Orton Effect

This weekend I thought I'd experiment with the Orton effect on a couple of recent images I made on my return from Canada. The Orton Effect, named after Michael Orton, is a technique whereby two copies of the same image are sandwiched together. One image is rendered sharp and the other is shifted out of focus. Together, they create an image that displays a kind of wispy, dreamlike quality. The effect is not successful on every image however. Generally, it takes an image that has a good bit of detail. There are a number of ways to achieve the technique using Photoshop; some employ layers, and others use separate copies of the image, and the trick is to exactly superimpose the sharp copy on top of the blurry one. Each is underexposed so that once combined, they retain the density of the original.

This first shot was taken in the the town on Inlet, New York which is located within the Adirondack region. This scene was taken on 5th Lake. The Canon EF 70-200 f4L was used on a Canon 5D.

This second one was created from a photo I made inside the Chinese Gardens at the Montreal Botanical Garden, which is located just across the road from the site of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. Here, the Orton is more evident due primarily to the greater detail of the foliage. The Canon EF 17-40 f4L was used on a Canon 5D.