Favourite Flawed Techniques!

9.22.17 through 10.9.17

This round we decided to do a little something different. We encouraged our community to share their favourite flawed techniques with us, and why they love them. 
So we have compiled those to share with you in the interest of learning more about what makes the Fantastically Flawed community so beautiful. Each different technique will be listed, and underneath you will see all the submissions from that category which was shared with us this round. 
We hope you enjoy this little departure from our normal routine! We absolutely did! 

Intentional Camera Movement

Set your camera to a slower than necessary shutter speed and before the shutter closes, experiment with moving your camera intentionally to create this dreamy effect. 

My favorite flawed technique is intentional camera movement (ICM). For me, the right movements simulate the look of a painting that is done in camera and not through post processing. This painterly look brings out colors, shapes, and emotions that transport me to a dreamy reminder of the feeling of a scene. I also started experimenting with combining ICM with in camera multiple exposure to sometimes bring back some focus. The diptych image uses both techniques. -Mabel Chow Photographs

 intentional camera movement
I *love* to experiment with this technique, to create abstract art from the light and tones of the scene in front of me, to capture mood rather than being visually accurate. ​Ceri Herd Photography

Favourite flawed technique - I'm having a lot of fun with intentional motion blur at the moment. It feels free and light and although it's taking a while to get right I love the results. Here I experimented with panning with an extra slow shutter, so the background and the subject have different motion blur and there's only a bit of detail. I love how the long grass has motion and how the boy seems strong and free. I just love how it feels. Alice Chapman Photography

This image contains 3 of my favourite flaws - intentional camera movement, deliberate out of focus and in-camera double exposure. Perhaps the flaw is actually piling all the techniques into one image!  Ceri Herd Photography

Freelensing

Remove the lens and hold it close to the body of your camera, focus to infinity and tilt the lens to create a slice of focus and dreamy bokeh surrounding the detail you chose to enhance. The lower your F stop, the smaller the depth of field and the more precise your slice will be. 

Freelensing - because that oof blur is just the bestest ever! Hello Olivia

 Freelensing is my favorite because it feels like a dream, like a memory. I know some people try it and give up because they can't get a good slice of focus but to me, the really soft dreamy ones are my favorite because they speak to my soul.  Kelly Akers Photography

Pinball Wizard ~ The Edge of Elsewhere Photography. Freelensed, full of noise but can't part with it :)

I love freelensing and to create out of focus images that have a painterly feel. Yes, a soft image leaves out the details, but it lets your imagination run wild. You notice things that you may not have noticed without the flaws, like the colours in this beach scene. Cindy Cavanagh - Lifestyle Photographer

Freelensing is a favorite way of mine to purposefully add flaws, but to also purposefully add an element achieved no other way, the strip of diagonal focus that can lead our eyes through an image like a path while all else fades away, framing the subject in a painterly blur. Lauren Jensen Photography

OOF- Out of Focus 

An image that is entirely out of focus can feel like a painting or a memory and can in fact, sometimes, tell your story more accurately without the details. This is usually achieved by focusing too close, rather than too far from your subject.

My favorite flawed technique is intentional defocus. Dana Reynolds Ball‎​

I love it when a missed focus seems like a memory. Eastview Photography 

OOF Blur ‎Janet Douglas‎ ​

Unusual/Missed Focus

Using your camera, usually in manual focus mode, to focus on something unusual like a strand of hair or stray plant in the foreground causes the viewer to be drawn further into the story of the image in some cases. In other cases the use of foreground bokeh can create a dreamy effect. This is an excellent way to create a wide variety of images and feelings. 

Favourite flaw: "missed" focus photos that capture smaller details often overlooked in other photos but add so much to the story without all the other information and ultimately add more depth to the shot or series. Simple Moments Photography

​One of my favorite flawed techniques I used in this image was manual focus to create something on blurpose ;) I used part of the plant to create layering in the foreground while manually focusing on a part of the plant further in. I can't really pick one favorite flawed technique that I love the most .. Here I've combined manual focus, texture, OOF, soft focus, and over exposure in some areas! Taken with my Helios lens which alone provides some beautiful flaws :) | Shannon Kathleen Photography

Uluru Australia (technique is my poor eyesight plus camera set to auto sport mode) the heat of this incredibly dry desert environment, taking in the immense iconic landscape, seeking out details to capture the feeling of fleeting yet very moving moments…. Megan Thomas‎​

