Panayioti D

This past Weekend, I continued taking more pictures of movement that occurs at different speeds. I am interested in the idea of objects that are passing at different speeds. Some of the images I take show moving objects that are passing through space at various speeds. The moving objects can be seen to be still while the rest of the world is moving. The technique I use is by using a slow shutter speed and take the photo while following the object going across. The reverse can also be achieved where the moving object is blurred out to show it speeding across, while the background is in focus. With this, you also use a slow shutter speed, but you keep the camera still on a tripod (recommended) or anything else that will keep it steady. I used a tripod when taking these photos. I find this technique interesting because the image shows reality being distorted with moving objects appearing to be still and with the static landscape appearing to be in motion. This is how I perceive the notions of movement, space, and time: They are not what it appears to be, but they are dynamic and changeable. I'm thinking that the theme of this project, which is movement and time, can be a metaphor of how we perceive ourselves in space: either as moving objects who are passing through time and we are changing as we are moving through, or as static bystanders who watch the world around us move and as it passes through time while we remain the same.

The ones where I try to have the moving object in focus were done handheld, and the reverse was done on a tripod. Below are some example of both these techniques.
I will start with what didn't work out and then I will show you some that were a success.

 This happened because I was using a shutter speed of 1/10 of a second handheld.

This one was used with a slightly faster shutter speed, at 1/30 of a second.

With this one, I forgot to set the correct white balance.

Now, these are some of the images I consider a success.

Although with this one here, I wish there were more cars going past to be blurred.

I took multiple of these photos. What I wish could happen is cars coming from both directions, which unfortunately didn't happen.

An interesting article I found online was "Capturing Motion Blur in Camera Explained". http://www.lightstalking.com/capturing-motion-blur-in-camera-explained
This article explains the techniques used to capture motion blur and gives examples of these different techniques. One of the examples I found very interesting, and unrelated to my project, is the theme of water flow and how a photograph can make water appear very softened and almost fog-like through the technique of motion blur. The author, Tiffany Mueller, shows a picture of a waterfall and the water appears to be like a cloud wrapped around the rocks. What I like about it is that the picture is distorting reality by making flowing water look like something it is not. This is similar to what I am trying to do with my project, i.e. distorting reality, but different in the subject matter. While the water photograph attempts to show water as a different texture, my project will attempt to show how movement and time (speed) can be reversed with static objects moving and moving objects staying still.