B&W Fogpath - ICM

I have had a go at ICM in the past and I am not generally opposed to it as a technique however the ICM photo above is not working for me. It seeks to have a "jerky" feel to it like you moved the camera in 2 or 3 steps rather than a smooth transition. Perhaps that is the look you were going for but, if so, to me it doesn't really enhance the scene shown in the static photo.
 
Thanks Chris, I'd have preferred a smooth movement, and probably need to keep working on technique. That said, I do actually like the image too.
 
SFTPhotography said:
Love one. The blur reminds me of when I used to drink and go off my nut.
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Thank you. I think. ;)

Now you mention it, I do remember a Christmas eve when aged 18, everyone cleared off to the bar around 11.30am and I had about 6 pints on an empty tummy before attempting to cycle home. :( Deeply uncool, and made a mess of the family's Christmas eve.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Thank you. I think. ;)

Now you mention it, I do remember a Christmas eve when aged 18, everyone cleared off to the bar around 11.30am and I had about 6 pints on an empty tummy before attempting to cycle home. :( Deeply uncool, and made a mess of the family's Christmas eve.
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Ha!! I spent one christmas day yonks ago with my head down the toilet vomitting up the previous nights merriments. Staggering back home it looked like this. Good times :D
 
Neil Burnell said:
Wow thats some compliment Steve!

Personally I dont think there is enough movement on the ICM and not abstract enough. Andy Gray is a real master at ICM and I have to be honest he's really the only guy I've seen to do it consistently well with a style!
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I get what you are saying but I like you can make the details out - lots of abstract stuff out there.

It really does remind me of having blurred vision after a bender :D
 
Neil Burnell said:
Wow thats some compliment Steve!

Personally I dont think there is enough movement on the ICM and not abstract enough. Andy Gray is a real master at ICM and I have to be honest he's really the only guy I've seen to do it consistently well with a style!
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Thanks for commenting Neil.

For me, there's a tension between too much and not enough detail. When an image becomes abstract through losing so much detail that it's difficult to tell what the image was then, for me, it has lost its validity as a photograph. And any blurring must add something to the image instead of just taking away detail. I'm sure it would be much easier to produce 'better' results with smoother blurring and greater control in software, and I notice that Andy Gray's work is a combination of movement & post.

*edit*
“It means you can come back and still get something out of a day when the weather hasn’t been great, when the light hasn’t been perfect, or when you keep messing up your compositions. You can give the camera a bit of a wiggle and shoot 300 frames, pop a few of them together, and you’ll end up with something you can play with for hours.”
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ancient_mariner said:
Thanks for commenting Neil.

For me, there's a tension between too much and not enough detail. When an image becomes abstract through losing so much detail that it's difficult to tell what the image was then, for me, it has lost its validity as a photograph. And any blurring must add something to the image instead of just taking away detail. I'm sure it would be much easier to produce 'better' results with smoother blurring and greater control in software, and I notice that Andy Gray's work is a combination of movement & post.

*edit*
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Yep I realise Andy uses processing on his images, I personally think the combination of ICM and clever processing sets him apart and was just giving you an example. Chris Dale shoots ICM from a single frame ands no processing, his are really good also.
 
Neil Burnell said:
Yep I realise Andy uses processing on his images, I personally think the combination of ICM and clever processing sets him apart and was just giving you an example. Chris Dale shoots ICM from a single frame ands no processing, his are really good also.
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This is an area you've studied, isn't it? I'm in 2 minds about studying others work to effectively copy, or trying to develop independently. There's also a side of me that looks at this stuff and starts thinking 'arty b*****ks', especially when it comes to naming images that are essentially just a swirl of colours, although it's also tempting just to have a go without taking it seriously. There's also a psychological barrier that says doing such things should be difficult for them to have value, rather than just sitting at the computer and playing about a bit.

