Most of the time, it makes perfect sense to hold your camera as still as possible, but we’re photographers, not robots. We want to explore, amaze, and entertain with our photographs. That’s not going to happen by standing around like statues all day, is it?
There are two main types of motion in photography: Movement of your camera, or movement of your subject. You can use both to creative effect, but moving your camera is often a more dramatic way of making abstract art.
To create abstract artworks on your Nokia N8, set your camera to manual mode, turn off the flash, and set the ISO to low. This combination means that you get longer shutter times – perfect to capture some motion! Head out at night, and find an area with some bright lights, and start experimenting.
There are a many different effects you can achieve, depending on the shape, colour and brightness of the light sources. A city in the distance looks very different than Christmas tree lighting in your garden, for example. The effect you get ultimately depends on how you move your camera during the exposure: Small movements can create completely different shapes, while you can swing your arm in a large arc for dramatic, swooshing motions.
If you’re feeling brave, set your camera phone to a 2-second self exposure, and then throw it up in the air while the photo gets taken. Make sure you’re good at catching, though!
This type of night-time photography is 20% skill, 30% inspiration and 50% luck, so don’t give up until you’ve tried a few times – you’ll get the swing of it before you know it!
Some extra night-time shots
