Movement

[CavGez]

This is my exploration of the subject of movement, starting with the simple and then the more abstract, which I particularly enjoyed creating. I found it quite tricky to get the right amount of detail that describes the abstracted subject, whilst also giving a smooth overall image, and quite a few were rejected that I felt caused excessive eye fatigue for the viewer.
I'd like to try to capture some more traditional landmarks in this way in the future. I hope you enjoy.
Bike. Train. Ship. Greenwich.

 

[sirch]

It's difficult to hold the camera steady with longer exposure times. For me the second is the most successful but I would prefer a little more detail in the train, the last two are, again for me, a little too abstract. Thanks for sharing and hope to see more, its a good project

 

[CavGez]

Thanks for your comments. For the last two, the camera was mounted on a tripod and swept through the subject on the horizontal, which allows some repetition to find the correct shutter points.

The train seems to be the favourite of the group for many who I've shared the set with.

 

[FlyPhot]

For me the train image is the best too. I think it tells more of a story and I must admit that i'm not a great fan of very abstract images (especially not ICM). A nice project though, good luck with it. Oh, and all of those images have lovely rich colours too.

 

[CavGez]

Thank you. Actually, a colour study was something I looked at just before this, so that's good to hear, something must've stuck. I was considering desaturating the man's trainers to leave both characters dressed in mainly b&w, as a juxtaposition with the colourful train.

 

[Pavel M]

This is an inspired serie. It is cohesive in color (mostly pastel) pallet, in expressing (with a minor deviation of the top image) a strictly horizontal movement. I like the progression from representational to fully abstract. #2 is my favorite. I like the woman is facing out of the frame, giving the image a bit of tension and I think the imballance is perfectly restored by the rich yellow on the left. I find #3 the weakest. In a way it competes with #4 as essentially purely abstract work and the image is in my view missing something. Perhaps adding a very blured image of a person? This is such a wonder serie. I would continue with it and see if I could add a couple more images that would still be cohesive and fitting the scheme and yet, like their current sisters explore the boundaries of the theme.

 

[CavGez]

I would continue with it and see if I could add a couple more images that would ... explore the boundaries of the theme.

Thank you for your considered comments. This will prove to be excellent motivation for me to continue and expand the project, hopefully to distill half a dozen images.

I am enjoying working with colour at the moment, which the last two are essentially the key components. My initial feelings with the third image was to add some reddish tones to the dark areas, (it is a warship after all). But seeing as these images are primarily just colour in many ways, I opted not to edit them at all, so the last two are straight from camera. Any others made for this abstract theme may be the same. I think it makes sense to have obvious landmarks so the viewer can create the image in the mind to fill in the blanks of the abstraction. Landmarks on the thames with strong primary colours seem to be ideal as the river can give an anchor, and a telephoto lens can be used to help with the blurring effect. So, for buildings, Tate Modern, London Bridge, possibly the Millennium dome are all possibilities.

Image two is edited, and is a composite of two images, as the figure on the left is in a separate image. I'm happy with the result, and improved some skills along the way. I do have other interesting images of the Belfast (image 3), I will consider blending two bring more interest.

Thanks again for your comments. I look forward to posting more as they are done.

 

[Carl Hall]

I really like the second image. I think I would prefer it without the person on the left, but that's just my personal opinion.

A tip for slow panning shots is to have your camera on burst mode, and then take 3-5 photos in one go. Usually the first and last have poor tracking of the subject because you're either pressing or releasing the button, but the ones in the middle are usually a lot smoother and the subject is sharper.