Creating Movement in Photos

 

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Capturing photos of moving people and objects, like your

kid playing sports, may seem

daunting...but actually it can be very creative and FUN!

 

First, set your camera at shutter priority mode.

On my Canon it's the Tv mode. 

This way you can choose your shutter speed and

the camera will choose the aperature for the correct exposure.

 

The above photo is the typical FREEZE the action shot

achieved by using a fast shutter speed.

 

But you can also achieve this next look and SEE the motion:

 

Once again, these next two photos froze a moment

in time with a fast shutter speed.

 

 

But to create the look of motion with blur in the

background, you simply slow down the shutter and pan

with the moving subject.

 

It takes a ton of practice shots, but every so often

you get the face in good focus.

 

This next one was shot at 1/15 shutter speed:

 

 

Even when the face is blurred...I think it looks FAB!

 

William loved these photos of himself in action.

 

 

Okay, let's go through exactly how I did this.

 

Set your camera's focusing mode to Al Servo.

(Check your manual on how to do this on your camera.)

 

In this mode, while holding down your shutter button half way,

 your camera will continually adjust focus and exposure

as your subject moves.

 

 

This method works best when your subject is moving from right to

left, or left to right rather than moving towards or away from you.

 

Hold the shutter button halfway down and get initial focus on the moving subject

preferably the face.

 

Click the shutter all the way down and pan

with the movement until the shutter closes.

 

I know it's hard, but TRY to pan smoothly.  I tried using a

tripod, but it was highly irritating and confining, so I

prefer hand-holding the camera.

 

 

You will take a ton of photos trying to get a few

good ones.

 

But it is FUN!!!!

 

Try this with kids riding bikes, running, sledding, skating,

playing sports like soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball, football.

 

Place yourself so the movement is going left to

right or right to left.

 

I know you'll get some good ones and want to use

this method when your kids just want to be kids and MOVE!