As artists, a proverb we often hear is, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". Oscar Wilde expounded on that original proverb by Marcus Aurelius by adding, "…that mediocrity can pay to greatness". Cynicism aside, the irony of Mr Wilde's statement — probably not missed by him — is that we build on others who came before us. For example, photographers who don't try to imitate Ansel Adams or Henri Cartier-Bresson miss out on learning techniques for landscape compositions and exposure or the spontaneity needed to capture the decisive moment, respectively. Building on these fundamental foundations is essential to grow beyond our current capabilities.

In this age of social media, where everyone with a cell phone is a photographer, working photographers feel the pressure of originality and relevance. How do we produce new content that is fresh and original and that will get us noticed? When I am in a rut, I often turn to photographic techniques that jump-start my creativity. One such technique is called the Orton Effect.

The Orton Effect is named after Michael Orton, a photographer from Vancouver, Canada. He developed the technique in the 1980s, working with slide film. What he did was to take two photos of the same subject. In one photo, the subject was in sharp focus, and the other, it was intentionally out of focus and blurry. Both photos were overexposed by one stop so that when he sandwiched the two slides together, the composite exposure was just right. The result is a soft glow from the blurry slide that surrounds the sharp image. With digital photography, we now have a couple of ways of doing the Orton Effect, either in-camera through multiple exposures or in post-processing. There are numerous online videos to help photographers with the technique.

Extreme cold spells in Alaska deposit what little water vapour remains in the atmosphere onto most surfaces in the form of hoarfrost. On trees, as the frost accumulates, the bare branches "bloom" white and look like they were used as sticks to make cotton candy. Even in winters with low snowfall, hoarfrost creates beautiful winter wonderlands. This image was taken in the late afternoon as the sun was setting. The Orton Effect added just the right amount of glow to accentuate the warmth and softness of the delicate hoarfrost. Compared to the sharp, cold original, the softer Orton look is a more pleasing image.