Is Stop Motion the Revamp Your Images Have Been Missing?

If you've ever found yourself posting a photo in which you've masterfully designed your shadows, created asymmetrical balance, and selected a brilliant color palette just to see it wildly out-performed by a reel of a 20-year-old aimlessly walking down a sidewalk and spiraled into complete despair, then this is for you. In this article, I will walk you through how to shoot skillfully crafted images and easily stitch them into a stop-motion. The artist strikes a treaty with the Insta. 

What You Will Need

To make a stop motion look professional, you will just need a few things. First, a tripod. You want the frame of the image to be exactly the same on all the shots. You will need to set your camera up on a tripod, compose your frame, and lock it in. Second, you need lighting that does not change. Whether you're using strobes, LED lights, or ambient light, you need to make sure your light stays the same while you're shooting. Third, if you're shooting for usage on Instagram, I've found it easiest to shoot a 1:1 ratio. You can find this option in your camera settings under "Cropping/aspect ratio." Lastly, you will need an application to stick the images together. You can use Photoshop or (more about this later) an app called Lifelapse.

Conceptualizing and Shooting

Stop motions focus on movement. Whether you're capturing a person jumping, a liquid pouring, or a soap lathering, movement is the hero in this story. Think creatively. Here are a few that I've created recently, if that helps your mind generate its own creative concepts.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiOEOcFMO3w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Once you have your idea, set up your scene. Get your composition set up, your camera settings locked in, and shoot it. Remember that your frame and lighting must be the same. The only element that changes is the movement. 

Editing and Stitching

After photographing it, the next step is to get the images looking their best. Import and edit your images. Because I shoot commercial contracts, I always shoot raw, go into detailed editing, and export to JPEG for stitching. Depending on the usage of your shot, your process may look different. You may want to shoot in the "small" JPEG format and apply an action on Import in Lightroom. Whether working from a raw file or JPEG, important thing here is that all the images are edited the exact same way. If the stop motion is going to be used for Instagram, the recommendation is to export to a file size of 1,080 x 1,080 pixels. 

Next comes the stitching. For many years, I created my stop motions using Photoshop because I felt that all the apps degraded the quality of the photo. It's one thing for me to turn my images into stop motions, which, to be honest, I'm still acclimating to, but it's another thing entirely to degrade them and then turn them into a video. We're not having that. So, for years, I tediously stitched them together in Photoshop. It's time-consuming and labor-intensive. But it does allow you to create stop motions that retain the full detail and the quality of the image. I did this laborious process for almost two years. You can see how that's done here:

This may be the best method depending on the usage and the expectations of the piece. However, an app came out (finally!) that I feel retains the quality of my images and made the stitching process so much simpler. This is not a sponsored post, and you may have a different method you like better. This is just what I've found that I like. If you're using LifeLapse or another app, email the images to your phone and download them into your device. I made a video below to show how to upload and stitch the images together. 

As demonstrated in the video you can easily change the speed and other parameters of the video and export. When exporting, use the video/MP4 option, not the GIF option, if you want the format to be supported by Instagram. 

Closing Thoughts

I wish we posted our images in a space where viewers stopped scrolling because the use of the shadows was creative, the composition was thought-provoking, and the use of negative space was artistic. I feel sometimes that being a photographer in the current society feels like trying to serve a vintage Bordeaux to a room of Budweiser drinkers. They just can’t appreciate the complexities of the craft. But Budweiser is on tap, so let's make it scroll-stopping. After working to accommodate for clients' new requests, I may even say I've started to warm up to the idea of creating stop motions. I aim to keep it elevated by focusing on impressive imagery and creative concepts, but I've accepted that movement is something my clients want now. I've also integrated animated photos into my offerings. If you want to read that article, you can read it here.  

On this topic, I would love to get the pulse on what photographers think about this topic. As far as the push for photographers to create imagery that's no longer still: do you resent this re-direction to make everything moving and flashy? Do you like the challenge to create work in new ways? Have you ever tried to make a stop motion? How did you feel about the result? If you've never tried it, maybe you can give it a shot as a creative exercise. Tag @OfficialFStoppers and myself so we can see your work! Happy clicking and stitching.