Congratulations to our monthly artist spotlight covering intentional blur! Amazing work done by the lovely Kate Kanters
Thanks so much for reaching out! I'm thrilled and honored to contribute to August's "intentional blur' blog.
Tell us a little about your photographic journey: I've loved photography even since I was a child. I remember going to our State Fair and being so drawn to their 4H Photo Competitions, even back then. I took my first class in high school using a film camera and learned how to develop it in a dark room. It was so much fun and I can still remember the smell of all the chemicals. I bought my first real camera when my daughter was born, but I didn't have any idea how to use it except in auto mode. After my fourth child was born and my twins started school, I finally had the time I needed to teach myself how to shoot in manual mode. I updated from my old Canon Rebel and bought a Canon 5D Mark iii. I poured over online tutorials and took a few online classes. I'm a really private person, so I only joined instagram just two years ago. I'd say doing that is what really pushed me along. I made so many photographer friends, some local, and others in different parts of the globe. I joined almost every photography related Facebook group that I could find. I'd say those two places are really where I've learned the most. Right now, the bulk of what I photograph is my own family. I've thought about starting a full-time photography business, but for now, the timing just isn't right for me.
Tell us a bit about your style: I think my photography style can be described as "hybrid." I don't know that I'd categorize myself as lifestyle, as some of my photos are posed or intentionally set-up. I try to capture emotion and am drawn toward moodier edits with warm tones and lots of color. I try to look for interesting compositions or crops.
What gear do you use?
I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Markiii. I have a variety of Canon lenses, a Sigma Art 35mm and a Sigma Fisheye lens, a Lensbaby Sol 45, and a vintage Helios 44.
What's your go-to lens?
I tend to use my Sigma Art 35mm lens most often because I find it so versatile. If we are spending the day at the beach or hiking and I don't want to be weighed down by camera gear, the 35 works well because I can capture both portraits and larger landscape scenes. It's great in tight spaces, and also creates a beautiful shallow depth of field when shooting wide open.
Who and what inspires you?
Probably like many of us, I'd say my kids are my biggest inspiration. Their ages, stages, and interests are constantly evolving. I might cringe when I had a beautiful shoot in mind at a nature preserve that is bursting with wildflowers, but then my son INSISTS on wearing his Pokemon shirt. Some days my kids are more agreeable to my requests than others. When an outfit change just isn't going to happen, I remind myself that that Pokemon shirt, captured in a beautiful field of wildflowers, will make me smile when my son's at a different, older stage of his life. I think the biggest driving force behind my photos is my desire to capture my kids as they are, right now.
The most perfect gift I give to myself is coming across photos of my children at a younger age, remembering how their little nose or smile used to look at that time. I've always been one for nostalgia. Change and the passing of time is hard for me. But photographs allow me to hang on to them. The other big inspiration for me is so many of the photographers whose work I follow on instagram. When I'm in a rut and creatively stuck, I try to remember that old saying, that "there are no new ideas, just new ways of making them felt," and that's what following other people's work does for me. It helps me see or create in a new way. The same photo can look so different because of an interesting crop, an unusual perspective, or a change in lighting. I'm constantly saving photos for when I'm in need of inspiration.
What tips do you have for shooting intentional blur?
There are so many ways you can intentionally blur a photo. Some of my favorites are happy accidents. Maybe my lens missed focus or an image is soft because there is a lot of haze. These can make for some really dreamy shots. I used to feel like I couldn't share these with people because of fear that they didn't follow the technical rules of photography. I've learned to embrace what I, personally, love and not worry so much about my work being critiqued or featured on a hub. I first tried freelensing maybe a little over a year ago. I love the look the masters of this technique can achieve, but I honestly haven't spent enough time experimenting with it to get myself beyond the awkward fumbling you have to work through. I did buy a Lensbbaby sol 45 this past Spring. It's manual focus only, but it has bokeh blades over the lens that also add more texture and blur to your image. It's lightweight and pretty compact so it's really easy to throw into your camera bag and not feel like you overpacked it.
Another fun way to create intentional blur is through panning, where the background has those amazing streaks of blur and your subject is sharp. Luckily, my oldest daughter, who is now eleven, was willing to do the many re-takes for me to finally get the shot I was looking for when I first tried this technique. I learned that your subject has to be moving pretty quickly to achieve those streaks. I had her roller blade and ride her bike on a straight path that allowed her to move fast enough past my camera and easily lock my focus on her. You can help to keep your subject in focus and not get accidental blur from hand shake by planting your elbows into your sides, keeping a comfy but wide stance, and only moving your hips to follow your subject. I also took a photo where I sat on a merry-go-round with my daughter, locked focus on her face, and with a slow shutter speed, was able to have the streaky blurred background. As fun as that was to capture, I don't recommend that method if you become dizzy easily.
The most recent way I shot an image with intentional blur was actually taken with both me and my subject standing completely still. I had my five year old pose on his scooter with his leg bent behind him, as if he were actually using his leg to push himself along. I then used Photoshop to create a "super speed effect." A lot of people asked me how I shot this and what my camera settings were, but all of the motion blur in that specific photo was achieved in post-processing. I'm pretty much a novice in Photoshop. Watching Youtube videos over and over helped me achieve that edit. And there is no "one right way" to do it- the tutorial I followed seemed to make it harder than it needed to be, so I changed it up a little to work for me. When I got stuck, or something didn't seem to work the way the video showed it, I'd just google that exact step to help me through it. I think another important tip is to forget the rules and embrace creativity.
What intentionally blurred image are you most proud of &/ or love the most and why?
Gosh, this is hard to answer. Even though I really love the dreamy look of a freelensed image or a shot taken with my Lensbaby, I really love the shot of my son riding his scooter. I had a vision for how I wanted this image to look. I actually waited until the last minute to do this shot (because that's how I am in most things.). I was really pressed for time to get it right and learn how to blur it in Photoshop without any previous experience doing it that way. I've watched lots of tutorials in achieving specific edits in Photoshop and have failed miserably many times. So, the fact that I had this vision in my head of how I wanted it to look and was successful in doing it made me really happy. And, my five year old looks at that photo and is thrilled to see how speedy he is!
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