Reed Blur

On a Snail Kite trip the other day with Jim Neiger Denise and I encountered some very tough early morning conditions with drizzle and dark clouds. What to do? Make soup from a stone by thinking out of the box.

This image was created by panning upwards with the handheld 400mm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/8 sec. at f/4 (set manually). I told you it was dark!

Don't be shy. All comments are welcome.

And here is the best news: Denise and I will be collaborating on a Guide to Pleasing Blurs PDF. It will cover a wide variety of natural history blur techniques including flocks of birds, single birds, flowers, landscapes, and lot, lots more.

ps: Here's a "Pleasing Blur" tip: when attempting to create images like this take lots of them. While checking the look of the image on the back of the camera can help you discover the best framing and panning rate, there is no substitute for seeing the image on your monitor. I was trying to make images with the tops of the reeds and a bit of sky but this pure pattern blur was my favorite by far.

Beautiful colours and like the slight diagonal here. They almost look metallic.

Artie, You got a winner here. I really like the colors and the lines, especially the ones that criss cross.:)
I am very excited about the Blur Guide. It should be lots of fun.
Jim Neiger was so nice, it was a pleasure to meet him. He really does take you right into the action!!!:)

Thank you Denise. Your kind words are appreciated :) I am looking forward to completing the guide but first we need to start it!

Very interesting pattern of diagonal lines here, Artie. Beautiful colors too.

Simple, dramatic, effective - a joy to view!

Lovely and dramatic, Artie. Great diagonal lines the different tones of green and yellow really make this multi-dimensional.