Using a Merry-go-Round for a Blurred Background Effect

Photography Tips

This is a super fun behind-the-scenes video of a shoot for the band Fighting for Ithaca, taken on a playground in gorgeous North Vancouver, Canada. This is an exciting session to watch; for the signature shot, the photographer mounts his whole setup, including  Nikon D700 with Sigma 15mm fisheye lens and a strobe with an umbrella attached, to a merry-go-round, photographing the band in front of a spinning background. These guys have such a blast, it really brings life to a medium that sometimes can get overly technical:

Matt from Phrozen Photo displays so well the importance of trying new and unexpected methods in your photography. The artist’s continual, unrelenting challenge is to capture something that can make people stop their busy lives to pay attention. You can be the most technically proficient photographer out there, but success in business and art relies on your ability to make a unique image that will stand out from the rest. As our world gets more crowded, and the advances of technology make it ever easier for people to flood their lives with a constant and almost uninterrupted stream of media,  this will become more true every day – not just in the imaging world, but in nearly every field out there.

That’s not the only thing we can take from this video though. The most pervasive theme of this shoot is the need to have fun and let loose while you’re shooting, and how much that enjoyment shines through in the finished image. The camera doesn’t lie; it shows everything. If you overwork, overthink, overstress, the picture will look that way, too.  If you can step away from all your planning and stressing, you allow the photograph to make itself how it needs to be. Everyone wants to be successful in their work, but what would it be worth if we didn’t enjoy ourselves along the way?