Urban photographers like to work with reflections. Modern cities are endowed with a generous supply of glass panes and shiny surfaces.
One evening in the summer, I noticed a black marble wall. I pulled out my camera and experimented with shots of the reflections of passing people and the vehicles.
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| Empire State Building - New York City in Motion |
It was an interesting idea, it presented technical challenges. There wasn't much light at that hour, and the dark surface absorbed most of what was available.
Even with a highly sensitive modern digital camera, I was struggling to set a shutter speed that would freeze the motion of my reflected subjects.
My mind began to search for solutions. I considered trying again with extremely fast lenses and using special noise reduction software.
And then I said to myself, "Stop!"
I realized that I was thinking in a habitual ways. I was solving the same problems in the same way, using the same thinking that I had been using for years. It was time for a break, time to set my automatic responses aside and approach the problem from a new perspective.
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| Grand Central Station - New York City In Motion |
What if I couldn't freeze the motion of passing objects? What if I let them blur on purpose?
Legendary photographer Ernst Haas used motion blur creatively in his images. Search online for a copy of his photograph, La Suerte De Capa, captured in Pamplona, Spain in 1956. It's one of my all-time favorite photographs in part because it defies common practice. Instead of freezing the motion in the frame, Haas enhanced its impact on the final image.
I began to the see a possibility. I didn't necessarily have to fight to freeze my subjects. If I cold capture motion effective in the frame of a still photograph, I could use it to show the dynamic pace of life in New York City.
Empire State Building: Nikon D800E, PC-E Nikkor 24mm f/3.5
Grand Central: Canon EOD 5D Mark III, TS-E24mm f/3.5L
Wishing you great light and meaningful moments!
Copyright © 2013 Daniel R. South
All Rights Reserved
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