I appreciate you posting - it's made me research and realise why some of my images have the look of multiple exposures instead of the smooth lines and burs of others, and how I need to alter technique to copy that. Now I should go back through the catalogue to see what else is in there to tweak.
 
ancient_mariner said:
This is an area you've studied, isn't it? I'm in 2 minds about studying others work to effectively copy, or trying to develop independently. There's also a side of me that looks at this stuff and starts thinking 'arty b*****ks', especially when it comes to naming images that are essentially just a swirl of colours, although it's also tempting just to have a go without taking it seriously. There's also a psychological barrier that says doing such things should be difficult for them to have value, rather than just sitting at the computer and playing about a bit.

I appreciate you posting - it's made me research and realise why some of my images have the look of multiple exposures instead of the smooth lines and burs of others, and how I need to alter technique to copy that. Now I should go back through the catalogue to see what else is in there to tweak.
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It's something I tried and and failed! Didn't give it long though as I can imagine I wouldn't be happy with my results no matter how they looked and what style I adapted. It's a difficult art whether you are trying to get the technique ink camera or a mixture of processing and camera, at the end of the day it is "arty farty" so it doesn't matter how you get the end result as long as you are happy!
 
ancient_mariner said:
This is an area you've studied, isn't it? I'm in 2 minds about studying others work to effectively copy, or trying to develop independently. There's also a side of me that looks at this stuff and starts thinking 'arty b*****ks', especially when it comes to naming images that are essentially just a swirl of colours, although it's also tempting just to have a go without taking it seriously. There's also a psychological barrier that says doing such things should be difficult for them to have value, rather than just sitting at the computer and playing about a bit.

I appreciate you posting - it's made me research and realise why some of my images have the look of multiple exposures instead of the smooth lines and burs of others, and how I need to alter technique to copy that. Now I should go back through the catalogue to see what else is in there to tweak.
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Oh and use others work to influence, but never copy! I dont think anyone who successfully creates beautiful ICM is just sitting at a computer playing about a bit, its like any form of photography, to master it yo need to be dedicated and not do it half heartedly!
 
There are some interesting views on this thread since I first looked

The classic ICM on this would be a single up or down motion and this interesting how have done it. You can see the subject matter well enough with this take. I quite like it and it may be growing on me.
 
Neil Burnell said:
This was my failed 1st attempt Toni, with the only processing being the sun and reflection as I felt it added to the image. I look back on it and know I could put hours into this type of photography, but I'm trying to be more focussed in my direction this year.

Connection by Neil Burnell, on Flickr
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Thats quite nice rather like the old technique of fogging a lens/filter

A longer focal length and more movement may have helped

Here is a recent one from me as the light levels fell

Parton ICM by Alf Branch, on Flickr
 
I did a series of ICM shots to sit alongside a poem I had written (yep, more "arty b*****ks"!) and found the best method was to hold the camera steady and move from the waist, which gave more consistent results than actually moving the camera alone. There's a selection of these shots on my Flickr page here www.flickr.com/stevenelawson if anyone can be bothered. I like it as a technique, but only used sparingly.
 
Interesting stuff. Personally I think it works best with a scene that is dominated by either strong horizontals or strong verticals as in Neil and Alf's images above.
 
alfbranch said:
Thats quite nice rather like the old technique of fogging a lens/filter

A longer focal length and more movement may have helped

Here is a recent one from me as the light levels fell

on Flickr
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See I quite like this Alf , but sorry to say this is pretty much the same as what fills twitter everyday. For this reason I think Andy Gray stands out, his work is very stylised and I can instantly tell one of his shots. Lee Acaster is another who when he does them he does them well and still manages to keep points of interest without having a blurry mess.

Here is one of Lee's, sure he won't mind me using as an example.

Slip by Lee Acaster, on Flickr
 
Regarding movement, some of the images that I've seen looked like multiple movements, which is what I've been attempting to reproduce, however I can see that a single movement, possibly with a pause at either start or finish is probably the technique to use. Some images I've seen have also used a J shape movement, so I shall be experimenting further.

Some subjects benefit from a circular movement too - this was a fave from last year:
ICM-3401 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr
 
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