Shinichi Maruyama presents us with the perfect example of capturing movement in still images. This concept has been done to death with amateur photographers and sparklers around bonfire night, hence why these awe-inspiring images stand out so well from other movement photography.

The technical process behind this is originally thought to be a long exposure but when you think about it, you wouldnʼt be able to get that much definition in the movement. Instead, Maruyama composes these images from thousands of photos. Think of it like a slow motion camera taking loads of photos in a short period of time then all piled on top of each other.

It sounds like a long daunting task on Photoshop with all those layers, but Iʼm sure having bags of patience helps. Plus thereʼs a few German programs around (like StarStaX), originally made for those lovely star trail photographs, that let you easily upload all your photos and it stacks them on top of each other for you, which could work just as well. That is if you ever find a lovely model to dance nude for you...

Source: Shinichi Maruyama

Joe Burt