different perspectives. The result becomes our personal style.
Grasslands, Farwell Canyon.
As most of you know, I have been to Farwell Canyon dozens and dozens of times, yet each time I return with distinctly different photographs. Being open to new interpretations, it always excites me to go there.
Grasslands, Farwell Canyon
As Zoe went to work with her filming, I set about trying to see the world around me with that ‘paint brush in my camera’! Instead of interpreting the landscape as distinct lines with distinct shapes, I tried to see them as ‘soft masses of movement’. In other words, I envisioned form as areas of soft mass, brought about by my camera movement. When distinctness is removed through multiple handheld exposures, a more painterly effect is accomplished.
Grasslands, Farwell Canyon
I am enjoying this creative process because it produces a world that no longer looks like what it is, but what it seems to be in my imagination. The more I practice seeing in this way, and technically making images in this way, the closer my results come to what I imagine.
Grasslands, Farwell Canyon
In these painterly versions, the shapes become soft masses of tonal contrast.
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Sunday: off we go to Churn Creek!
Once again, Zoe and I were up at dawn. After picking up a coffee at Tim’s, we were off to the grasslands near Churn Creek.
On this trip I made representational images before creating my more painterly images so I could better illustrate comparisons in this Newsletter. A slight dusting of fresh snow blanketed the grasslands; it was beautiful and we were anxious to start photographing.
Road to the mid-Fraser River canyon and grasslands
A painterly version
Beyond lie the grasslands and the Chilcotin Ark
A painterly version
Meadow Lake Road, the road we were travelling
A painterly version
Grasslands and the Chilcotin Ark beyond
A painterly version
The road through grass canyonlands
A painterly version
The road near Churn Creek
A painterly version
The painterly style reveals an unknown beauty when appearances change from a more solid state to one that is more ethereal. There is also an impression of movement in the more abstract and expressive images we make.
There are many ways to see the visual world, and then to arrange the elements of composition within that pictorial space. This is why we so enjoy the creative journey within the art of photography.
Thank you. See you next month!
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These are stunning. Liked them better without the representational ones first (they were gorgeous as well) as then it was not easy to look at the impressionistic ones without analyzing them. Maybe put the representational ones together at the end of the post next time?
Yes, I have thought of all the above. I will eventually not show the representational ones at all. They are a distraction. Thanks.
Lovely effect, Chris. Have you hit a sweet spot with the number of exposures and shutter speed? Inspirational stuff, as always.
I would say the sweet spot so far is 9 exposures. I usually shoot around f8 or f11! Good luck…and…have fun. Thanks.
Thanks for the tip. It seems the intentional movement must be very subtle when combined with the multiple exposure, or are each of the images sharp and the ‘movement’ is just repositioning for the next image in the multiple?
The IM is subtle but a lot depends on the focal length of lens in use. It requires some experimentation!
SUPER!!! The images of ‘your’ “Playland” become “Dreamland” for me!
Best regards,
Satya
Thank you Satya! For me is BOTH a playland and a dreamland! Happy to hear you enjoyed them.
I so love what you do Chris, always “reinventing” yourself, fearlessly following your inner voice. In so doing you give others the encouragement, and permission if you will, to follow their own inner voice. Regards, David
Thank you so much David. I am just sharing my creative journey in the hope of encouraging others…like you say. Your thoughts and words are in themselves encouraging. Thank you. Continued good luck with your own creative journey. I know you are doing great work.
Chris: I feel like I have been through a museum of abstract art, and stop and ponder each image! Joan
Thank you Joan. I hear you met Leslie and Mike and got a book! Hope you enjoy it!! Take care.
Oh my! Beautiful to witness this divine transformation!!!!
Thank you Karen. It has to do with that special paint brush I bought from you! You are so special!
You’re paintbrush is sure working well for you. I actually like the ‘with and without’ versions that you’ve included here because it helps us to better see what you were working with. And I can see that the paintbrush in my camera needs a lot more practice! Thanks, as always, for the inspiration.
Thanks Dennis. I hope to pick up a new paint brush in Ireland later this week. I’ll see where that leads me! I can’t wait to see your creative renditions of Machu Picchu!! What fun!
These are inspiring Chris! Thanks again!!!
Thanks Pat. Hoping all is well. I hear rumors you are travelling and photographing…fantastic!