15 Stunning Images Using Blur to Portray Movement
Photo by Mr Bones - No exposure settings supplied
Today, as a followup to our post earlier in the week A Beginners Guide to Capturing Motion in Your Photography I want to post a series of posts from Flickr that all illustrate a variation on the same theme - movement.
The following shots are all of moving subjects where the photographer has made the choice to set their camera to capture the movement as blur rather than freezing it. This is in all cases by choosing (or letting the camera choose) a ’slow’ shutter speed (although by slow you’ll see that the speeds (noted under each image) vary from anything from 1/30 second to up to 40 minutes).
Photo by Ben McLeod - Shutter Speed - 8 seconds
Photo by zane&inzane - Exposure Time - 10 minutes
Photo by PhotoToasty - Composition of 3 images at shutter speeds of between 1.6 seconds and 25 seconds
Photo by Amnemona - No exposure settings given
Photo by Sara Heinrichs - Exposure Time: 20 seconds
Photo by Mace2000 - 50 second exposure time
Photo by WisDoc - Shutter Speed - 1/30
Photo by Mace2000 - Shutter Speed - 50 seconds
Photo by Wam Mosely - Shutter speed - 4/5 of a second
Photo by Mace2000 - Exposure Time - 43 seconds
Photo by jon madison - Exposure - photographer estimates somewhere between 30-40 minutes
Photo by thorinside - Shutter Speed - 13 seconds
Photo by tschnitzlein - No Exposure information given
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Got some shots to share that use a slow shutter speed and capture movement? Share them with us at the DPS Forums in the Share Your Shots section.
86 Responses to “15 Stunning Images Using Blur to Portray Movement”
August 21st, 2007 at 12:59 am
Those are really great!
I really like the ‘Mace2000′ one!
August 21st, 2007 at 2:25 am
Sara Heinrich’s photo is excellent!
August 21st, 2007 at 3:22 am
Some of the images are brilliant.
My picks:
zane&inzane
Mace2000
August 21st, 2007 at 3:28 am
Okay, so this is probably a dumb question, but I’m a serious newby, so give me a break. When using slow shutter speeds during the day, how is that these photographs aren’t extremely over-exposed? When you adjust the shutter speed to this amount, what else do you change to properly expose your photo?
August 21st, 2007 at 3:55 am
I’ve found a good easy and fun way to get motion shots is to stand in the middle of a moving merry go round and take someone/something’s photo that is also on the merry go round. You get a goos still shot int he middle with a moving background. I suspect the first shot uses this method or something similar.
August 21st, 2007 at 4:49 am
OK, I’m giving up photography right now - I’ll never be able to do anything like that! Joking aside, what an absolutely stunning collection of photos.
August 21st, 2007 at 6:17 am
I would have never thought to use the “slow” shutter speed to achieve some of the effects that they do. Now I’ve really got to get that darn tripod so I can test some of that out.
August 21st, 2007 at 7:28 am
Greg - good question and one I’ll cover in the next ‘how to’ tutorial on this very topic.
But one of the things that some of them use is a filter called an ND (neutral density) filter which is like putting sunglasses on your camera (so less light gets in).
August 21st, 2007 at 9:35 am
Great post! It’s really inspiring to see such a wide range of photos showcasing a particular technique - I’m going to try for a wind-blown-clouds shot.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:12 am
The top image looks more like a pan - not necessarily a shot with a very slow shutter speed?
August 21st, 2007 at 11:59 am
You’re right Bec - but it’s still ’slow’ as relative to the speed of the movement in the shot - thus creating the feeling of movement via blur….
August 21st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
Hey Greg,
Im quite a newbie too but this is what i do when i want to slow down the shutter in a bright environment, just increase the aperture.
WisDoc and Ben McLeod’s pictures are awesome!
Ben for managing to hold his camera that still in a car and Wisdoc for moving his camera fast enough to get an *almost* sharp image.
Kudos guys.
August 21st, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Thanks for showcasing my image (teddy bear) here! I was wondering where all the recent hits came from. Since Photoshop ate the EXIF data and some expressed interest in the technical process/settings I’ll try to answer here.
This was taken early evening in a fairly shaded area.
27mm effective focal length
f22
0.5 sec exposure
polarizing filter (reduces the light another stop or so; don’t have an ND filter)
Set up the camera on the opposite seat, focus, self timer and a good push of the merry-go-round. Off they go. Repeat till you get something you like. Just secure your camera in some way so it doesn’t fly off of the seat.
