CAMERA  & LENS MOVEMENT

Obviously, not all subjects are conducive to this technique. However, when applied and works, you can get some very cool creative, unique images. 

Sometimes, I just have a gut-level feeling that it's going to work. At other times, I need to take a test shot or two before I go for it.

In terms of moving my camera, in some cases, it works best by taking my camera off the tripod. By "movement" I mean that I move my camera either downward, to the left or to the right. When it comes to lenses, I'm referring to either zooming in or zooming out. With all these possibilities and options, I shoot with a slow shutter speed. In most cases, I'm talking about 1/6th to 1/15th of a second. Those shutter speeds allow me to record the movement. If I move too slow all I get is what appears to be an out-of-focus image. If I move too fast, I just get a big blur of color. It takes practice and at times two or three tries to get what I want. I only have one image to share where the shutter was 15 seconds, but that's an exception and I'll explain in more detail below.

Another key consideration is the type of focus setting. Depending on what I am trying to achieve, sometimes it works best if I set my camera/lens on manual focus.

The minute I noticed we were having a good rainfall, I headed downtown. I wanted to capture umbrellas, hoping for some big ones and colorful ones. I got under an awning with my camera and tripod to see what I could find. And I found this. I simply followed the movement of these friends as they hurriedly crossed the street with his umbrella. One-sixth of a second to capture the movement.

For this image, shot the same day as the one above, I moved my camera downward to get this effect at 1/4th second.

I spotted these tiny white flowers up in the mountains. They didn't seem like much at a glance, but I decided to do some of my right brain photography magic and made them "move." My camera was on my tripod, but I loosened the head so I could move my camera to the left during a 1/5th of a second exposure.

It took some careful and calculated setup for this one. I was with a former student, the owner of this beautiful instrument. We propped the bass up, secured it steady, and placed a large black piece of material behind it. I also changed my White Balance to Florescent because of the lighting in his basement. I knew what I wanted to do. I set my camera for manual focus and set my shutter to 15 seconds. I needed that time to apply my "Zoom-n-stop" technique, which I discuss in my Right Brain Photography book. During those 15 seconds, I clicked the shutter, waited a few seconds then zoomed in. I waited a few more seconds then zoomed in again. Waited a few more seconds then zoomed in. I did that three times until my 15 seconds were up. Voila! 

I was teaching one of my 3-day field workshops at Rocky Mountain National Park. Among the several techniques I taught that day was camera movement. For this this scene I slowly moved my camera downward. I always start from above the middle and then move slowly downward during a 1/15th of a second exposure. The results look very impressionistic.

I also moved my camera downward for this next shot but got a totally different effect due to the subject, lighting, and time of year--autumn. Coincidently, this was also at 1/5th of a second. The aspens seem like they're on fire. 

I simply zoomed in slowly for this shot. The subject lent itself well for this zoom-in technique.

It was an early foggy morning. I loved the mystery of this scene along a country road in northern Arkansas. I moved slowly forward for this one during a 1/13th of a second. It has the characteristics of Impressionism.

I hope this has motivated you to go out and experiment with camera and lens movement. Remember, you will need slow shutter speeds. Take some exposure test shots first to make sure your exposure is to your liking before you start moving or zooming. 

Have fun and let me know if you would like an in-person or short ZOOM lesson.