Movement
Photographing movement can mean two things, movement of the subject or movement of the background. You accomplish this feat by using the same mechanisms for both, a slow shutter speed. For me, creating movement during the day has been difficult. There is usually so much light that you cannot get the shutter speed slow enough. I guess with the right kind of filter, I would be able to, but I just have a polarized filter on the camera for now.
I have found that to blur the background, I set the camera to shutter priority and the shutter speed around 1/30 of a second. This allows me to get fairly good crisp photos of the subject and, depending on the speed of the subject, good movement in the background. Decide what area of the subject you want in focus and then follow the subject with the camera and attempt to keep the subject framed as you want. The beauty of this technique is that most of the time, the background colors are the only thing that matter.
On the other hand, to blur the subject, I set the camera on a tripod, shutter priority and a shutter speed somewhere below 1/30 of a second. To keep camera shake out of the picture, use a remote shutter release. As the subject moves through the photo, push the button. If the subject is not blurred enough, make the shutter speed slower.
Today’s Photo: The Drive-By
I decided to take sometime with the family the other day and just watch my children ride their bikes. I promised myself prior to going out that I was going to put the camera down. Of course when I got outside, I began seeing all the photographic opportunities. So, I had to get the camera. My youngest was riding her bike at a very unsafe speed, at least I don’t think I ever rode that fast when I was that young. I convinced her to drive in circles around me while I took photos. I found out quickly that she has the precision driving skills of an Indy Car driver. Or maybe like the Drift Racing drivers, she almost had enough speed to start drifting and was only about 6″ from me most of the time.
Here is another portrait of my Little Treasure. And don’t miss last Friday’s Daily Photo.
©2011 Just Shooting Memories (all rights reserved)
I like how subtle this is, and the motion blur is just right. Nice shot.
The motion blur draws your eye to the framing off-center. Nice.
Do you have a Facebook page or Twitter? Would love to follow you there, I’m on my iPhone and love reading your stuff!