مناهج متعددة لاظهار الحركة .. مجلة فن التصوير اللبنانية _ ع٦٢

Multiple approaches to show movement

We may have repeatedly failed to achieve successful images of moving targets, and the reason is due to the stagnation of the subjects in them, like idols, while we need to show a sense of their movement.

In the early days of photography, subjects had to remain still for several minutes of exposure in order to appear sharp in the image, and in portrait portraits taken of families in the mid-Victorian era—roughly the last two-thirds of the nineteenth century—the youngest child often appears. Like a cloudy ghost, she explained how hard it was for the little one
To remain still for a period of this length.
This means that the movement distorted the image.
But despite the fact that photographers are freed from the restrictions imposed by the necessity of stillness of the subject, many people still freeze automatically in front of the camera, and do not expect it to be able to face movement at all. It is only supernatural, but it can highlight and exploit the movement element, and even suggest movement when there is none of it in reality.

There are very few truly static things in the world. And you find some situations full of movement and activity, while the movement in other situations is almost non-existent. However, you can suggest movement of any kind in a static photograph, depending on three basic methods: freezing the activity, blurring the image, or using a sequence to show motion systems.

Freezing a single moment in time is the camera's most remarkable capability and is the most dramatic way of suggesting movement, making both detail stand out sharply and giving a glimpse of what the eye cannot ordinarily reconcile.
From a technical point of view, we find the movement frozen - if it is for a swing in a children's playground or for a flying bird - and it depends on the average speed of movement practiced by the subject as well as on the shutter speed. The easiest way to stop motion is to capture the activity at its peak, at the point where it appears to be moving, when in fact it is still, though it may only be there for about a second. The child, when he is at the highest point he reaches in a swing, for example, is at the height of his activity. The swing moved as far as it could in one direction, then paused for a short moment before continuing its way in the other direction.
Train yourself to observe the movement you want to record, and try to anticipate that brief moment when the activity is at its peak. In order to capture this moment typically, you would press the shutter release button just before the activity reaches its peak, and since the activity has stopped, you do not need to adopt the fastest shutter speed on your camera.

However, the frozen image lacks a sense of movement in general. There is no doubt that it gives a well-defined view of the subject, but its clarity in particular destroys the impression of a moving target, because we simply do not see the target so clearly in reality. From here, and to create a sense of movement, many photographers deliberately blur the images by adopting slow shutter speeds, imitating the way the eye sees moving subjects as the rotation of an aircraft engine, where movement is seen here as a blur.
Try using slow shutter speeds to blur many different types of activity, from a baby
He rushes past you on a roller skate, into the movement of the waves on the seashore. As long as the subject remains recognizable in the photograph, this may be one of the best ways to create a sense of movement.

Before photographing a moving subject, it is sometimes advisable to identify the type of movement that it performs. Soft movement, such as that practiced by a train or a car, for example, may not bear much blurring before it becomes impossible to recognize it. On the other hand, monotonous or swirling motions can produce complex different types of curvatures. These can be quite stunning with relatively long exposures.
And between the two extreme cases of high shutter speeds to freeze movement and slow speeds to emit blur, there is another work that is parning, chasing a moving subject with the camera and keeping its image focused in the middle of the frame. If you move the camera carefully and smoothly, following the activity, there should be no blurring of the subject.

In the case of a soft movement. Like the movement of a racing car or a skier on the snow, it is possible to work with a relatively slow shutter speed to maintain a clear image with a charged background with lines. There are two advantages in this case - Blurring the details in the background helps to increase the prominence of the moving subject, and the lines emphasize the feeling of movement and its direction - and it is recommended here to work with a fast shutter speed just enough to see the main subject clearly, let's say 1/60 of a second for example Pursuit, on the one hand, is a way to stop movement, as is the large shutter speed, but it differs from it in that it gives a sense of movement with a clear picture at the same time.
However, moving the camera should not be limited to tracking alone, and it can easily be used to create deceptive movement in the scene. This is not the same as stalking, because you, as the photographer, intentionally added movement.
A similar workflow is to use a zoom lens with the zoom adjuster during a slow exposure to add close-up sketches. If you use this directly against a stopped car, for example, you can give a plausible imitation of real motion. On the other hand, you can use it during pursuit - while you are standing at the edge of a bicycle path during a race, for example, and the effect will come charged with more impressionism.
A completely different approach to a movement is to use a series of images, either on the same print or film, or arrange a series of photographs on a slide, to tell the story behind the action. It is a method that is superior to any other method in analyzing the movement. Dividing the movement into separate contents. It is possible to take a set of sequential pictures in quick succession with almost any camera, even simple cameras.
Then while motorizing is one method of achieving sequence shots over a short period of time, sequences taken over much longer periods can still show changes that are too slow to be noticed. Image .
As for the really fast activity sequence on the other hand. A motorized propulsion or a stroboscopic flash may represent useful pieces of equipment. The stroboscopic flash, developed by Harold Edgerton in the thirties of this century, is usually used in a dark room, while the camera shutter is left open. In this case, start with
Activity, the strobe releases bursts of flashing light, at a rate of about 20 flashes per second, and the result is that the existing activity appears divided in every order in the same frame. As with any multiple exposure, this is most effective with a lit subject and a dark background.
Try this approach with simple activities first.
Whether or not you're working with fast shutter speeds, relying on flash, or experimenting with the effects of motion blur or motion blur, the real skill of motion photography depends on the timing of the shot. The expression of the decisive moment, coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson, is most applicable to motion pictures.⏹