Dubai
A horse galloping across your frame, or the start of a camel race. It’s a moment you want to capture through photography, but how do you succeed?
According to Canon Europe’s website, there are two ways: “Either record a blurred image to convey the impression of motion, or ‘freeze’ the image to capture a moment in time.”
Bill Hatcher, who wrote the book, Photography Field Guide: Action and Adventure, said action photography must combine solid camera technique with a keen observation of unfolding events.
One way to practice is just by stepping out your front door and finding a moving object or willing participant, like your child who is currently roller blading or a friend who is trying his hand at parkour.
As Hatcher says, on his National Geographic blog, “the more you shoot, the more tuned in to that activity you will become, and speed will follow naturally”.
It also prepares you on how to approach a scene of action as a photographer, not just a spectator. How could you tell a story, through your photographs? Planning is crucial, as it helps you focus on both the subject matter and the emotion of the events as they develop.
Movement held the attention of most of our reader photographers in January.
We asked Gulf News’ twitter followers to pick their favourite reader photograph as part of January’s Reader Picture Competition. They retweeted the picture they liked best. The pictures were ranked based on the highest number of retweets. Here, we present the winners.
Editor’s note: Do you want to participate in our monthly Reader Picture Competition? Send us your best photographs, with captions, at readers@gulfnews.com.
FIRST PLACE
Mohammad Shafi is a senior microbiologist, based in Dubai.
He took this photograph at the city’s Camel Racing Club and used his Canon 70D to capture the camels’ movement at the starting line.
Shafi said: ‘I took this particular shot to capture their racing spirit. It was a wonderful experience.’
Twitter users declared him the winner, with 24 retweets and 27 likes.
SECOND PLACE
Pradeep Mohan is an educator and concept creator at a multinational firm in Dubai. He uses the instagram handle @madrascala, to take shots of ‘superheroes’ in the city.
Mohan’s ‘#mysuperheroes’ picture series on instagram, has a purpose. He said: “It is about the masks people wear in society. I talk about the different types of masks we put on – both positive and negative – and how they impact our lives.”
His photograph of Batman, against a skyline featuring Burj Khalifa, is reminiscent of the many comic books, movies and TV shows, where he is seen against the backdrop of the fictional Gotham city.
On twitter, Mohan’s picture received 21 retweets and 19 likes, landing him in second place.
THIRD PLACE
Arjun Sasi is an area sales manager based in Dubai.
His picture is from a photography series on Dubai’s harbours - Deira Creek and Jumeirah.
He said: “I captured this image because it tells a story about each one of us. We travelled to this beautiful city to achieve our dreams and build a future.”
His winning photograph received 20 retweets and 20 likes.
