Intentional camera movement with water…
I love spending time sitting at the beach. There’s nothing more mesmerising and peaceful than just being there and playing with the waves as they roll up and down the sand…
Depending on the weather you might have huge energy with tumultuous tides or gentle ebbing and flowing… Always keep yourself safe. I was sat on the sea wall last winter and the water was making erroneous waves suddenly rushing right up the beach to my feet where normally there is a walk down to the water’s edge. A woman came along with her dog completely oblivious to the danger… not noticing the sand wet where normally the tide would never touch… I’d just called out to her to get away when another unpredictable wave rushed up towards her and she was forced to grab her little dog and run… nature is so unpredictable and beautiful at the same time…
So, keep safe!
How to capture the waves with ICM…
I won’t pretend it’s something I do much of… but you have several options I love to play with…and what the water is doing will make a difference…
Which way is it flowing?
Is it a waterfall – follow it? Maybe pausing and flowing with it…
Is it coming towards you or flowing away…
Can you follow the shapes of it as it rises up the beach. Follow it as it tries to recede…
What happens if you shake the camera or see if you can synchronise with it as it rises up into a surf, can you pull and push the shape, colour and texture of it with a pulse, flick, twist…
TIP – water is obviously in motion especially a fast flowing river or a the tide, especially rough seas… I always use a faster shutter speed than usual because it’s not just your movement now – it’s your collaborative movement WITH whatever the water is doing…
To give you a rough idea (excuse the pun) if the sea is very rough I’d probably speed up to about ¼ or ½ a second rather than my favourite 1 second to counteract the effect of the water and work from there…
Want to learn more?
Find me on YouTube @thephotographicartisan.com
The Tutorial Series here on the website is a membership system – it’s a library of tutorials growing all the time covering Intentional camera movement for beginners, developing skills from using the camera techniques to understanding how different light and compositions will get you different effects…
Multiple exposure ICM, compositing and more… £60 for the year…
Intentional Camera Movement Demystified – The Book – available as a paper back on Amazon (or Kindle) or as an Ebook here on the website.