August 21st, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Excellent shots, thanks MrBones for the explanation :)
August 21st, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I loved the Dog’s photo. Excellent Panning. I am an amateur but think thats the toughest technically among the all.
Great shots, loved this post
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 am
Congrats!
Very nice photos and great ideas to try.
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:25 am
Thanks for showing my pictures here! :-)
August 24th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
WOW what great pictures, it’s the kind of pictures that really take me somewhere else, I really hope I can get shots like the ones here!
August 26th, 2007 at 1:43 am
I’m with Greg (a newbie also). Mace2000 had a 43 sec exposure…why is that not totally over exposed?
August 26th, 2007 at 7:20 am
check out this for a car shot
http://mssv.deviantart.com/art/Its-not-a-race-its-a-journey-39406025
August 26th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Wow that´s a great shot Shaun hod did you pull that off? How could you freeze the driver while all the lights outside the car were moving?
August 26th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Really inspiring shots indeed… now let’s try this by ourself =)
August 27th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Just to let you know that someone’s stolen your post.
It’s been reprinted here: http://weirdworldstuff.blogspot.com/2007/08/stunning-images-using-blur-to-portray.html
August 30th, 2007 at 9:08 am
@pinguy: thanks for the hint. seems like the site is off now.
August 30th, 2007 at 10:39 am
thanks pinguy - I saw it last night too and emailed them to get them to remove it. Seems it worked.
August 31st, 2007 at 5:09 pm
wow..those are amazing shots! especially the one by Amnemona - how would you get such a shot? i’m quite new to photography…but it seems like that one will need a slightly diff technique to the other photos??
also, is it possible to ’set up’ for shots like this using simple point and shoot cameras? the only settings i can find on my camera (Nikon Coolpix 4100) is exposure (ranging -2.0 ~ +2.0)…the only time I managed to get a moving shot was when i was on a merry-go-round, though that was a lucky shot!
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:35 am
Hi pyko, the shot by Amnemona was probably done in a car or any moving thing and a slow shutter speed the reason the do was not completely in focus is probably the wind blowing his hair but if it was a car with no windows open the dog would have been in perfect focus…….although the picture would be less dynamic.
I think my fave of the lot is the Photo by thorinside its beautiful
September 3rd, 2007 at 12:38 am
Could be panning but it doesnt look like it and if it is its a little blurry and badly controlled
September 5th, 2007 at 5:09 am
I thought my pics were nice, capturing speed that way…
http://flickr.com/photos/pomarc/57214038/
http://flickr.com/photos/pomarc/1315574514/
THEN I’ve seen these you show in this post… And I changed my mind!
September 5th, 2007 at 6:17 am
The following shots are all of moving subjects where the photographer has made the choice to set their camera to capture the movement as blur rather than freezing it… Very interesting, thank you.
September 6th, 2007 at 10:58 am
WOW!
Nice pictures!
September 9th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Answering to Greg’s and Dave’s question:
Those pictures aren’t overexposed because accordingly to shutter increase, aperture value and/or sensitivity (ISO factor) of matrix (in digital cameras) or film (in analogue cameras) was decreased.
September 19th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
That’s very cool
September 21st, 2007 at 6:54 am
I love those dogs :) Nice one
November 14th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I love these. Especially the Doll!
December 3rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
hay.. i just want to say all of the 15 shot are amazing i have never tried enything like this before BUT…..i have 2 start because it is part of my next project (shutter speed and apature)it looked soooooo funnnn!!!! i have been inspired by your shot and hopefully u guys wont mind me using it for research..^________^thank u……………*_^
January 7th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Just remember, at the most basic level, everything in photography is a balance of just 3 factors:
1) film speed (how quickly the film records the image from light - also affects detail level/saturation - fast film (ISO 1000) absorbs light more quickly than slow film (ISO 100))
2) shutter speed (how long an opening between the subject and the film is made - smaller value = faster shutter = less light)
3) aperture (the size of the opening between the subject and the film - smaller value = small hole between subject and film = higher f-stop = less light = greater focal range - imagine the camera is squinting)
So if you wanted to have a slow shutter speed (more light), you could balance it out by using slower film (light affects it more slowly) and/or small aperture/high f-stop (less light).
Similarly, when you want to have a very fast shutter speed to catch very quick action (less light), you have to balance it out using fast film (light affects it more quickly) and/or large aperture/low f-stop (more light).
Give up your cheap point-and-shoot digital camera and get an SLR, digital or analog. And learn to interpret your light meter!
