Digital Photo Tip #4 By Bruce Kirkby Jun 1, 2005

Email this article Printer friendly page

Blurring Motion—on Thunder Bay’s Trails

Blurring your photographs to convey a sense of motion is an easy trick that can produce eye-catching results. All that’s required is the ability to slow your camera’s shutter speed (either by shooting in manual or using “S-mode”) and the willingness to experiment.

Digital photography offers the perfect medium for this, allowing you to view results immediately, tweak the camera’s settings if you don’t like what you see, and shoot again.

On my very first day with a digital camera, I set out to explore this technique on Thunder Bay’s Nordic ski trails. As mountain bikers rushed by, I selected a quarter-second exposure (a good starting point) and then panned to follow riders as they passed.

The initial results appeared “transparent” and confused, so I increased the shutter speed (to 1/10 sec) and added some fill flash to help freeze the riders. After twenty minutes and approximately fifty attempts, I captured the image shown here. It would not have been so easy (and cheap, and instantaneous) with film.

Another great trick when shooting outdoors is the blurring of rivers or waterfalls, resulting in an ethereal, timeless picture. Once again, a quarter-second exposure is enough to turn any foam or bubbles into silky cotton candy. Be sure to hold your camera perfectly still while doing this, preferably using a tripod or at least jamming it firmly against a solid object to minimize hand shakes—coffee-induced or otherwise.