Blurring Work Diary

For this shoot, I was set with the task of shooting the technique of Blurring. For this technique, I would have to use a combination of studio light and camera settings. The effect has the potential to capture a range of movement which can introduce new tones and colours to the image. Since I was restricted to the small area of the studio as I wanted to achieve specific effects that would be centred around movement on a small scale. For this shoot I looked at existing practitioners of the blurring technique. Within my research, I found a photographer named David Galstyan whose work with blurring served as a massive influence for me. One of his images used blurring in a way that helped evoke emotion within the format of a portrait. The image was stunning and the tones featured within the image helped create a portrait which is unlike anything outside of the subject of blurring. I could take this idea of portraiture which has been enhanced through the use of blurring and apply it to my own work by focusing my images within a portrait format. I could use the new colours and tones that can be found within movement to create a pattern across the frame to fill the empty space, causing the image to appear more exciting than standard portraiture. I could link this technique to my subject of hyperreality as I am taking normal things such as movement and giving the audience a new experience which cannot be found naturally. As this shoot would be heavily reliant on my camera settings and light set up I had to make sure these were accurately set up. I used two lights with soft boxes which would set off a flash as the camera began taking pictures. I used a shutter speed of 2.5, an f stop of 16 and an ISO of 200. I would need to capture the range of movement before the shutter shuts again.

This image represents a simple range of movement and how it can be documented. The glow of the skin colour against the dark background creates a contrast which causes the range of movement to become more evident for the audience. We can see the bounce of each step as they make their way from the left of the frame to the right. The boldness of the colour within the frame allows for more information to be given to the audience as they can judge roughly how fast the person was moving within the frame as the colour fades as she moves faster.

This image uses an in camera zoom in order to reflect a different form of blurring. This quick, blurring motion can be used in order to create an interesting, varied result which can take place within portraiture. This can be used to add more detail within the frame, focusing on close ups and the body in order to show the audience more of the person that is being photographed. This method can also be used to imply a sense of speed as the range of motion implies that the person has quickly moved from the background to the foreground.

Progression:

I was able to achieve a good variation of images which could be applied to a number of different subjects such as movement and portraiture in interesting ways. If I were to do this shoot again, I would experiment with the technique outside. I could experiment on a vaster scale and implement cars and more open areas such as a field and also experiment with some of the different forms of light in that can be seen in location portraiture from headlights to streetlamps.