Motion Blur

[Matt K.]

Being bored does have weird effects on people. I saw this train enging on a siding, and wanted to show 'motion' - so I swung the lens while exposing. Is there a trick to it I should know about? Are there other methods of showing "motion" with a stationary object? Any tricks I should know about?

By the way, this was free hand, not tripod mounted.

[JAS_Photo]

Was the train moving? There are basically two main ways to convey motion. One is by panning on the moving object. Here you use a relatively slow shutter speed and follow the motion of your subject with you camera lens. After pressing the shutter you follow through with the motion. This produces a sharp subject against a blurred background.

The second is using a slow shutter speed with you camera on a tripod. This produces a sharp background but your subject is blurred to some extent depending on your shutter speed. You can reduce cars to light trails at night, but too slow a speed and your subject "disappears".

Another method to create a blur effect is to "Zoom" you lens. This looks cool in night club type scenes, for instance.

Creative zoom bursts

Ok, it's not the best example but here is a quick zoom out of my bookcase just for fun:

[Matt K.]

tahnks for the help, JAS. No, the train was idle on a siding. I was panning the camera with relatively low shutter speed. Since the enging was not moving, since actually nothing was moving, it all gets blurred, i suppose. Will try it on a moving objet and see if i can produce soemthing like you are suggesting.

[Marko]

excellent post Jas - many thx

" Will try it on a moving objet and see if i can produce soemthing like you are suggesting. "

I second that suggestion and look forward to the results!