←→Motion-Blur Photography

Posted Sunday, February 4th, 2007 · Permalink

One thing I hope to regularly talk about on in my All Stars is travel photography, something I love doing. I find it an exhilarating experience to be somewhere for the first time and look at everything from a fresh perspective. But one thing I’ve always had trouble with in my early days of photography was motion-blur. I had this weird idea that it was necessarily a bad thing. This is simply not the case.

A major aspect of the travel experience is the observation of a foreign dynamic environment. Motion-blur can help you capture this dynamic feel. You’re no longer capturing a single frame but rather a movement in time.

Most digital cameras these days give you control over the shutter speed. Each camera has a different way of accessing this functionality, so my suggestion is to consult your camera’s manual if you can’t figure that part out.

When you’re ready, set your shutter speed to manual and bump it to, for example, 1/20th of second and be sure to steadily move along with whatever you are taking a picture of (or at least make sure that there is some focused areas in your selection). It might require a little practice and trial-and-error before you start seeing acceptable results. You’ll start developing a steadier hand in order to get that sharp-spot to work.
Here are two more examples from my recent trip to Vietnam:

Backgrounds can blur, objects can blur, body parts can blur, et cetera. There are many, many different applications for motion-blur. I suggest you try it and play around with it a little. It’s a lot of fun when it works out. It brings your photography to life!

Filed under Photography Tips.