“Intentional Camara Movement so much more than a Blurry Photo.” – Charlotte Bellamy
For the challenge, Anne has suggested we explore Intentional Camera Movement or ICM. What is ICM? An in-camera photo technique that involves moving the camera while taking a shot, giving the picture a unique and creative look. The resulting image can have textures, layers or streaking and can produce abstract, minimalist, and impressionistic images. Some say that it is a creative process that can be personal and each pictue is unique.
When fall recently arrived in southern Maine, leaves on the trees turned into gorgeous colors. So, as soon as I saw Anne’s challenge I knew I wanted to photograph the trees around our house and experiment using different camera movements. This technique is new for me so that made this an even more exciting assignment!
Most of the pictures were taken directly behind our house looking towards the woods on the other side of the golf course. Notice all the white lines, they are the White Paper Birch trees everywhere. (Double click each picture to see the details better.)
For the image on the left, the lens was pointed a little high and moved down diagonally towards the right. On the right, it was pointed lower and as I pressed the shutter, I moved the camera slightly to the right and then straight up. The difference shown between these two pictures was created when the camera settings were changed between shots. It is nice that the Birch trees stand out making it easier to see the direction of camera movements.
Below, on the left the camera was moved vertically. On the right, this is the same group of trees with the movement going diagonally left to right. Camera settings made the difference between the two.
This is the same area and both were taken with a vertical movement. The difference in their appearance was determined by the camera focal length.
These pictures are of a large White Birch tree close to our house. On the left, camera movement was quickly to the right and then up (notice the white lines in the background and the crooked tree). On the right, the movement was left to right. Notice how different the Birch tree looks due to a f/stop change on the camera.
I took these two pictures when looking up at a few tall trees. The one on the left was taken by focusing on a particular area and rotating the camera lens causing the leaves to look like they were exploding. The right side shows the same scene using horizontal camera movement.
Hope you have enjoyed seeing these examples. Anne, of Slow Shutter Speed, chose a interestingchallenge so be sure to see her great post.
Wishing you a good week ahead. Stay safe and kind to those around you.
“Photography is the only language that can be understood anywhere in the world.” – Bruno Barbey
Very good presentation Sylvia. I love all your experiments and you have peeked my interest even more. Thanks.
Marge, thanks for visiting my website and checking out my attempt at ICM. Am looking forward to seeing some of your work soon!
Beautiful pictures, dear Sylvia, especially the first seven pictures.
But we disagree with the quote of Barbey. How we read and understand pictures is highly dependent on our cultural background.
Keep well
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I understand what you are saying about that quote, thanks for pointing that out. So glad you enjoyed the pictures and thank you for visiting my blog.
Your ICMs are amazing Sylvia. I appreciate that you explained how you photographed each. Not only are these images beautiful, your post is educational. Well done!!
Thank you so much Anne, glad you enjoyed these examples of ICM. I feel like I learned a lot doing this.
Well done Sylvia! Your trees are the perfect subject for the challenge and you’ve shown how many variations can be created from such a colorful subject in ICM. Beautifully done.
Tina, it was fun playing around with the camera to see what different looks could be created. The trees and leaves proved to be great subject.
Wow, Sylvia! These are magnificent. Thanks for elaborating on how you achieved those beautiful looks in each photo. Great gallery!
Thank you so much Egidio, it was interesting exploring different movements and then seeing how the subject looked.
I appreciate you illustrating the different effects obtained with each movement. How, in knowing this, we can choose the type of movement we want to create the feel we’re looking for
Arati, I had not thought about different effects that way. I see what you mean. Depending on camera movements and colors the image can portray a particular mood; smooth can be relaxing, peaceful, erratic/excitable with quick vertical or horizontal adjustments, explosive/small exploding into a large object. Thank you for sharing your insight and commenting on my post!