b is for blur

Because it's how I remember things. It's how memories unfold in my mind. when I close my eyes and try to remember, this is what I see: lovely, blurry scenes. I've been shooting this way for a while, for three or four years now. Not exclusively, of course, but more and more. I intentionally throw the focus until it feels rights. Until it looks like what I see in my mind. So often, these are the images I revisit, the ones I come back to again and again. These are the photographs that tell the real story. They spin like records on a turntable-- soft, scratchy, inexplicably magic. 

If you've not yet tried it, go ahead. Today, I invite you to intentionally throw your focus. Fiddle with the lens til you find magic. And please, share the blur. Share it with us here today.  

Comments

[Sue]

Like you, Andrea, I have experimented with blur in many ways, most recently playing with intentional motion blur while watching festival dancers -

http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/7/she-dances.html

http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/8/he-dances.html

http://suehenryphotography.com/httpsuehenryphotographycom/2012/11/9/they-dance.html

[iHanna]

Blur makes everything soft, and kind and gentle. This is me in that way:

http://instagram.com/p/R1BLhQqxqN/

[fro]

I love blur :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51727087@N04/7132124527/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51727087@N04/7644864452/

[Caro]

I love blur and all things bokeh as well!
Here are two my most recent examples...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carito345/8225383662/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carito345/8117579158/in/photostream/

[reb]

the blur is one of my favorite aspects of photography. :)

http://www.humbleplacesphotography.com/blur/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathair/8227532388/in/photostream

[Sandee]

Nice blur photos everyone! It's funny what a little blur can do for the view:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34977978@N05/3764443458/

[Sherry G.]

Blur and a Westie and a first snowfall = a magic moment.

http://flic.kr/p/dwum4w

[claudia]

Love this shot!
I love blur too. I sometimes forget about my 'beauty in the blur' set-working my way to 100! Here's one of my latest
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurohunt/8210634254/

[Jade]

Blur certainly is a magical thing. A recent photo of our square's giant Christmas tree: http://tinyurl.com/bvfojg9

[damiec]

I think about this a lot. The ability to control blur was one of the main reasons I was so determined to trade up to a dslr a few years back. The impressionistic aspect of blur creates this interesting dynamic for me. It takes me back to that real life moment when i took the shot - how i felt in it as life moved around me and i stood still for a second, but it also introduces a universality to the image. This is especially true for me when people's faces are blurred, it becomes easier to put myself inside someone else's picture and feel it.

I help run a flickr group called bokeh people. http://www.flickr.com/groups/bokehpeople/pool/with/5182309870/
for images where what's blurred is people that is chockful of images that move me just this way.

Here's one of my own recent bokeh people shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiec/8067571244/

[Mika]

The more I take, the more I love blur photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80103009@N04/8230439036/

[damiec]

I think about this a lot. The ability to control blur was one of the main reasons I was so determined to trade up to a dslr a few years back. The impressionistic aspect of blur creates this interesting dynamic for me. It takes me back to that real life moment when i took the shot - how i felt in it as life moved around me and i stood still for a second, but it also introduces a universality to the image. This is especially true for me when people's faces are blurred, it becomes easier to put myself inside someone else's picture and feel it.

I help run a flickr group called bokeh people. http://www.flickr.com/groups/bokehpeople/pool/with/5182309870/
for images where what's blurred is people that is chockful of images that move me just this way.

Here's one of my own recent bokeh people shots
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiec/8067571244/

[Alexandra]

I think this is one of the first photos I took where I realized blur/not having anything in particular in focus could add to a photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alxleask/7084895329/in/photostream

[janina]

I'm in the middle of doing a photo-project comprising nothing but blurred images and can't wait to put a little gallery together to show on my other blog. In the meantime, this is a recent post. Not one of my best, but I like its dreamy effect.

http://jmnartsy.com/2012/11/19/sailing/