#7 - Time & Movement

DUE: Works In Progress - Select (8-10) images before class on Tuesday Oct. 5. These images do not need to be edited

DUE: Tuesday Oct. 12 (5) Final Printed Images

 

Time & Movement

“Anything that moves is my game, it is always beautiful.” – Harold Edgerton

©Harold Edgerton

© Michael Wesley

Photography has the power to stop time, to bring something that is moving quickly to a complete stop, and hold it there forever.  It has the power to allow something to blur and to eliminate all detail of what that object once was or is.  Time & Movement is at the heart of all photographs, it may be physical movement or a more conceptually based idea, but either way photographs are all about a moment in time.  

Your assignment is to use shutter speeds and photography to communicate Time & Movement creatively.  Experiment with subject matters and concepts and choose the appropriate shutter speed for the desired image.  Remember the idea is to use shutter speed creatively, not as a simple technical exercise.  Your photographs must be aesthetically strong because of the use of Time & Movement, do not allow your movement to be an afterthought.

In photography the creative side is always, and will always be bound to the technical side, the two are inseparable.  So, by purposefully using longer exposure times (shutter speeds) you will be able to manipulate your subject and create a “Blur.”  If you choose a shorter exposure time, you will be able to hold something in space and “Freeze” what might have been a fast moving object.  Remember to be sure that once you decide on a shutter speed that you wish to experiment with, the overall exposure must still be correct for the light you will be shooting under.  In other words, a proper exposure is still very much required.

Methods

1. Slow Shutter speeds:  Using a tripod or a brace set your cameras shutter speed to 1/60 through Bulb and then find the correct corresponding aperture.  Photograph a rapidly moving subject where the subject moves across the camera plane ( not moving towards the camera.)  This will make the subject blur.
2. Panning:  Once again choose a shutter speed somewhere between 1/60 through Bulb, find the correct corresponding aperture and this time follow the moving subject with the camera and take the photograph while you are tracking with the subject.  Depending on the shutter speed this will give you a relatively sharp subject and blurred background or a partially blurred subject and totally blurred background.  You subject must be at a right angle, it cannot be moving towards the camera
3. Bulb:  At night and with small bright lights or neon lights, set your camera on Bulb with an aperture of approx. F/8 or so and physically move the camera while the exposure is taking place.  

Artist You must Know

• Henri Cartier Bresson  - “The Decisive Moment.”
• Harold Edgerton  - “The father of “Flash” photography”
• Eadweard Muybridge  - First use of multiple cameras to capture motion
• Ralph Eugene Meatyard – Yes that’s correct “Meatyard”
• Harry Callahan – You should recognize his name by now!
• Hiroshi Sugimoto

Websites

• Start Here
  
• If You Have the Time
  
• SLR Lounge
  
• Tips and Tricks
  
• Because it's Funny
  
• Intention Blur
  

Tips

• Have a solid understanding of the BULB setting on your camera!
• Know what shutter speed you want to use
• The speed of your subject will partially determine the shutter speed you need to use for your desired outcome
• Explore the use of movement by physically moving your camera at slow shutter speeds
• Be aware of proper composition and exposure as well as the use of motion in your images
• Fill your heads with quality photos that use motion, blur or movement