So today I just felt like playing around with blurry city shots. Got this idea because my camera batteries were almost dead, couldn’t focus properly anyway. Figures, right?
What happened first:
Dug out my oldest DSLR – the one with sticky buttons. Didn’t bother cleaning the lens cause honestly? I wanted that grimy look. Slapped on the cheapest 50mm lens I own. Remembered it has manual focus only. Perfect.
The messing around part:
Wandered downtown around 5pm when buildings turn into golden rectangles. Set ISO stupid high (1600 or something). Cranked the hole in the lens wide open (f/1.8 baby!). Held breath against a traffic pole – no tripod today.
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Completely eyeballed everything:
- Twisted focus ring ALL the way out
- Pressed shutter halfway like 20 times (camera kept beeping angrily)
- Said “screw it” and mashed shutter button completely
- Held still praying not to wiggle (spoiler: wiggled)
First batch looked like smeared Vaseline. Glanced at display – just melted streetlights & ghost towers. Yes! Exactly the garbage I wanted!
The turning point:
Noticed something cool when buses passed. Their red taillights dragged like comet tails through the blur. Started chasing vehicles:
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What changed:
- Waited for trucks at intersections
- Panned camera sideways drunkenly
- Held shutter open longer (1/15 sec? Maybe?)
- Accidentally shook camera when sneezing – kept those shots
Got one frame where fire escape looked like neon scribbles. Another where skyscraper windows became golden bubbles. Camera battery died just as cop car sped by with flashing blues – perfect.
The ugly truth:
Reviewed 142 images later. Deleted 136 immediately. Four looked like drunken mistakes. One? Pure accident magic. That blurry ambulance light slicing through dark buildings? My wallpaper now.
Lesson? Sometimes broken gear + wrong settings = happy surprise. Definitely doing this again when the lens gets dustier.
