http://www.digitalcameraworld.comHandy Andy
Andrew explains the technique and
inspiration behind his abstract photosIntentional camera movement
“When I started shooting, I was taking
minimalist long exposures, usually in
black and white, and I stumbled, literally,
on ICM from there,” Andy says. “I mix ICM
with various editing processes to create
my abstract landscapes. Some of my
images are recognisable vistas, whereas
some are formed from feelings and
emotion, as if from a painter’s brush.”Romantic inspiration
“I’ve all but abandoned the ‘reality’ of
photography,” Andy says. Instead, he
takes inspiration from the Old Master
painters of the 19th century and the later
Impressionists. “A huge influence, and
someone I actively try and mimic in form
and colour scheme, is JMW Turner.” On
our shoot, Andy recalled scenes that were
painted by Turner in the same locations.one
to
one
Some of my images are
recognisable vistas...
some are formed from
feelings and emotion, as
if from a painter’s brush
Andy handholds the camera
and creates an arc motion
during a long exposure.Andy uses Manual
mode to retain
full control.At our first location, Andy grasps the camera
by the grip in one hand, then lets it fall in an
unrestricted way around the frame as he
presses the shutter. ICM is a freeing shooting
technique that does what it says on the tin: it
means moving the camera on purpose during
long exposures so that the resulting images
are artistically blurred. How the camera is
moved is completely up to the photographer,
though. While it can sometimes be a hit-and-
miss approach, it does mean that every frame- particularly in Andy’s case – is unique.
I’d never experienced Northumberland,
and Andy is a fine tour guide to the coastal
sights. Next, we carry on to Bamburgh Castle,
which is busy with tourists playing on the
beach in front of it. “Having people in the
frame won’t matter here, as they’ll blur
out when you set a long enough shutter
speed,” Andy explains.
As we reach our spot in front of the castle,
Andy is quickly ready to start firing off some
frames – around four or five – which he will
blend together later on in post-processing.
Traditionalists might look for reflections in the
puddles, or to make a feature of the seaweed,
but he doesn’t spend hours honing the frame.
“Some people would complain about the
messy foreground, but a flick of the wrist
(with a long exposure) and that disappears.”
During our sunny shoot, Andy uses a six-
stop ND filter on his lens, to reach exposures
of around 1/2 sec to a second at ISO 100 and
apertures of f/8-f/11. He keeps his camera
in Manual mode to keep control over the
resulting images, although there’s no set
formula for his image making. “I do this or
that because it works and I realise it works.
It comes from years of playing around and
knowing what I’m doing intuitively.”
Using a 16-35mm lens, Andy zooms in
further to avoid incorporating bright parts
of the sky in the composition. “Having a
very bright light source in ICM means that
the light follows you all the way around the
frame. If I clip the shadows, however, I can
lighten things up by adding another layer.”
While he’s framing images and finding the
best spot to stand in, Andy is less random
than he appears. He uses distinct shapes –
buildings and castles – to provide a focal
point in his images. “Even when blurred,
having curved shapes can provide
natural leading lines,” he says.
At our final location, Lindisfarne Abbey,
I notice that Andy moves the camera