These pictures go beyond just animated gifs, they are photographs with a bit of movement. The movement should be about atmosphere, not action. Inspired by the iwdrm and From Me to You blogs.

The distinction between Cinemagraphs and gifs

Here are a few how to's on how to make your own Cinemagraphs. If you have any others, message the mods and let us know! The more accessible this medium, the better.

Some guide lines:

1) No regular .gifs. That defeats the entire purpose of this subreddit. They will be removed. Could someone conceivably frame a still image of the cinemagraph and hang it on the wall, because it would also make a great photograph? If the answer is no, the mods will delete the post, because it's a ONLY a .gif and not a cinemagraph.

There are many disagreements on what constitutes a cinemgraph. At the end of the day, quality of the image (resolut and content-wise) and, almost 100% of the time, some isolation of motion is necessary. There are very few exceptions to the latter and yes, the former is always going to be somewhat arbitrary. Such is the nature of assessing an artistic medium.

2) They don't have to be flawless, but do your best too. The point of this subreddit is high-quality Cinemagraphs.

3) Make sure to put [NSFW] tags. That should go without saying.

4) If you found it on stumbleupon or on a major site, chances are it's already been posted. Take the 5-10 seconds to search and see if it's been clearly posted.

FAQ (Will be updated as more arise)

1) How do I make a cinemagraph my desktop background?

2) "Do I need to give credit/cite my posts?" YES. If the cinemgraph is not your original, you must post the source and give credit. It is unfair to the creator not to.