Explore ICM…

Go extreme with your camera movement and make blur the main focus of your shot

When it comes to motion blur, for some photographers it’s a case of go big or go home. There’s an entire community of enthusiasts dedicated to the art of ICM (intentional camera movement), with skilled purveyors of the technique producing some quite spectacular pictures that resemble abstract paintings.

The idea is simple: set a long exposure and move the camera while the picture is being taken. Like most art, however, ICM can take an age to master. Learning how to combine the right subject, the right shutter speed and the right camera gestures to give you a satisfying final composition requires some practice, but it’s certainly a fun way to experiment with your camera. The result is a distinctive image where you get more of a sense of the photographer’s involvement in the picture creation process, rather than just the content itself.

ICM is often combined with multiple exposures – a technique we’re going to look at in our next issue…