Stretching, part 2

i've had the pleasure recently of striking up a friendship with Whitney Vosburgh. so far, we've made two visits together to Hakone Gardens, a wonderful Japanese garden in Saratoga, Ca. Whitney's style is about as different from mine as you can get - the image above is an example from our first visit, when i tried to see differently, and shoot completely (mostly) out of focus. yes, i have been asked why i just didn't blur the shot in photoshop...and my answer after exploring the differences with Whitney, is that shooting this way forces you to see differently - to see in terms of color, shape, and light. it really is different when you don't have a myriad of details to trick the mind into thinking that the shot is more interesting or more importantly, more emotionally appealing, than it really is. this is one of my first tries - i have more, and will post one or two on my main site in the next few weeks. for me, exploring this new way of lookings was a wonderful stretch, and is much harder(for me) than it first seems. hint: all "out of focus" is not created equal! you have to actually focus. what a trip.