1/2 second hand-held experiment of police bike getting ready to lead the running Santas in a 10K race

 Last week we were invited to the home of Emanuela for dinner and to review her photography.  She had commented that she liked my stuff (see www.mindstormphoto.com for mine), but that hers were “at the opposite extreme” of mine.

She then proceeded to show us hundreds of fascinating abstract photos.  Her photos were all hand-held long exposures, most being of dancers, rushing water, or other topics with a lots of movement. There was an ethereal quality to them, and she was right — they were very different from the precise captures I tend to make.

I decided to give her technique a try.  Yesterday we first went to the Pase del Nino Parroquial at San Rogue church a couple blocks from our apartment. A few shots from that children’s parade showed some promise. We then went to the 10K titled Run, Santa, Run which started at Parque San Blas.  A few more images from that show initial promise too.

The left two images were from the Santa 10K, while the right two were from the high school parade

Roughly 100 Santas rush at us at the start of the 10K race

After the race, we walked along the Tomabamba river on our way home.  I have had trouble finding anything very photographically interesting about this urban river, so thought I would try the same experiments there.  We walked down to the edge of the river, and I looked for small sections that would show white water and rocks in an interesting pattern.

It is clear I am going to have do some more experimenting before I can create the level of art that Emanuela has reached. Of course, learning new techniques is a large part of what keeps photography interesting!

As we were walking from San Blas down to the river, we passed Parque Calderon.  The sun was gorgeous on the domes of the New Cathedral, and I couldn’t help cheating on my “all long exposure motion shots today” promise. I captured the dome “normally.”