I read an article by William Neill not too long ago on some of his impressionist photography work (see Outdoor Photographer article).  Here are my first few attempts from a recent trip to Ozark National Scenic Riverways in southeast Missouri.  Note that I only used Photoshop to try to get the colors to be as I remembered the scene...the blur is all due to camera motion during longer exposures.

1. Current River Impressions

2. Spirited Waters

I'd love to see other, similar work or at least here what you think.

Aaron

Aaron Sawyer Photography

http://asawyer.zenfolio.com/

Hi Aaron,

I really like that second one a lot. You've inspired me to try doing some of this sort of work. Great stuff!

 Perhaps my Dragonfly in Flight fits some concept of "impressionist photography", although it's not quite as abstract as your own examples. I did a fair amount of Photoshop work--mainly texturizing and eliminating/simplifying background detail--to create the effect.

Phil

http://pirose.zenfolio.com

phil rose:

 Perhaps my Dragonfly in Flight fits some concept of "impressionist photography", although it's not quite as abstract as your own examples. I did a fair amount of Photoshop work--mainly texturizing and eliminating/simplifying background detail--to create the effect.

Phil

http://pirose.zenfolio.com

 

 

I love the background in this image. Very soft and impressionistic. Love it! 

Phil,

That's a really awesome combination of the sharp dragonfly with the blurry background.  It fits well together.  you must be very patient to catch dragonflies and hummingbirds in flight.  Great work!

Aaron

Thanks, Laura and Aaron.

This particular dragonfly shot is an example of beginner's dumb luck. It was shot several  years ago when I was just starting to take an interest in dragonfly/damselfly photography. This "Shadow Darner" was flying back and forth at the edge of a pond and suddenly he  began to hover in one spot--staying just a few feet away and staring intently at me (or at least in my direction). So I decided to try a shot, and I got this one just as he lost interest and began to fly away.

Phil

Aaron, I love the second image! What a beautiful capture! Why aren't you selling this shot?

Aaron,

I would agree that the second photo is great!!  Very soothing for sure!!

To throw my hat into the mix - here's a link to a photo I took last night with a long exposure and a flashlight - this should qualify as impressionism - well, maybe!  Flashlight Exposure Photo

Thanks for bringing up a cool topic!

Hi Aaron,

great images. I've done some impressionistic images myself over the last year. I call them camera paintings as sometimes you move the camera just like a brush. I have setup a small gallery with some of my better camera paintings a while ago. My current favourites are these:

http://tsfoto.zenfolio.com/p567704118/h14b6607a#h14b6607a

http://tsfoto.zenfolio.com/p567704118/h14b6607a#h1ed304ab

Hope you like them.

Thomas

Thomas,

Those are really great.  My favorite, however, is the one you titled Winter Forest.   Do you have any suggestions about how to get good results, especially when shooting, for us amateurs?  It seems like vertical images like trees work out really well, plus images with generally bright colors.  Any other hints?

Aaron

Thomas, I agree with Aaron. One of my favs of yours is Winter Forest. Great image!

The photos are great. "Birch trees" is the best one there I think.

Hi again,

thanks for your kind words, I'm an amateur myself. Here are some of the experiences I have made so far:

- use a long lens

- try to avoid too many things in the frame

- Use continuous shooting while moving the camera

- use linear movements that match your subject (circular movements are only rarely usable)

- turn off the image stabilizer

Good luck with your experiments

Thomas

 I always keep my eye open for a good opportunity for this type of photography...

Larger version here: http://www.thewarmland.com/p226013212/e38db1e7f

Wow, these shots are beautiful.  Amazing what some people can do with a camera. :)

I do a lot of HDR photography (seen here: http://photos.spiffypix.com/hdr).  A lot of HDR purists don't like my way of working because it's 'too impressionistic'.  Lol.

Here's one of my favorites:

http://photos.spiffypix.com/hdr/h391b03e0#h391b03e0

- Melanie