Capturing a sense of motion with shutter speed
A common issue some people have is getting their images to portray a sense of movement. Today we are going to look at how adjusting our shutter speed can help achieve the desired look that we want. For this simple example we will look at a ceiling fan taken at different shutter speeds so you can see how adjusting the shutter speed through an entire typical range can help you achieve the exact look you are aiming for.
Often we try to use the fastest shutter speed possible to help avoid blur but when shooting a moving object you sometimes need some amount of blur or it can look like the subject of the image is sitting still. In many cases you want to have the sense of movement to help convey the story of the object.In the case of the ceiling fan we want to show a little movement of the blades since the moving blades is going to be more typical of what you would see by looking at the fan once installed. We also want to show that this is a five-bladed fan so we have to be careful not to have too much blur that we lose all the details.
Let’s take a look at a series of shots taken at different shutter speeds:
1/10th Second - Way too much blur
1/25th Second - Better but lacking detail
1/40th Second - Looking good
1/100th Second - Not enough, just looks fuzzy
1/200th Second - Almost no movement
As you can see the photos taken at the two extreme ranges show either far too much blur or not enough blur to make for a good image. The photo taken at 1/40th maintains a little more detail than the images shot at 1/25 making it a more suitable image for our use.
Summary
The whole point here is to get you to experiment more with shutter speeds to capture a sense of movement, action, or speed. By adjusting the shutter speed you can control how much or how little the blur effect will have.
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I still see a piece of my finger on one of those blades! Seriously (as I accidentally stuck my hand in the fan the last time I was over)
I still see a piece of my finger on one of those blades! Seriously (as I accidentally stuck my hand in the fan the last time I was over)
I still see a piece of my finger on one of those blades! Seriously (as I accidentally stuck my hand in the fan the last time I was over)
[...] Capturing movement with shutter speed [...]
[...] Capturing a sense of motion http://cameradojo.com/2008/08/31/capturing-a-sense-of-motion-with-shutter-speed/ [...]
Nice illustration. Clear and simple.
Nice illustration. Clear and simple.
Nice post – straight and to the point.
Great post! Very understandable even to a newbie like me.
Great post! Very understandable even to a newbie like me.
(no english native speaker) way too simple… achieving movement sensation it's not only a matter of blur. it's about visual dynamics. for example: paintings used to be statics given the nature of the creative process, so then, if you paint suspended animation, you'll provide motion sense. if you arrange lines and composition, you can do it too… so keep in mind, that it is a lot more complex, than just adjusting the shutter speed. this kind of tutorial is intended to make things look easier than they really are, so you can feel the achievement quick. but you'll be taking the same photograph everybody does, and there i'll be no personal vision… sorry for my english, it's not my language
This article was intended to discuss the use of shutter speeds to show how to capture or freeze motion and I feel it exceeds n that role. t was not intended to cover the artistic side of the composition.