Street Photography and the Cinemagraph

Street Photography and the Cinemagraph by Matt Coch

A Cinemagraph is a still photo that contains a subtle element of video motion. The movement within the image continuously loops similar to the motion of a GIF. A really effective Cinemagraph will play with the viewers perceptions. Is it video? Is it a photograph? It’s both really.

I recently had the opportunity to play with the Cinemagraph app on the Nokia Lumia 1020 and had some interesting results. To shoot one you simply hold the camera still for a few seconds after you depress the shutter. The results can be quite fun. You can also tweak the images by masking areas you would like to see move or by erasing areas within the frame that contain motion you want to freeze. It’s that simple.

While shooting I found that certain scenes lend themselves better to the Cinemagraph than others.

Neon

In this scene the crowd under the neon sign are obviously moving as some are captured mid-step. Although they are frozen in time the neon sign continues to flash, strongly enhancing the strange illusion. Neon signs are good subject matter because the looping motion of the cinemagraph allows for less error.

Remember the loop or have a happy accident.

My first cinemagraph was of this street scene in Time Square. I took the picture without any thought of how the end result would look. I wasn’t thinking about the looping motion. It starts, ends, then repeats. So the result was the “Dissapearing Man” who vanishes just before crossing the street. Not exactly a good cinemagraph, but a fun little accident all the same.

Wind

Windy days are good for playing with cinemagraphs. You can shoot a frame that has lots of motion and then select the items you would like to freeze.

A little harder to achieve was this woman’s blowing hair and jacket. Trying to isolate all the people milling about while only masking what I wanted to move, took a little bit of work but I’m happy with the result.

Reflections

All kinds of reflections work well with cinemagraphs from windows and mirrors to puddles. This was probably the easiest one to achieve because the puddle had nothing else moving around it and could be masked quickly.

Subtlety

Some of the best cinemagraphs are so subtle you barely notice them for what they are. In this image of Rockafeller Center I kept the motion of the flags blowing and the water fountain flowing but froze the ice skaters, one captured mid-stumble.

Have Fun

There is a little bit of a learning curve with cinemagraphs. But as with anything a little practice and patience goes a long way. It helps to have a little foresight before taking the picture, imagine what the end result will be and then work towards achieving it. The most important thing to remember is to just have fun with it!