How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography

[Reyed Mia (Apprentice, DIU)]

How to Capture Motion Blur in Photography

Capturing movement in images is something that many photographers only think to do when they are photographing sports or other fast moving subjects. While there is an obvious opportunity in sports photography to emphasize the movement of participants – almost every type of photography can benefit from the emphasis of movement in a shot – even when the movement is very small, slow and/or subtle.

1. Slow Down Your Shutter Speed

The reason for movement blur is simply that the amount of time that the shutter of a camera is open is long enough to allow your camera's image sensor to 'see' the movement of your subject.

So the number one tip in capturing movement in an image is to select a longer shutter speed.
If your shutter speed is fast (eg 1/4000th of a second) it's not going to see much movement (unless the the subject is moving mighty fast) while if you select a longer shutter speed (eg 5 seconds) you don't need your subject to move very much at all before you start to see blur.

2. Secure Your Camera

There are two ways to get a feeling of movement in your images – have your subject move or have your camera move (or both). In the majority of cases that we featured in last week's post it was the subject that was moving.

In this type of shot you need to do everything that you can to keep your camera perfectly still or in addition to the blur from the subject you'll find that the whole frame looks like it's moving as a result of using a longer shutter speed. Whether it be by using a tripod or have your camera sitting on some other still object (consider a shutter release mechanism or using the self timer) you'll want to ensure that camera is perfectly still.

3. Try Shutter Priority Mode

One of the most important settings in photographing an image which emphasizes movement is the shutter speed (as outlined above). Even small changes in shutter speed will have a big impact upon your shot – so you want to shoot in a mode that gives you full control over it.

This means either switching your camera into full Manual Mode or Shutter Priority Mode. Shutter Priority Mode is a mode that allows you to set your shutter speed and where the camera chooses other settings (like Aperture) to ensure the shot is well exposed. It's a very handy mode to play with as it ensures you get the movement effect that you're after but also generally well exposed shots.

https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-capture-motion-blur-in-photography/