Have you ever seen Harry Potter? Do you know those moving portraits and paintings that line the hallways and staircases of Hogwarts – those have always fascinated me. Maybe it’s because I have a love for all things British or because Harry Potter is the best thing to happen to movies in literature in a long time, but when I learned how to do a cinemagraph (which is essentially a Harry Potter moving picture), I was VERY excited.  And in my usual fashion, I decided that I must do a cinemagraph in typical British fashion.  So here are my Downton Abbey and Harry Potter inspired cinemagraph.

The gist of making a cinemagraph is actually quite easy – taking a video of a continuous or looping motion that is then opened in Photoshop, and masking out the areas of the video that you don’t want to move will create a seamless cinemagraph.  It takes some precision and exactness, but the payoff is rewarding and fun! I love the simplicity of the motion, so I decided to have just a small simple earring moving to draw attention in a subtle way – you almost don’t notice it right away, and that’s what I love about a cinemagraph!