My favorite flawed technique is using unusual focus to capture a moment differently. I find that it evokes different emotions from the photograph and can almost make it come to life in a whole different way. Add a moody black and white edit and i'm in love! A Spirit Embraced

 Focusing on something unconventional, such as a strand of hair. Love Haight Photography

selective focus - just like freelensing, I like to use shallow depth of field and focus on seemingly unimportant part of the image. That allows the main subject to take more dreamy feeling. SoPo Designs Photography

Light Leaks/Flares

Flares from bright light on the outside front element of your lens and also light that leaks through between the lens and the camera mount can cause this dreamy effect. 

My favorite ways of creating flawed images are freelensing, and light leaks! Bring them together and magic happens. Lauren Jensen Photography ​

Happy Accidents

Sometimes we just don't know how it happens, but a happy accident can cause a beautiful image through any number of occurrences. 

This was not intentional, but I thought it was interesting! I accidnetly WAY overexposed this image of geese flying overhead and when I brought the exposure back down in Lightroom I ended up with this burnout effect. Kind of cool and totally a flawed image! Sarah Villarreal Photography

Motion Blur/ Slow Shutter Speed

By leaving your shutter open longer than necessary you can blur parts of your image, or create the illusion that the image is in motion. Experimenting with this technique can produce some fascinating results.

People often look at my work and will openly tell me that I've not got it in focus. I lost the shot. I missed the moment. When I tell them that I actually shoot with that in mind it confuses them - especially folk who are just starting out on their photography path.
Motion blur and images which are not tack sharp are one of my favourite flaws to play with. Because freezing moments is a key part to being a photographer right? But so is shooting too reflect the mood - and this boy doesn't sit still, he is always moving, he is the blur, he is the motion and I want to capture him moving through my photograph, recording him doing his thing, for at 6 years old, he is never frozen. The Glass Narrator

blur/movement/slow shutter speed Janet Douglas‎​

Double Exposure 

This technique can be achieved both in camera and in post by taking a photo on top of another photo producing a sort of "window" appearance.

I had this vision of a dreamy double exposure photograph but it's just not working out but hey it's kinda like her shirt says so I'll go with it. Love how flawed photography techniques mirror the perfectly imperfect parallel of raising kiddos and remembering moments just as they are. danielle miller random acts of pictures

Lensbaby

Lensbaby lenses and optics are designed to give your images a "flawed" or "unique" appearance. There is a variety of these lenses and they are very affordable.

I wanted to share one of my favorite photography tools that I use to bring create my beautifully "flawed" images. I make it no secret that I adore Lensbaby lenses. I have a Lensbaby on my camera over 99% of the time. There are so many options when it comes to Lensbabies. They have endless ways to bend and create with bokeh, giving you the tools to bring your vision to life in fun and unique ways. I shot this one with a Lensbaby Velvet 85. Their Velvet lenses allow you to produce dreamy, creamy bokeh at wide apertures that just simply glows. Stopping down the lens gives you a more velvety (apply named) matte, film like look that I simply adore! This image was shot at f2.8. Ashlee Krammes, Photographer.

Reverse Macro

Removing a lens and turning it around and holding it close to the camera to foucus on something very closely, a quick fix if you don't have a macro lens, also creates a very unique look.

Here is a reverse macro shot of mine! There are a lot of butterflies outside these days! Michèle Tremblay Photo 

Grain

Addition of simulated film grain or grain and texture from an added overlay, also use of actual film can add this kind of visual noise. 

Freelensing, for me, in combination with overly heavy amounts of grain and shadow; evokes a feeling of looking back on something ethereal but oddly detailed, trying to grasp at a memory, or looking in on someone elses memories. At least, that's what I hope for and this technique allows me to focus my viewer where I want and make a dreamy almost chalky feeling image that begs a question. Lyf Is Grand Photography

There are a few Flawed Techniques that weren't submitted to us this round, maybe we will do this again but in the meantime, here is a list of some of the techniques you didn't see in this blog post! 

Texture Overlays 
Lens Flare 
Over Exposure 
Under Exposure 
Prisming
Helios Swirl
Dramatic Black and White
Abnormal Composition/Cropping
Smudge Painting
Shooting Through
​​

Our current theme is -My Autumn- running through Oct 23rd 
See you there!