Motion Mastery continues and a slow shutter speed is just the least of it.
Consider this flag. The wind is 35-40 mph, shifting rapidly from north to northwest. It is a late November afternoon following a storm that produced tornado warnings, heavy rain and gusts of wind up to 60 mph.
The remnants of this storm are the high winds and dazzling light.
I am not thinking focus as I shoot these. I am marveling at how much flexibility this flag flying business really requires: from flat, flush and soundless against the pole to snapped open curls and furls, waving madly, noisily.
It is a civics lesson for our times as well as another lesson in my motion madness series.
Oh, please file this under “Deep Thoughts”, too.
©Pat Coakley 2008
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“I am not thinking focus as I shoot these.”
Deep thoughts, indeed. How much of life is about trying to focus while missing the motion around us. We live in fast times, and adjusting our perspective to try and capture all the nuances can be maddening. So we take imperfect snapshots and dissect the meaning inherent in the wind.
Fascinating . . .
Brian, I almost referenced you in the post as I knew you’d have a philosophical spin on this particular deep thought. I specifically am thinking how rigid I feel with this financial crisis, which is what fear does to humans, it stiffens us up to just about everything…and when I watched this flag and the twists and turns it took on the way to flying, I really did say to myself, “Ok. I have to loosen up a bit.” Amazing what studying one particular thing has spillover to other things in life! Anyway, thanks!
Great analogy for our country Pat. I think you’ve pretty much mastered the motion, no more classes for you, TEACH!
Sweetiegirlz, I can see from your blog that you have mastered your new camera. so how about joining the weekly photo challenge club titled, SAPCC?? Tomorrow (midnight) is the deadline for this week’s photo about “Time”. Me thinks you should come on board.
Wish I was as flexible as that flag phew, stunning series!
lovely the color the motion the flag – wonderful painterly running out of words so i’ll just gaze, thankyou
I love the shine of the flag. And, for a change: thanks Pat for choosing more than one picture *your choice maker and away thrower :-)
Sanity! Three more days and you are going to be as flexible as a gymnast!
Tipota, Hello! I am going to visit you tomorrow morning with morning coffee. Why I don’t do it every morning is beyond me.
Sannekurz, I, too, love the light on the flag and just so you know, I cannot use any more than one image with this template called “Monotone”. It allows from one picture only due to its pulling a contrasting color to show it off.
So, when I do several photos, it has to be an image I do in Photoshop!