Non-Photoshop Photoimpressionism

With the advent of Adobe Photoshop, it’s almost a given that nearly every shot is somehow manipulated. Then again, image manipulations were formerly done in the darkroom. For example, if an image had a perspective problem, the photographer would lift the easel during the process to correct it, similar to using the perspective crop in Photoshop. Photo manipulation is not restriced to the domain of the digital age—far from it. By the same token, I love presenting my work using a slide projector and transparencies, which erases all doubt that an image was not manipulated with software. I guess the point to all of this is that one does not need to use a computer and software to create unusual or impressionistic effects.

The image here was shot on Velvia ISO 50 in bright sun with a Nikon F6 and 300mm f/4 Nikkor lens. I could just as easily have shot the image with the D2X, but I chose to use film because of its high contrast and wide dynamic range.

When pre-visualizing the image, I knew I wanted to achieve a twirling effect while keeping the center of the image relatively sharp. The bright sun and black pond at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. would provide a nice contrast. Notice how the colors pop with the black background. While leaving the camera on the tripod, eight exposures were calculated by shooting on matrix metering and aperture priority and setting the exposure compensation to –3. The image was made on one piece of film while twisting the camera in the lens tripod collar in very small increments for nine exposures. Although the matrix and –3 compensation is proper metering for eight exposures, I shoot one more (nine) for a little more luminosity.

The center of the flower is the point of autofocus and appears to have sharpness, despite the many overlapping exposures, and was placed at the center/bottom part of the frame for visual weight. Of course, the center is not sharp, but since the multiple petal images create a “fan” appearance, the center appears sharp relative to the rest of the image. Also, because of the high contrast of the scene, the water appears black, rather than the dark brown that it really was, and accentuates the pastel tonality of the water lily.

As I travel down the digital highway, I still carry my Nikon F6 for very specific scenes, such as this one, that I’ve learned through experience render better on film.