OAFC Day 1: Soft focus

Catch of the day: Soft focus

I kicked off the Olympus Art Filter Challenge (OAFC) at around 6:30 am yesterday when I pulled "soft-focus" from my cup. Immediately I shuddered and thought to myself... "this is only going to be good for shooting clouds!". I was hoping for an easy first day... but no cigar. I reluctantly grabbed my kit (15mm BCL, 50mm legacy, 40-150mm zoom-- I should add that I am able to carry all this in my pockets) and went outdoors. As soon as I stepped outside I felt as if the morning had been made for me to shoot in soft focus. Evidence of a heavy rainfall the night before was everywhere in the form of puddles and drips from machinery... it FELT soft and dreamy outside. The photos below are the best of the bunch after I shot for about 30 minutes. I did not switch between aspect ratios because I am accustomed to editing in LR4, and I think some of the images could benefit from an 8:10 or 1:1 crop. I wanted to stay true to the challenge and only post true out of camera JPEGs so I left all of them in the 4:3 format. I found shooting with this filter tough because it goes against the fact that you want most pictures to turn out SHARP. It was quite difficult to find a subject that would look good out of focus but I think the hardest thing for me today was keeping my horizons straight!!! One thing I immediately realized today was how much I rely on post processing. I do not know what my next filter will be, but I am definitely going to be more aware of aspect ratios...  

Hint of green, 150mm, f/5.6, 1/500, iso200

Stick in the mud, 40mm, f/4, 1/60, iso 3200

Hazy day, 40mm, f/19, 1/60, iso200

Fuzzy, 150mm, f/5.6, 1/250, iso 200

I hope you enjoyed at least one of these photos!! Come back tomorrow and see what filter I take on next!!

Sam D.