How -To Digital Photography Techniques Exposure Creativity
Exposure CreativitySix techniques to use motion for exciting photos |
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Pan And Blur. This tried-and-true technique is a great way to spice up your images. From rickshaws in Katmandu to horses in a pasture, almost any moving subject is suitable to photograph using pan and blur. Depending on how fast your subject is moving, a good starting shutter speed is around 1⁄15 sec. The trick with pan and blur is capturing your subject with just enough sharpness to anchor the shot, while the background is pleasantly blurred. It generally takes multiple passes photographing my subject until I capture one image that has the right balance of sharpness and blur. Sometimes you may need to slow down your shutter speed, other times, make it faster. I like to use a tripod when possible to help steady my shot. Using a tripod also makes it easier to track my subject along an even plane. Another way to further experiment with pan and blur is by adding a little flash to the shot. Set your flash for rear-curtain sync, which creates streaks coming off the back of your subject (versus in front of them), and try adding a little pop of balanced fill-flash. Often, this further enhances the feeling of motion.
I prefer to have my water soft and silky, which helps set the contemplative mood I strive for in many of my landscapes. What shutter speed should you use? If you want to get a soft water effect, try shutter speeds around 1⁄4 to 3 sec. These speeds will retain a little detail and contrast in the water. If you want to have some fun, try shooting really slow, around 15 to 30 seconds. In order to get these slow shutter speeds, set your aperture to ƒ/22, and try adding a polarizing filter to reduce the light another one to two stops. This should put your shutter speed around a few seconds. To get really slow speeds, you may need to add an ND filter to block some of the light entering your lens. I love the Singh-Ray Vari-ND filter, which enables you to adjust the amount of light blocked, from two to eight stops—very convenient in getting just the right amount of blur. The Vari-ND allows you to photograph at speeds from 20 to 30 seconds in midday sunlight, resulting in incredible silky waterfalls and surreal beach images. Every time I see surf crashing on a rocky coastline, I imagine how it would look at 20 seconds!   |
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Are you sure you want to do this?” I holler to my friend Patrick above the thunderous roar of the waterfall. He gives me a thumbs-up and a smile. One mistake, and Patrick is going to get seriously injured—or worse.
