Photography Prompt: Transport
Week of 2024-05-08 to 2024-05-14
Create and share photos inspired by this week's prompt, "Transport" on your Aminus3 website, Substack Notes, or linked in the comments on this post.
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Be Inspired and Learn Something New
The prompt for this week of “transport”, is a relatively simple concept that is open to a variety of different interpretations.
The first idea that came to mind for me was how long exposures can be used to convey motion in a still image. There are several ways to make use of long exposures to create dreamy blurs of motion and form.
When it comes to transport, one of the most obvious is to put the camera on a tripod near a place where there is vehicle traffic, wait for something to pass by, and click!
Of course a longer shutter speed will allow you capture the motion which you can achieve by using low ISO, and a smaller aperture like f/11 - f/16.
This photo taken in Kyoto, Japan by Stu was shot at f/13.0, ISO 400, and just a 1/2” second of shutter speed to create this trail of lights.
Another fun long exposure technique is panning. If you have never tried it, it can be a great exercise in patience and dexterity, as you strive to match the motion of a moving object while pushing the shutter.
I used to play with this a lot when I first got into photography, but then moved on to other things for many years before rediscovering the fun of making panning images.
Here is a picture from Leuven, Belgium that I took in those early years. It is still one of my favorite photos.
This was a more recent image from Brussels with a similar idea. You can see how different backgrounds and shutter speeds can change the resulting image.
What kind of transport will you photograph this week?
Last Week’s Prompt Photos for “Unbeautiful”
What is beautiful and what is not?
Is beauty truly relative, or a universal thing? We set out to explore these ideas last week through the photos shared for the prompt.
A theme of the “unbeautiful” human influence in the natural world was a popular subject such as this one from Willem in the Netherlands.
Other images celebrated some of the not so beautiful aspects of nature herself.
On the deafening noise emanating from millions of cicadias this year, Steven, quoting John Berger wrote:
“Do you know the legend about cicadas? They say they are the souls of poets who cannot keep quiet because, when they were alive, they never wrote the poems they wanted to.” ~John Berger
Steven’s photo highlights the aftermath of a once in 200 year phenomenon where two different cicada broods, hibernating for more than a decade, have emerged from the earth at the same time to take to the skies in search of a mate.
Other unbeautiful nature included some creatures which are not the prettiest in the way they look, or even how they eat, but as with much of nature, they serve a purpose.
There are also human creations which are not so nice to look at, though they too serve a purpose. The old debate of form versus function comes to mind.
I also just learned there are dedicated pizza box recycling stations here in Belgium which I have not yet seen near where I live.
And speaking of old debates, a few cityscapes this week brought up the question of whether graffiti is an art form, or just an eyesore. Of course the quality of street art varies from simple tags to complex murals, but still a good discussion on this topic.
Franc showed us the unbeautiful side of horse racing, or at least the end result after a muddy ride with this portrait of French jockey Mickaël Berto.
And finally, Tumbleweed shared a silly self portrait to honor the prompt, where he wrote:
“Unbeautiful, huh.... I have the perfect picture for that. Yes, I like poking fun at myself!”
See all the photos shared for last week’s Unbeautiful prompt.
Edgy.