We’re so pleased to welcome Tara Soucy as this month’s guest blogger.  Tara is  a self-taught photographer and lives in rural Maine. Her daily photography practice is to wander the woods each morning, accompanied by her dog, Romeo. The woods always seem to offer up a new delight including lady slipper blossoms, a patch of violets, or wild turkeys making their way across her property. You can find her on Instagram as rabbitridge50.

Here then, are Tara’s thoughts for May.

Things I told myself before I tried freelensing, a photography technique whereby you remove the lens from your camera and tilt it to change the focal plane which yields bokeh, light leaks and diffused, soft focus:  Your camera sensor will get dirty, you might drop the lens, this technique is difficult to learn, freelensing works best with people as the subject, and you take pictures of trees and nature, you need to master the basics of photography first, and lastly, what in the world do they mean by focus to infinity??

I tried freelensing anyway, and now I’m hooked.

I’m so glad I quieted the doubts and shushed the internal dialogue.  Freelensing is challenging to learn, but the benefits outweigh the risks, at least for me.  My daily morning walks in the Maine woods have taken on a whole new look, and I am experiencing light in a whole new way.

For more tips on freelensing, see Deb Achak’s or Michelle GD’s earlier posts.  Tara, Deb, and Michelle all have very different styles using the same technique.  Show us your freelensing images on Instagram, and don’t forget to tag them #viewfindersio and #freelensing. 

Do you want to Be Our Guest?  Leave us a comment below with a link to your blog, Instagram account, or other place you post your images.  You can also add a hashtag to your IG images: #viewfindersio_beourguest.

See you soon.

xo lucy