The skill of impressionistic photography

Around, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

Landscape levels, originally uploaded by jiihaa.

I got an insightful comment by Kasper Sorensen: "William Neill talks about something similar in his article Impressions of Light at Luminous-Landscape." Indeed, this was a most useful article, with plenty of examples of high skill in this kind of photography. It was interesting to note that Freeman Patterson was mentioned by Neill, I guess I got the inspiration for "photography while walking" from Patterson's books.

As noted by Neill, getting good results is very difficult, but on the other hand, you can easily see progress when you try this out. A big LCD is necessary for reviewing your photos so that you can adapt your technique for the next shots. I have been trying this out at night and in clouded weather. Neill has been doing this in daytime, using a ND filter to cut down the amount of light.

I experimented with this again today. It is interesting how focused you can get while doing this - it is even more captivating than normal photography. I guess because you have to concentrate on your own movements as well, not just keep the camera still. It is like dancing, I guess, a physical activity which needs concentration. I included two experiments here. The other is not very abstract, you recognize the subject, but the other is almost completely abstracted from the original landscape.