You learn something new everyday.

I'd previously seen a group of old cars (mostly Citroen 2CV's) in a village called Hauenstein and made a mental note to return and take a few snaps.

This is where the village is located

I returned last weekend with the express intention of doing something new.

I've experimented with HDR's, I've tried black and white and done lots of other stuff besides but looking at the old cars I felt that they deserved something a little different. But what?

Then I cast my mind back to my days of shooting slide film. (I actually still shoot transparency but it's for the firm). One method I used to experiment with was combining an unsharp image with a sharp one.

Simply put. Take the first image (on a tripod) about one and a half to two stops overexposed and the second image out of focus at about one stop or so overexposed. The processed slides would then be mounted over one another in a slide frame and give a sort of "dreamy effect" when projected. 

 Before the Orton effect.

There's a lot of trial and error involved with getting the right amount of unsharpness. I didn't want too much. Just a hint.

  After the Orton effect.

Here are two more before and after images.

Obviously, this technique isn't confined to colour images. You can also use it with sepia as seen here:

So what is this technique called? I hadn't a clue until I came across this link which explains how to do it digitally, It's called the "Orton" effect.


Ive submitted my pictures for Google Earth so you should be able to see them soon as a part of my collection here:


That's all for now. Please feel free to leave a comment.