If you photograph nature you will probably agree with me when I say summer is the hardest season to photograph. The bugs are out, the sun rises far too early and sets way too late, everything is green and overgrown, and the light is harsh most of the day. I find it very hard to find much inspiration or motivation to shoot during the summer for the above reasons. In past summers, I have succumb to the lack of motivation and just stopped shooting nature expect for the bigger trips I took. However, I wanted to change that this summer. I wanted to push myself creatively, to see things in a different light (no pun intended), and continue to develop as a photographer. I have spoken about this before in a past Photo of the Month post, how I want to expand my creativity with the camera, and look at the finer details of a scene. And this month’s photo is the result of just that.

In recent months I have really fallen in love with shooting ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) photos. This is an ICM photo of the reeds and trees on the edge of the water in a marshland semi-local to me. I waited on the edge of the water for a couple of swans to come within a reasonable distance for me to take some photos. Unfortunately, this never happened, but what did happen was I noticed the layers and patterns created behind the swans. So I gave up shooting the swans, switched lens, dropped my shutter speed, and started swinging and shaking my camera around. After a good while I walked away with a shot I felt represented the blend of shapes and patterns in the scene. I love how the colors fuse together to create this very soft photo. I was very glad I went out shooting on this very typical hot summer’s morning. I embraced the muggy, mosquito-ridden, green, and overgrown marshland and came home with a photo I am proud of.