ICM Photography tutorial – Intentional Camera Movement
In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to do ICM photography. ICM photography is not that common but it has been around for years and is achieved by deliberately moving the camera during your exposure. In this video I’ll tell you some tips, techniques and the camera settings you’ll need to create intentional camera movement shots. This will be a great tutorial for anyone who wants to use ICM techniques to create this abstract look.
Control your photography and be much more creative with it in our online courses. Click below for more details.
How to create ICM photography
ICM is a great technique for creating an abstract look and it’s really simple, you just move your camera whilst exposing. The main thing to consider is what you’re shooting and how to get creative with it, the rest is pretty easy!
1. Put your camera onto Shutter speed priority (Tv or S).
2. To start, set your shutter speed to half a second. You may need to adjust this based on how fast you pan the camera. For example, if you move the camera slowly, half a second might be fine, but if you’re moving it quick, you may need to use faster shutter speeds such as a quarter of a second.
ICM photography with slow pan at 1/2 second shutter speed
ICM photography with fast pan at 1/2 second shutter speed
3. Focus on what you want to shoot and frame it as you want.
4. If using a tripod, loosen it up and pan up or down, or left or right, as you take the shot (technique is shown in the video above).
Normal picture of the scene
Picture 1/2 second shutter speed while panning up
You don’t just have to do panning though, you can also take your camera off the tripod and twist it.
1. Again, focus in to what you want to shoot.
2. As you take the photo, twist the camera
3. Whatever is in the centre will remain fairly sharp whereas the outside will blur in a circle.
4. A tip here is to use your lens hood as a kind of pivot to twist your camera around.
Example of twisting ICM photography technique. 1/4 second shutter speed.
Want 10% off your first course? Click here
Get instant access to all our high-quality online courses
Like this? - Check out similar tutorials below
And that’s how you create Intentional Camera Movement photography!
I hope you liked this video, please leave us a comment and support us by sharing it with your friends and subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of this page for more.
We also have an excellent learning community on social media so please join us there as well.
Thanks for watching and remember – Learn more at The School of Photography.