So…. have you attempted to take a slow shutter speed photograph?

Well, my previous blog was all about using shutter priority and this blog is about understanding how to take a slow shutter speed photograph.

Have you ever tried manual or blub speed on your camera? These are two options that you can use when taking a slow-speed photograph.

When thinking about slow shutter speed photography, these are 3 areas to experiment with:

1. Long exposure

2. Creative blur

3. Motion blur

LONG EXPOSURE

Long-exposure, time-exposure, or slow-shutter photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements.

Are you aware that you can take a long exposure photograph both in the daytime and the night?

Although a nighttime long exposure is far more aesthetically pleasing to the eye, you have the lights that brighten up the images.

What do you think, take a look at these two image examples?

You may ask yourself, what is classed as a long exposure technique?

Typical genres for long-exposure photography are:

• Landscapes – blur the moving clouds, or waving grass.

• Seascapes – soften the water and make it smooth.

• Architecture – to blur skies with soft streaks of clouds and to make crowds on the street disappear.

• People – to make ghostlike appearances of crowds with people.

Take a watch this short YouTube video on how to start taking some long-exposure images

CREATIVE BLUR

Before I start on this area take a look at this YouTube video on ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) which is a set process to use to take some motion/creative blur photographs.

To capture and take a creative blur photograph, you can try these techniques, which are: panning, zoom bursting and shutter dragging.

SHUTTER DRAG - To take a shutter drag photograph you require the use of a flashgun or strobe light for this process.

PANNING - The process of panning is rather simple, you set your camera at 1/30, make sure that it is exposed correctly focus on your moving object and follow this object. It is best with this technique to shoot in continuous mode so that you get multiple shoots and you can pick the best. You may require to slow the speed below 1/30 to create more motion, so experiment with this.

See the image example below.

ZOOM BURST - This process is a combination of playing with your zoom lens and speed. This is a simple process where you time how long it takes for you to zoom in or zoom out with your lens. The creative element is you expose the picture while you are either zooming in or out. You can also play with this type of technique by simply moving the camera in a set direction while the shutter is open.

MOTION BLUR

Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or long exposure.

Please understand that both creative blur and long exposure are forms of motion blur.

Here is how to make a motion blur photograph

1. Decrease your shutter speed. Shutter speed is the most critical factor to consider when capturing motion blur.

2. Use a smaller aperture.

3. Use the shutter priority mode.

4. Reduce your ISO setting.

5. Use neutral-density filters to create motion blur.

6. Stabilize your camera.

This step-by-step is the start of playing with slow shutter speed and capturing motion, each technique that I have mentioned in this blog has a set process, with key speeds, camera settings and the use of filters.

So the main tips I will give you are these three:

1. Use a tripod

2. Use a phone app or cable release

3. Use a self-timer

When you decide to slow your speed, this will prevent camera shake, unless you want the shake as an extra element to the picture remember the lovely quality of slow shutter speed photography is, that there is no right or wrong process, as this is where photography leads towards fine art and we release that what is classed as good or fine art is in the eye of the beholder.

If you would like to practice any of these techniques or learn while with a photographer then please book a 1:1 session, that can be completed virtually or within a 2 m social distance.

After reading this blog you should have learned about the different types of slow shutter speed photography.

If you have any further questions about this subject, please write them in the comments below or contact me directly.

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