Photographing time

[sdmelissa3]

I have an assignment to photograph time? Does anyone have any ideas to get my brain moving? Thanks!

 

[Alexandra]

maybe that's just a very typical idea, but i'd suggest photographing a clock and manage to get some motion blurs on the hands to give the impression they'e moving really fast...
just an idea though, i'm sure you can find waaaay better

 

[Fate]

Yeah i would have to say a clock or i had a cool idea of somone (like a business man) standing in the middle of somewhere really busy with his breifcase and making it so hes the only one still and theres a blur of people around him... thats what i imagine when i see time

 

[Oscar Mueller]

A timed exposer of a clock,or riding in a moving vehicle facing rearward and doing a short timed exposer.

 

[Peanuts]

It may be 'risky', but I would say go against the grain and think of something entirely unique. I am guessing quite a few people in your class are going to be going with the clock idea, and for good reason, it looks great and represents the theme perfectly, but it would be hard to make yours stand out.
Now that I have said that, I can't think of any other ideas. Good luck with this assignment

(Off topic: Alexandra! I didn't even recongnize you with your new picture, am I slow or what?)

 

[Alexandra]

(Off topic: Alexandra! I didn't even recongnize you with your new picture, am I slow or what?)

You're not slow, lol, I barely recognize myself :shock:
I might as well drop the robot theme and go back to my good old self, lol

*back on topic*

if you wanna stick with the clock idea, you can try a sand clock.
but that's still not very original.

okay, i'm picturing something: if you have some really old books/binded archives with the years written on them, you can try photographing them with a medium dof, the focus slowly going off in the background.
Or just a pile of old-looking dusty books
or something old next to something new... why not two clocks? okay, i might be stuck on clocks.

this looks like a lot of fun... i've a lot of spare time lately so i'll be thinking about this some more to see if i can come up with something new

edit: okay, okay. i have another idea: if you have a very wrinkled grandma, you can take a pic of yer holding a pic of herself when she was young... or just a close-up on her eyes with some wrinkle too. that would be great, plus it would be easy since you'd be comfortable with the subject and the pics would come out great

 

[sobolik]

I agree forget the actual clock.
How about a life sequence? Time - A lifetime.

What if 1/2 of the content of each image reflected the passage of time but the other 1/2 did not. A child playing at the feet of an adult. In each sequence of the story the setting never changes at all. Which gives visual continuity to the entire sequence. (except the child clothing changes it to a new child and moves around within the scene)
But the adult subject ages dramatically via makeup/clothing/posture changes. Even if amateurishly done. Time - A lifetime.

 

[sdmelissa3]

Thanks for the ideas. They are really good i think. one problem...

The instructor has already ruled out a clock and a calendar. And
this has to be one photograph not a series. Guess that is why I am having such a hard time coming up with ideas.

Thanks everyone

 

[darin3200]

Just line up some people from young to old and take the picture. Or park a new car next to a junked on, or a young plant next to the remain of a dead on, or a little kid in a graveyard, or an old picture or newspaper on a computer, or darkroom enlarger displaying a negative of a digital camera, or ......

 

[zedin]

Depending on what you are shooting with and you flair for experimentation one idea would be take a shot of a room with a baby or child at one end and an old person at the other end. Then dim the lights and do a long exposure where you crouch down (so child-sized) and move from the child area to the old person area basically creating a blur that transitions from the child to the older person. Overlay the two pictures and you have the young person 'transitioning' to the older person. (although probably looks better in my head then I could actually do =p)

 

[fotogenik]

nm didn't read the ruled out clock part before posting, a picture with barley and wiskey next to each other, takes time to make the barley into whiskey

 

[cjoe]

Hey, first real post here!

I think you could explore less conventional concepts of time, such as a sundial or a traditional sand egg timer. Maybe you can brainstorm words or phrases that relate to time. "Time flys", "Sands of Time" etc.
You could explore your treatment of time, using techniques such as long exposures or using fast shutter speeds to freeze time.

 

[sdmelissa3]

Okay, I've just dicovered I can not do an indoor set-up. I have to capture this in the natural environment.. Even harder

any other ideas?

 

[Alexandra]

Set a camera facing the south side of a tree, leave it there all day and take pics let's say... every hour. then merge them and see the transition of the tree's shadow.
how about that?

 

[hobbes28]

Go find a sporting event in your local area and try to snap a picture when one of the teams call time out...

Or get a picture of someone sitting somewhere looking at their watch....

It's too late for me to think of many more.