Adding Movement in Lego Photography

Movement in Lego Photography

I have been experimenting as of late with adding a somewhat impressionistic style to my Lego photography by adding movement while taking the shot.

This movement effect is accomplished not by actual movement but by distorting the bokeh background.  There are many ways to distort the bokeh background into various effects.  One such method is cutting out a design on a piece of card stock and placing it in front of the lens.  This works very well with a fast wide open lens such as the MC Rokkor-PF 58mm f1.4.

The smooth bokeh in the background of an image can be altered from its standard circular appearance.  This is utilized around holidays to create an effect by changing the circles into stars, or hearts, or some other shape that correlates with the holiday.

You can also get a similar effect by placing an item upclose to the lens with bokeh lights blurred in the background such as Benny below:

The way I accomplish a movement in the bokeh background is not difficult.  I simply place my hand in front of the lens or some other foreground material to distort the bokeh.  I have found that I can get a subtle mixture of both focused and bokeh elements this way.  This mix of blur and focus also gives a false sense of movement in an otherwise still scene.  I have tested this many ways and it never ceases to amaze me. This works very well for bright environments  that I would otherwise need to stop down to let in less light.

This method for adding movement is more alluring to me because it requires no post processing.  It is all done before the shot is taken.  There are iPhone apps out there that I utilize occasionally to add movement, such as Blur++ Blur and Mosaic, but they cannot beat the real thing.

I always love learning simple techniques that can really change the feel of my photography.

~Joecow

Do you have any simple tricks you utilize on a daily basis for your photography?  What are they?  I would love to hear about them in the comments below.