Response to The Decisive Moment (Response #86)

Uploaded 796 Days Ago by andrewmorrell - 6 comments

Photo © andrewmorrell (Andrew Morrell) - www.andrewmorrell.com/photoblog
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User Comments

Frank said 796 days ago:

What a wonderful shot, with great motion and colors. Very creative! I like it a lot. :)

gorin-images said 796 days ago:

Something's not quite right here.....and I think I can put my finger on it.

This is a merry-go-round. So all parts of the merry go round rotate around the central column, and things that are attached to the merry go round rotate at the EXACT same speed as the part of the floor/ceiling that they are attached to.

Problem #1: there is motion-blur on the inside concentric circles of the top of the merry-go-round closest to the center (left side of shot), but almost no motion blur on the circles, posts, etc. that are nearer to the edge of the merry-go round (right side of shot). If this is really moving, then the edge MUST be moving faster through 3-dimensional space than the parts closer to the center. So motion-blur as captured in this shot doesn't make sense. It should be the other way around.

Problem #2: It looks pretty clear that the photographer is ON the merry-go-round platform (although I guess they could be standing next to it and shooting this with a longer telephoto lens, but I would bet they are ON the platform). The inside platform edge is on the left, and the outside edge is somehwere beyond the right edge of the frame, which puts the photographer squarely in the center of the platform. If the photographer is on the platform, then they are moving at the same speed as everything else that is also attached to the platform....the horses, the child in the red shirt, and the supports where the horse-poles go through the platform (which are in pretty sharp focus as you would expect an object to be that is in a fixed position relative to your camera). So then how does this dramatic horizontal motion-blur occur? Are all of the other horses moving independently (and ALOT faster than) the merry go round? Also, if the photographer is on a moving platform, then all of that stationary stuff on the ground next to the platform, like the center column of the merry-go-round and that horse next to it) should be blurred to some degree...but it is razor sharp. The combination of locations where blur is present and absent would not be possible whether the photogapher was on or off the platform.

Problem 3#: That child is wearing a bright red shirt. There is a motion-blur trail that ends at the child, and my guess is that it is supposed to appear that this is the blur-trail left by the child as he moves through the space in front of the lens. There's one color that is definitely absent from the blur-trail: bright red. There is also a blue/aqua color in the trail that is not present at all on the child.

Hand-applied motion-blur in Photoshop is OK I guess, but should at least approach what you could actually capture in "real life" (i.e. it should comply with the laws of physics). If this was a purposeful attempt to create surrealistic artificial blur that couldn't occur in reality, then I guess that's neat, but that would be 100% opposite the point of this theme.

Thanks for reading through my comment/essay!

gorin-images said 796 days ago:

Maybe I'm totally wrong. But if so, I'd like to know the details of how htis was actually created....I just find it really confusing :)

andrewmorrell said 795 days ago:

I took this photo. I am happy to say that you are totally wrong.

I took this at f22, 1/5 shutter speed and ISO 400. I did intend to overexpose it, but the boy in red was a happy accident. This shot was one in a series of 3, the others were not really worht processing, but I have them.

I think the boy was in focus because I captured him at the zenith of his arc, when he was practically motionless to the camera.

I was standing off the platform, just inside the doors to the aparatus. This was taken at the Yerba Buena establishment just south of Market in San Francisco on a cloudy day.

Honest - the only adjustments that were made on this photo was a crop, and some color enhancments. Nothing more.

Andrew

gorin-images said 794 days ago:

Thanks for the explanation Andrew! Now it makes sense how this could come from a "natural" unprocessed shot (with no lens blur from Photoshop).

I think your theory about the kid in the red shirt is probably right. He was moving directly away from the lens at that point and therefor, the most stationary object in the scene...hence the sharpness. After lookingat this carefully again..with you explanation in mind...I suspect the dramatic horizontal white/aqua blur is from one of the horses in the outside ring of horses, and therefore, moving MUCH faster relative to the camera than other objects closer to the center of the carousel's rotation.

So in the end, this appears to be the result of a unique set of circumstances coming together in front of the lens. That certainly makes it relevant to this theme.

Hope you're not offended by my previous detailed....and totally incorrect...analysis. ;)

andrewmorrell said 793 days ago:

Not offended at all... i appreciate your attention to the photo.

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