365 Project - Day 122

In the spirit of "sharpening the axe" and strengthening my skills, I pulled out one of my old 35mm books. It's actually a pocket guide. As I was flipping through the techniques, I came across something I just had to try - soft focus. Now what actually caught my eye, was trying this by using nylon stockings. So I started off the morning by examining each pair of nylons I have stuffed into my dresser to find pairs with holes or runs that would be perfect for my "artsy" project. As usual I humored myself during this exercise. On a normal day if I had to wear them, 50% of the nylons would have holes. Of course, I only found a few this time, but I only needed 1!

I cut off the lower leg portion of the nylon, pulled it over my 16-85mm zoom and tied a rubber band around to keep it tight. I then went outdoors to roam around the yard in the bright sunlight. Frankly, the snow has withered away much of the excitement in our garden. I went back indoors and chose to shoot this orchid. In capturing the image below, I combined the effect of the nylon with post processing the clarity slider in Lightroom to -100, pushing the soft effect to the extreme. Furthermore, I bumped up the exposure a tad just to take this to the edge. While, I'm fairly happy with the results, I'm also clear that this will appeal to some and not to others. Regardless, I learned that two things are important in capturing soft focus in this manner: bright sunlight / overexposure and keeping aperture open, at or below f/5.6. I also had to choose whether to appeal to the masses or appeal to my own interest in learning. I chose the latter.

Best wishes!

Today's Photo: Soft-Souled Orchids

"Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious." Rumi





EXIF: Nikon D7100
ISO 200
80mm
f5.6
1/8