Experimenting With Intentional Camera Movement (ICM) is something I’ve been kicking around for a while. I was thinking it might be best to try it in downtown Denver or something, but I had some time to kill this morning so I decided on a local shoot.
How I Did It
To accomplish the effect in bright morning light I used a variable 9 stop neutral density (ND) filter. Then I switched to manual mode on my Canon R7 with electronic shutter and ISO set to 100. I switched between a one and two second shutter speed with an aperture of about f/8. I tried slow movement, fast movement, up and down and sideways.
Best Results
I found the best results came from the one second shutter speed images with small up and down movements. Although the above image was side to side which I also liked. The variable ND caused a bit of trouble in some situations due to the propensity of those filters to cause an undesirable X band effect. If I were going to travel to the Pearl Street Mall in Denver or Boulder I would use my straight 9 stop or 4 stop filters, depending on the lighting.
Color or Monochrome
My idea was to use monochrome for these images but I like the color versions too. I guess I would have to decide on an individual basis which to upload to my website. I have created a new gallery on my site to contain these and future projects with ICM images!
A Few More of My ICM Favorites
My Latest Book!
Also check out my latest book Spirit of the Wolf, now available in paperback and eBook on Amazon and LuluPress.
Follow photographer and wildlife activist Caleb as he evolves from his beginnings as a fashion photographer in the Bay Area of California into a wildlife photographer and animal welfare activist in the Rocky Mountain West. Caleb through his many exciting and sometimes dangerous adventures he learns he must risk his life to battle ruthless ranchers and hunters to save the wild animals he has learned to love.
