Movement

Aim: Understand how to record MOVEMENT.

•Know how the camera works an identify how it can be used to capture movement.

•Know the camera settings used to capture motion

•Discuss the nature of MOVEMENT.

•Research and start IMAGE BANK for MOVEMENT.

Definition and Theory:

Motion blur- is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of

images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the

recording of a single exposure, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.

Freeze Frame- An optical effect or technique in which a single frame of film is reprinted in a

continuous series, which when shown gives the effect of a still photograph.

–Initial Shoot 

These shoots where done in the studio using a black background and a snood to create direct lighting  These images were inspired by the work of photographer Ernst Haas. To create the motion blur that is seen in the images above I needed to create a long exposure, which in turn meant having the shutter speed set between 5 to 10 seconds depending on how much motion I wanted to capture. Images 9470, 9473, 9463 and 9456 are all examples where I had not created a long enough exposure because my shutter speed was not high enough (it was around about 2 or 3 seconds). Images 9459, 9458 and 9451 are examples where the exposure may have been too long so instead of a motion blur where you can make out the movement it became just a blur, although in the case of 9451 it seems to make for an interesting image. If I were to reshoot I would change the shutter speed so that the long exposure did not last as long and I would also angle the light differently because, as can be seen in image 9455, there are parts of the face that are over exposed.  

Example 1

Example 2 

Example 3

With these three examples I tried to change the exposure and contrast. I was not able to change the exposure too much as it caused the image to become too dark which took away from the abstract feel of the images. I also tried using the burn tool to bring down the over exposed areas however, this did not achieve a lot. 

–Dan Holdsworth Research 

Dan Holdsworth is a British photographer characterised by his use of traditional techniques, unusually long exposure times and abstractions of geography. He came into the public eye with his series A Machine For Living (1999) and Megalith (2002) which both depict scenes of service stations, car parks, billboards and broadcast towers which represent a new apocalyptic frontier. 

The first image is taken with a long exposure as within the road you can see the motion blur and the second image is a long exposure in a freeze frame style. There is a lot of light exposure which can connote how busy we are as a generation but because of the freeze-frame style it is shot in, he implies that he's one of the few who have slowed down to view it's beauty.

–Shin T Research
Of what can be found of Shin T he is Japanese photographer who lives in Nagoya who is interested nature and light streams. Like Holdsworth he has long exposures to capture the movement in his light streams.

The images above are taken using a long exposure with the ISO set at 100, shutter speed at 5 seconds and an F stop of 8. The streams of light connote the speed at which people live their lives. Nobody ever slows down, it's a social comment on how we approach everything with such speed. 

From these photographers I will inherit their styles of using long exposures and taking a freeze frame approach to movement. 

–Image Bank

The images seen above are those which I believe I would be able to capture in and around Harlow and Stansted Abbotts. There is a mix between motion blur and light streams similar to the photographers I have looked at. 

–Photographer Influenced Shoot

–My Best Images

The following were selected as my best images, these images are still subject to editing. 

–Images That Need Improvement

These images were selected as the ones that needed to be improved as the composition of the images and the settings selected fro the shoot were not correct for the environment around me. 

 The first image is inspired by Shin T's light stream images but the framing is not quite correct as when the photo was taken the bannister below was caught in the shot, creating the white line that curves up from the bottom of the image. If I were to reshoot, because I was using a tripod, I would extend the tripod to its tallest point to avoid the railing around me. 

The second and third images were inspired by Dan Holdsworth freeze frame images as they depict winding roads, however, these were shot on the wrong camera settings. These images were taken after the first one, where I was using between ISO 800-1600 but because the surrounding area for the following photos was in a lighter area I should have brought my ISO down between 400-200. This therefore, made my images look very grainy which was not the look I wanted. if were to reshoot these images I would pay attention the surrounding environment and pick the camera values accordingly.

The fourth image was subject the same inspiration and issues as the second and third image, only I did not have the right exposure and so the image comes across as too bright. If I were to reshoot I would check the camera to see if the settings would create an over or under exposed image before shooting. 

My idea for recording movement was to produce a mix between Shin T's light streams which illustrate the fast pace of life and Dan Holdsworth freeze frame images where there are exposed areas of light. I wanted to explore the more conventional transport route of movement. Both artist use of long exposures inspired me to shoot light streams over the A414. 

With reference to my best images the first image was shot so that the street lamps created a point perspective with the light streams in-between, so that they were the main focus. The street view angle that the image is taken at makes me feel like I am part of the traffic within the image which is where I wanted to differ from the photographers that had inspired me as they both fixated on looking at it from a distance. 

The second image of the zebra crossing is inspired by Dan Holdsworth's freeze frame images. The exposure of the amber lights are meant to be the main focus of the image like the areas of exposure are in Holdsworth's images. The exposure is not as great as I would like so I will edit the image in photoshop to get the look that is more similar to his work. 

The third image is my favourite image from the shoot, it is very similar to the Shin T images I have looked at and it gives off the feel of taking step back, which is a similar feeling given off by his images. I will continue to improve this image in photoshop as the colours are not as vibrant as I would like.

The fourth image is inspired by Holdsworth as the image has a high exposure, it may be a little over exposed, although I feel like this adds to the image. When editing the image I will try to adjust the sharpness so it is crisper. 

The fifth image is a combination of both Holdsworths freeze frame and Shin T's light stream and I think that this makes for an interesting image, I will edit the select colours to make them more vibrant.

Where the images that need improvement are concerned, I am just getting to grips with the camera settings and how each one affects the other. As with everything, this will get better with more practice. 

I used a Fuji FinePix S9600 for all the shots and I set my aperture to F8 as my shots where from a long distance and I wanted to compromise the sharpness as little as possible by having to zoom in. For the shots over the dual carriageway there was no lighting so I shot with my ISO between 800 and 1600. This should have been brought down to either 400 or 200 when taking the shots of the train as the lighting was good however, I forgot this and if I were to re-shoot I would do this.