Blur (2) Dark passage

Juano

I am still experimenting with blur, motion and light. Does this work?

M38A1

I think the concept is workable.... It reminds me of the "Scream" painting for some reason... Is this done via software? Reason I ask is, the people/center is blurred, yet the background appears fairly intact leading me to believe that. And was the diagonal light source added or present in the original?

As for this shot, to me it all works except how the light coming in from top right hits the mans face in the center. Almost appears to be as if a 'mask' is highlighted on his face which is what I think to be the combination of the light source and blur activity on him.

Juano

M38A1 wrote: »

I think the concept is workable.... It reminds me of the "Scream" painting for some reason... Is this done via software? Reason I ask is, the people/center is blurred, yet the background appears fairly intact leading me to believe that. And was the diagonal light source added or present in the original?

As for this shot, to me it all works except how the light coming in from top right hits the mans face in the center. Almost appears to be as if a 'mask' is highlighted on his face which is what I think to be the combination of the light source and blur activity on him.

Thanks for the comment. Everything on this photo is "natural" it was shot at 1/3 handheld, that's why the background seems to be sharper than the crowd. I am interested in the contrast between stillness and movement as in my previous blur posting (http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=180440). The shot was taken in an underpass market that was having a power blackout, the only source of light was the sun coming in from above. Personally, I like the beam of light on the man, it provides a focal point for the shot.

Richard

I like it as well, especially the beam of light. Where was it taken? It reminds me of some places I have seen in the Middle East.

Juano

Richard wrote: »

I like it as well, especially the beam of light. Where was it taken? It reminds me of some places I have seen in the Middle East.

Good eye Richard, it was taken in Istanbul.

bdcolen

Juano wrote: »

I am still experimenting with blur, motion and light. Does this work?

It's interesting, but with anything like this my first question is always - 'Why?' What would you have had had you shot it straight? What does the blur add to the image? Had you been shooting at a slow shutter speed and gotten so motion blur, I could definitely understand it. But this looks more as though you tripped while tripping the shutter. I love the scene and the light though; it's really nice.

damonff

I'm with BD. I'd prefer to see it clearly and see no reason to make it blurry. Unless of course that's what you wanted...

Richard

I'm guessing that there wasn't enough light to use a faster shutter speed. Well, not really guessing--read the description of the conditions. Those markets are plenty dark even without power failures.

Juano

bdcolen wrote: »

It's interesting, but with anything like this my first question is always - 'Why?' What would you have had had you shot it straight? What does the blur add to the image? Had you been shooting at a slow shutter speed and gotten so motion blur, I could definitely understand it. But this looks more as though you tripped while tripping the shutter. I love the scene and the light though; it's really nice.

Thanks for the comment. Why the blur? In my view, it adds a sense of "timeless anonymity", if the cell phone add hadn't been there this image could have been taken in the 30's or any other time. I like the old couple moving at a slower speed than the rest of the crowd, the blur adds to this. And yes it was shot at slow speed.

Here is another pic taken a moment later with high ISO to get the speed up.



Of course my old couple is now gone into the shadows, and I don't think it evokes the same nostalgic feel as the first one.

rainbow

I like it, though a tad less blur would be my sense of the shot. And I like it more than the second one with the bumped up ISO.

sara505

I love the first shot, as is.

bdcolen

Juano wrote: »

Thanks for the comment. Why the blur? In my view, it adds a sense of "timeless anonymity", if the cell phone add hadn't been there this image could have been taken in the 30's or any other time. I like the old couple moving at a slower speed than the rest of the crowd, the blur adds to this. And yes it was shot at slow speed.

Here is another pic taken a moment later with high ISO to get the speed up.



Of course my old couple is now gone into the shadows, and I don't think it evokes the same nostalgic feel as the first one.

Well, the reality is that this is simply not as compelling a shot as the first one - the old couple is missing, as is the guy on the left with his head tilted. This also raises an interesting question about the 'magic' of high digital isos. But boosting the iso, and making the dark light, we lose the magic of low light photography. This second shot might be better burned in some, though it still wouldn't compare to the first scene. I am reminded of the Robert Capa dictum - "If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." The first scene is much closer and tighter, and much more compelling - the second you are either further back, or pulled back with a zoom, and it's just doesn't have the strength of the first shot.

Ed911

Well said, DB...

Juano

BD - I agree with you on this. The only reason I posted the second shot is because you and Damonff were curious about how the scene would look without the blur. Of course another moment implies a different picture, the fact that the second shot isn't good doesn't make the first one any better or worse, they are what they are.

While we are on the topic, here is another one I took the same day. On this one I used a flash and a 1/2 s exposure. I guess I was in a blurry mood...

michswiss

Juano wrote: »

BD - I agree with you on this. The only reason I posted the second shot is because you and Damonff were curious about how the scene would look without the blur. Of course another moment implies a different picture, the fact that the second shot isn't good doesn't make the first one any better or worse, they are what they are.

While we are on the topic, here is another one I took the same day. On this one I used a flash and a 1/2 s exposure. I guess I was in a blurry mood...

I've been in blurry phases before.

While it's already been dissected, I feel the weakness of the blur in the first image is it doesn't add anything. I don't get a sense of motion or direction or phrenetic activity. I agree with B.D. in that it looks more like you tripped.

I'm a little surprised that you didn't get anything sharp given the use of flash in the last shot. I would have expected at least an impression of sharpness somewhere in the scene.

Juano

Thank you all for great comments and discussion. This is Dgrin at its best!! Great fun, I really enjoyed it and learned a lot!! clap