Location Taken: Gros Morne Park, Newfoundland
Time Taken: July 2012
Normally I’d pass on a photo with such little in-focus area, but here, here it works. It’s managed to go through the blurriness out the other side to what is known as “soft focus”.
I’m not quite sure how I managed it. Normal soft focus requires either a special lens or photo manipulation. But I still have large areas where the edges are clear, but the interior has that gentle blur. There are a few petals that are clear and fully in-focus, but they manage to actually make the out of focus areas look better.
So, why would you want soft focus? It adds an other-worldliness to the image. Just a touch of fantasy, an idealization of reality, a step into the realm of fairy tales and dreams. This adds in a lot of symbolization, especially related to nostalgia. Part of that’s because people in what’s currently the “Good old days” used this a lot, partly because it reminds us, just a touch, of memories that have gotten fuzzy with age and over-use.
It also turns the specific into the generalization. No longer is this a flower, it is THE flower, the one true essence of this specific flower. You look at this photo and somehow feel like you have a deeper understanding of how this flower acts.
Which, of course, is complete nonsense. You’re actually getting less information than if this had been properly focused. Which in itself is a misnomer, since “proper” implies one true way, and soft focus is a completely valid second path.
