# Photographing time



## sdmelissa3 (Feb 4, 2006)

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


----------



## Alexandra (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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


----------



## Peanuts (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

Peanuts said:
			
		

> (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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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 (Feb 4, 2006)

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.


----------



## markc (Feb 5, 2006)

Tree rings?


----------



## bobaab (Feb 5, 2006)

Time is SO BROAD, I'm really surprised you can't think of anything...

Take a picture of the sky, and it would represent the endless time that it has been looking over the earth.

Take a picture of something technologically advance, representing time in technology.

Take a picture of a child who still has lots of time.

Interpretation is in the eye of the beholder, but this is YOUR photograph right?  Think to impress yourself. You can do it


----------



## DestinDave (Feb 5, 2006)

1)  A long (2 hour or more) exposure of the sky showing the track of stars.
2)  A multiple exposure of the moon (20 or 30 minutes apart).  End up with 4
     or 5 moons in the shot.
3) Slow exposures on a highway or busy street at night.  The blurred car 
    lights showing motion (time passing).


----------



## Torus34 (Feb 5, 2006)

The possibilities abound!

How about a simple still life of an empty coffee cup and an ashtray with several cigarette butts in a diner?

Best of luck with your assignment!


----------



## Rob (Feb 6, 2006)

With stuff like this, I like to start with a dictionary or encyclopaedia. If you know what time is in relation to the question, then you can have a crack at capturing it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time


----------



## sdmelissa3 (Feb 7, 2006)

I was thinking of going to the local animal shelter where they have a big wall of cages filled with cats waiting to be adopted or god forbid euthanized. And taking a photo of all the cages with cats in them and one being empty...

is that a good idea?

does anyone have any others?


----------



## Rob (Feb 7, 2006)

sdmelissa3 said:
			
		

> I was thinking of going to the local animal shelter where they have a big wall of cages filled with cats waiting to be adopted or god forbid euthanized. And taking a photo of all the cages with cats in them and one being empty...
> 
> is that a good idea?
> 
> does anyone have any others?



Only if the title is "Waiting on Death Row"... otherwise it'll probably be missed!

Rob


----------



## zedin (Feb 7, 2006)

See perhaps if you can find something that is old and rusted.  Or better yet something really rusted next to something shiny and new.


----------



## neverhappen (Feb 7, 2006)

How 'bout a grandparent and a small child?


----------



## Torus34 (Feb 8, 2006)

btw, please let us all know how this all turns out!


----------



## BernieSC (Feb 8, 2006)

How about a time lapse photo of a flower (ie a rose) opening


----------



## andrewhe13 (Sep 4, 2011)

I was really worried because our instructor just said, "Hey, have fun with it, if your photos suck, then they suck." He said it jokingly, but still. :meh:

I took photos of everything from my nephews to light paintings. I figured, "Well, I can BS anything if he questions me." Finally all of these Art History courses are paying off! Muahahahaha!


----------



## bianni (Sep 4, 2011)

why not show images of the four seasons which depict passage of time.


----------



## gsgary (Sep 4, 2011)

See if you can find some very old Time magazines and do a product shoot


----------



## Edsport (Sep 4, 2011)




----------



## Mot (Sep 4, 2011)

Am I missing something here? I'm sure the OP has completed the course that they started *five* years ago! In fact, the OP has even signed in since 2006!


----------



## mishele (Sep 4, 2011)

andrewhe13 said:


> I was really worried because our instructor just said, "Hey, have fun with it, if your photos suck, then they suck." He said it jokingly, but still. :meh:
> 
> I took photos of everything from my nephews to light paintings. I figured, "Well, I can BS anything if he questions me." Finally all of these Art History courses are paying off! Muahahahaha!



Wow.....old thread alert!!! lol I wish I wouldn't have just read the last few pages!!
andrew....you might want to start your own thread to get ideas, it will save people from reading this one.
Time is an awesome topic!! There is SOOO much room to be creative. Go on flickr and look up TIME, I'm sure you'll find some fun ideas.


----------



## Overread (Sep 4, 2011)

*locking really ooold thread*

As Mishele said you'd be best to start your own thread up on the topic as this one is now so old.


----------

