Paper Feathers in Motion – Longwood Gardens – 2014

By Pattyhankins @PattyHankins

As a followup to yesterday’s post with my photos of the Music Room Tree at Longwood Gardens in motion – I wanted to share my photos of long exposures of the paper feather decorations in motion.

The theme for the Music Room display this year was a Peacock Masquerade Ball. One of the highlights of the display was a curtain of paper feathers in shapes and colors related to the feathers in a peacocks tail over the table.

Paper Peacock Feathers – Christmas in the Music Room – Longwood Gardens ©2014 Patty Hankins

After I finished photographing the rotating tree, I noticed that the paper feathers moved a bit as people walked around the room and as the air circulated through the Conservatory. So I decided to try some similar photos of the paper peacock feathers.

Again these photos were taken at ISO 100 as I hand held my camera.

f/14 for 5 seconds

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

f/10 for 2 1/2 seconds

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

f/10 for 2 seconds

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

f/7.1 for 2 seconds

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

f/10 for 1.6 seconds. The large magenta shapes at the bottom of the photo are the orchids on the table

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

f/7.1 for 1.6 seconds

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

And finally f/8 for 1 second

Peacock Feathers in Motion – Christmas in the Music Room at Longwood Gardens © 2014 Patty Hankins

My favorite ones in this series are the ones taken at 2 seconds. I’m not sure why but those are the ones I like the best.

I really enjoyed creating photos that were so different from my usual style. I’ve been playing with how do I capture the sense of time and motion that exists in nature. I’m sure I’ll be doing more experimenting including some more photos taken at low ISO for longer exposures while hand-holding my camera.