Mario Perez: How can a still, static photo transmit motion?Until now you thought that recording a video was the only way to capture motion with your camera, today our collaborator Iaio proposed to refute this idea and show you that with one plan. , you can make things happen. Read.
A photograph is truly impressive not only when making a good composition or if the subject or object is attractive enough, but what differentiates a good photograph from an exceptional one is the feeling it manages to convey to the viewer.
- More incredible than being able to freeze for a moment is being able to convey a sense of movement.
- Teleports the viewer to the precise moment when it was captured and makes him feel there.
The ways to transmit motion through a static photograph will be the reason I only share with you in this article.
Moving photography is nothing more than a photograph that, by its way of making, conveys a sense of movement. Although the photograph itself is static, it is possible to express the movement using certain techniques that we will see later in the article.
Unlike high-speed photography, which stops the movement of a subject or object using very high shutter speeds (1/4000 seconds for example), moving photography is precisely the opposite, photography subjects or objects, but using much slower speeds (1/10 seconds), allowing to convey that feeling of movement and dynamism so impressive.
Although it is now possible to achieve this effect by post-production or computer photo editing, you will now discover how to achieve this effect directly from your camera.
The movement has its own laws of composition, and beyond many times you wonder whether or not you should follow the photographic rules, I recommend that you pay special attention to this:
When taking a picture of a moving object or with the ability to move, should the composition and frame give more space in front of the object, where it moves?
In other words, moving elements in the frame must “enter” the photo, leaving more space in front of the object than behind.
If you look at the previous two photographs, can you perceive a difference between the two, would one seem more comfortable to you?Even if they’re both almost identical. The one that leaves the most space in front of the driver seems more correct.
Reduce speed (shutter): A very effective way to capture the feeling of movement in a still photo is to slow down the shutter, during all this time we let our camera record the photo, the sensor will capture the movement of the subject, therefore, the longer the exposure time, the greater the movement reflected in it.
? Quantity? Light: this is another of the determining factors for taking a moving photo and is strictly related to the shutter speed, the slower the shutter speed, the more light the sensor will capture, so it is possible that you overexpose your photo .
Later in the article, we’ll see how you can compensate for excessive light shots during prolonged exposures.
Stability: If your camera is not stable enough, in addition to the movement of the subject or object of interest, we will have movement due to poor stability conditions of the camera, so it is important to visit all possible stabilization elements found. known (tripod, remote shutter, etc. ).
Now that you have a better idea of what moving photography is and what the difference from the rest of the photographic disciplines and makes it so unique, the time has come for you to start getting acquainted with the techniques and tricks needed to achieve this type. snapshot.
There are several methods you can use depending on the message or sentiment you want to communicate:
1) Sweep or Sweep Sweep is the technique to use if you want the subject or object of interest to appear static and well defined while the background is unstable. This is one of the most popular techniques for photographing moving objects from motion, and the dynamism of a scene is conveyed very effectively.
As the name suggests, scanning involves moving the camera at the same speed and in the same direction as the object or subject you want to photograph, “sweeping” the scene.
In this way, it is possible to reverse the effect of movement: everything that was static will remain in motion and the moving object will remain static.
How do I get it?
To achieve spectacular results, you must consider:
The difficulty of this technique, as you may have noticed, lies in the number of variables to consider when implementing it, so you will have to arm yourself with a lot of patience, if you persist and experiment and test, you will get truly spectacular photos.
2) Zoom or zoom effect Zoom is a technique that, as you can imagine, gives the sensation of movement using the zoom of the lens.
This feeling can be both approaching, approaching, or moving away from the subject or object to be photographed.
Through convergent lines, it is possible to focus the viewer’s attention towards the center of the photograph, generating a feeling of movement inwards or outwards depending on how it is used, giving it a very particular dynamism and movement.
How do I get it?
To achieve spectacular results, you should consider:
3) Photosequences The expression of time and movement of subjects or objects of interest can also be made by several photographs, i. e. a sequence of these, here is a clear example:
How do I get it?
The way to achieve this spectacular effect is to merge several images taken under equal conditions, so that we can observe in the same image the entire sequence of the subject’s movement.
To do this, we must have:
Pay special attention to the shutter speed, since if it is very slow each image will be blurred, if the lighting conditions allow it, try not to slow down more than 1/60 of a second, although this will depend on the speed and, as I said , the lighting conditions of the scene.
Well, all that’s left is to look for a good sequence, which can be a person by bike, skateboard, snowboard, a good jump, etc. Once the frame is ready, press the trigger from start to finish, then through the fusion software, get this amazing effect.
The better you realize the previous frame, the white balance, that is, the longer you spend preparing the photo, the less you will have to work on its subsequent retouching.
4) Prolonged exposure If you have been impressed by those photographs in which you see long lines of lights, or shocking photographs of storms with dozens of rays illuminating the sky, or waterfalls with water that looks like a fog, this technique is for you.
Long-exposure photography consists, as the name suggests, of leaving the camera for a long time (much more than normal), capturing the “light” of the scene in question. All you need to do is set the shooting speed and aperture of the diaphragm to prevent it from overexposing.
The magic of these photographs occurs when the camera shutter is left open for a few seconds, minutes, or even hours so that all the trails are drawn on the sensor, such as the lights of a car on a road.
How do I get it?
How can exposure be compensated when there is too much light in the environment?
As I said, to avoid overexposure by long exposures you have to compensate for ‘all that extra light that will penetrate the sensor’, for this I leave you the following tips:
As we have already seen, moving photography requires a wide variety of techniques, resources and elements to achieve the best results, experimenting with each of them you will be able to master them and adapt them to your needs.
Some of the most spectacular and with which you can’t stop experimenting are:
In case you find this article too short, and in conclusion, I’ve prepared some tips for you to make the most of moving photography, if you have no excuse:
I hope you will be encouraged to experiment with this type of photography, moving photography strengthens you in manual mode, helps you master the camera in the most difficult situations and produces stunning photos full of dynamism and life.
One question: did you like this article? ?