The City of Atlanta from Jackson Street Bridge taken with intentional camera movement (ICM)

Sunrise at Jackson Street Bridge

I was up well before 6 this morning waiting for sunrise to go out and grab a few photos. Sunrise isn't until almost 7:30 this time of year. 

I've taken so many photos at Jackson Street Bridge but I'll always love walking down there and snapping a few. It's also a good place to mess around with different shooting styles because it's a great background. 

I grabbed my camera, put Bauer on his leash, and went out at about 7. 

Some mornings you just get lucky but the thing about sunrise is it happens so FAST! Sunset gives you more time to mess around with the camera. 

As we walked toward the bridge, I could see some beautiful colors reflecting off the buildings. I turned around to look at the sunrise:

Oh, Atlanta! It was so pretty but I also realized I started out a beat too late to make sunrise at the bridge. 

I started running past the middle school and almost fell as Bauer stopped short. He has this strange thing about walking past the school. I think it's these little metal plates that are on the ground near the driveways. 

The little dude is strong and I almost fell because I wasn't thinking about it since my mind was on the bridge and photos. I crossed the street and then he was fine. 

Intentional Camera Movement (ICM)

The bridge is a little over a half-mile from my house, so it's a pretty quick walk. I would have liked to have gotten there a little sooner but I'm also not crazy about walking around Atlanta alone in the dark.

I could have asked my friend Lauren to meet me over there but shooting sunrise was a last-minute decision late last night as I was falling asleep.

It was fine though because I wasn't taking my tripod and getting clean, in-focus shots, so I didn't need to be there before or right at sunrise. I was more interested in playing with some intentional camera movement (ICM).

I got to the bridge in time to get some nice colors.

The bridge was quiet this morning, except for one man who pulled up in his car as I got there. 

He said he was on his way to work and saw the beautiful sunrise and wanted to get a selfie of himself with the city in the background. Selfies can be such a pain, so I offered to get the photos for him with his phone. 

Anyway - If you've followed my work much you know I love editing for a painterly look to my photos.

This also connects to my love of the Impressionists and Surrealists. 

The Impressionists were called such because they wanted to capture the true way our eyes see as we're moving about in the world. 

If you're riding on a train looking out the train window, you don't see a perfect tree, or haystack, or farmland. You see more of a blur of color with the shape of those objects. 

I love that idea.

This morning I wanted to play with some ICM to see what I could come up with. The cover photo is two shots I put together in Photoshop. 

The single shots were pretty good but I really liked the effect when I put the two shots together and used the Lighten blend mode in Photoshop. 

At some point, I'm going to add an abstract gallery to my website. Notice I say "at some point!"

I'm working on so many things right now, I can't keep it all straight so I'm not sure when. 

Have a happy Wednesday! Rain is in the forecast for Atlanta today - see you between the raindrops!

xoxo,
Susan 

www.susanjphotography.com