— And now for something completely different! Taking sharp photos is not always the intended objective for every image. In photography, something is called ICM or intentional camera movement (or in-camera movement). Just as what it appears to be, ICM is achieved when a photographer moves the camera intentionally to provide a different perspective of any given subject. Sometimes, the results can be entirely abstract. It depends on just how much a camera is moved.
Sometimes, you move your camera horizontally, vertically, or in any direction. I know some photographers who did ICM photos by moving the camera in the shape of a letter in the alphabet (e.g., C or S). Two other common ways to create ICM images are shutter zoom and rotation. Generally, just one of those techniques is needed to obtain the desired effect. However, it is also possible to simultaneously use both shutter zoom and shutter rotation.
For the first photo above, I mounted my camera on a tripod and zoomed in on the sign. Using a slow shutter speed (if you click on the photo, you’ll see the EXIF data), I rotated the zoom lens out as I pressed the camera shutter button. The slow shutter speed caught the zoom lens motion as I rotated it. I wanted the Texas letters to be mildly visible and not completely blurred. The effect appeared as if some light was coming from behind the sign. Let’s look at two other photos.
For these, I used shutter rotation. I had the camera in my hands and was not using a tripod. You can rotate the camera slightly before you shoot your photo (Warp Speed), or you can start with the camera leveled and rotate it as you shoot your photo (Wishing Well). The windmill photo caught the trees in the background and created a circular effect concentric with the windmill itself. That created the illusion of depth, as if in a well. The other photo, Warp Speed, was done using our water fountain in the backyard. The circular fountain got distorted and formed a point as if trying to break through another surface. The other surface was the rock area under the fountain. The result was abstract and did not resemble the original objects.
Playing with ICM can be fun and always unpredictable. Again, if you click the photos here, you can see what shutter speed I was using to create these effects.
Check out Kathleen’s blog to see the ICMPC rules. Her most recent post is here.
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Tales From My Lens
Wow! I had to sit back a minute and smiles came out of me! These are great and I really like your explanation of how you shot these! These are excellent and I am really happy you joined in. Thank you for this presentation 🙂
Egídio Leitão
Thanks, Kathleen. I’m glad you liked them. As far as ICM goes, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. You should contact Cee — if you haven’t already done that — and ask him to add your challenge to his list of challenges. He keeps a depository of all challenges, it seems.
Archer Kendall
I did not think to do this for ICM – what a great idea! you’ve now given me an excuse to open my wallet for a nice zoom lens lol!
beautiful captures Egidio!
Egídio Leitão
Thanks, Archer. A zoom lens works well, but any lens can create that zoom effect with the proper shutter speed.
margaret21
Thanks for this. Unfortunately I find my best examples are entirely unintentional. Must Try Harder!
Egídio Leitão
ICM is exactly as you wrote: we just need to try. It can be very surprising.
margaret21
Indeed it can!
SoyBend
I had never heard that term before. I liked the softly blurred symmetry in your first picture, Egidio.
Egídio Leitão
Siobhan, it’s a fun trick to do with the camera. The results are often unpredictable. Thanks for the feedback.