Drunken Hipstas

Super Lurched! A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flash

I have a series of Hipstamatics that I call my ‘Lurch’ photos… Why ‘lurch’? It means ‘an abrupt or uncontrolled movement, esp. an unsteady tilt or roll’ – and these do look like drunken photos! 

The images are distorted to some degree, and are created when just the right shift in angle – coupled with very slight movement – occurs at the exact moment the shutter goes off. It is not so easy to recreate deliberately: either the result is movement blur, or it doesn’t work at all.

(I was afraid I would be cuffed by an angry resident at any given moment)

I used to often snap them by accident, and I realised it was when I was furtively taking my ‘Scenes of Suburbia’ series (I was afraid I would be cuffed by an angry resident at any given moment). Yesterday I was very excited when I managed to capture some on purpose!

It helps that my iPhone is getting old, ie, slow and dodgy. There is a noticeable delay between my pressing the big yellow shutter on the Hipstamatic and when the camera actually takes the photo. Those precious milliseconds are what are required to create the distortion.

It will be very fun to experiment with this effect when I go overseas!

I'll be loading up a new Hipstagallery in the next week or so of my favourite Lurches. Look out for that.

Lurched. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flashNo Lurch. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: John S // Cano Cafenol // No flashA failed attempt, but I do like the composition and colours anyway. A view of Melbourne from Morrell Bridge, South Yarra :: Helga Viking // Cano Cafenol // No flash