How Do You Light and Edit a Cinemagraph, Anyway? [RF Video of the Week]

Will cinemagraphs be all the rage this year? It might be too early to tell. They’re also known as “animated portraits,” and senior portrait/wedding photographer James Schmelzer calls them “living photos.” It appears we’re still at that early development stage, when one single term hasn’t quite dominated the others (plus that dotted red line appears under the so-far unrecognizable word “cinemagraph”).

Our diligent readers know, however, that we’ve already delved into why and how some photographers are making them. For those who want to join the continually evolving hybrid trend of creating still images combined with moving elements, Schmelzer has made a video that shows how he lights, captures and edits a cinemagraph using Flixel’s Cinemagraph Pro.

After scouting an abandoned building in Detroit for a portrait of a basketball player, Schmelzer totes what he considers to be the three most important things he needs to shoot a cinemagraph: a tripod, continuous lights (for him, Westcott’s Skylux LED lights) and a camera that can shoot high-quality video (Schmelzer has Panasonic’s Lumix Gh4). Once he’s got his shot, Schmelzer gives a rundown of Cinemagraph Pro—how to mask, loop styles, edit the speed of motion, add built-in filters and effects, and whether to save as a GIF or a hi-res video file.

Check out more Videos of the Week, and email Libby Peterson with submissions.

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Behind-the-Scenes Tips on Shooting Cinematically With Ease