January 12th, 2008 at 7:22 am
Great work with the images. Love the creativity.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
The mind’s eye is a pretty amazing feature of the human spirit. These photos are all poetry the way the blur highlights each subject.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Those pictures are great, and at the moment I have a project with slow shutter speeds. I love the effect the water get when you use the slow shutter speeds! amazing…
when you say composition of 3 images, do you then mean that 3 images were put together into one?
Check out my slow shutter speed pictures:
http://www.madsnorgaard.net/portfolio.html
March 7th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
These pictures are great! when you say “composition of 3 images…” do you then mean that 3 images were put together to form one image?
I have also done some work with slow shutter speeds and panning: http://www.madsnorgaard.net
March 11th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The one of the dog and the bottom one look suspiciously photoshoped. Maybe someone can set me straight.
March 12th, 2008 at 1:48 am
I don’t think they are photoshoped as you can make those effect by using a slow shutter speed! I don’t know how this image has been done though: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/blur-movement/
???
June 5th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Great photos and an excellent selection to help get the creative juices flowing.
Thanks
June 25th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Really nice selection of images… but for me, personally it’s Markal’s shot that steals the show (Japan street setting / last photo). Very nice movement blur and something I haven’t seen before… the other photos are all very nice, just that it’s been done a re-done a million times over.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:28 am
It’s probably been explained, I just haven’t read all the comments.
But the photos with slow shutter speeds aren’t overexposed because of the aperture, also known as the fstop. There is a balance of both of them to get a stunning image.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Fantastic ! especially the circus wheel seems incredible.
November 10th, 2008 at 5:03 am
Very nice collection and stunning work with the camera and colors….let alone the images in this fashion!
November 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
I actually managed to do one similar to the second one shown (the car) - totally by accident, naturally, haha.
November 13th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Wow dude you got to admit that is pretty cool stuff.
jess
http://web-anonymity.vze.com
November 13th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Can you elaborate on how you obtained permission for usage of these photos from Flickr?
Many of them, including those from Mr.Bones, Mace2000, WisDoc, and Sara Heinrichs, have the Flickr permission settings to “All Rights Reserved”, which means that you may not republish the images without explicit permission from the copyright holder.
Its commonly thought that images on Flickr, on anywhere on the web for that matter, are free for the taking for any purpose.
I’m sensitive to this issue because my images have been stolen many times, so I always watermark them now. Three of my images, in fact, were used without my permission for a commercial restaurant, including their masthead image, and I’m currently preparing an invoice to send them based on research I’ve done on stock image sites like Getty.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Great pictures, seeing these and all the comments on the carnival ride, makes me think folks like my shot at this, available on: http://rocket9.net/page2.htm
Halfway down the page is my panoramic picture of the MD State Fair, at night in the rain. Pano is available at 4900×600 pixels or 9800×1200. Besides the ride blur, plenty of moving people blur. All shot hand-held (though a tripod really woulda made it all easier).
November 13th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
You could have added some shots with explo-zoom technique, otherwise it was complete and interesting! :)
Seb
November 14th, 2008 at 12:11 am
These are all great examples but I really like waterfall shots.
Here are some I captured this summer.
http://www.petelanglois.net/waterfalls
Pete
November 14th, 2008 at 12:17 am
Achieving movement is pretty easy at night as you can capture the available light. The the day time it’s slightly trickier as you can very easily overexpose the shot. A Neutral Density Filter is a great addition to any camera bag kit as you can achieve longer exposure times and still achieve a correct exposure. I’m yet to buy one but it’s on my Amazon Wishlist ;)
November 14th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Wowee that tree is exquisite. Those images really inspire me.
November 14th, 2008 at 1:14 am
WisDoc’s is amazing - while other shots are more stunningly beautiful, technically, his capture of a running dog is incredible. First, he had to have a dog running flat out fast, then get the right camera angle, setting etc. so he gets my vote for the best.
November 14th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Oh, I really enjoyed those even though I got a little motion sick. ;)
November 14th, 2008 at 1:47 am
i loooooooooooooooooooove Photo by Sara Heinrichs!!!!
it’s toooooooooooo pretty!!!
when i have a dslr i will want to take pix like all of these!!!! yeah!!
November 14th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Photographs of Sarah Heinrichs is really captivating. Well my first choice would be first photo of Mr. Bones. It’s creative enough.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ignoto_someoneski/2981371043/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ignoto_someoneski/2977775210/
November 14th, 2008 at 2:48 am
more story recycling?
November 14th, 2008 at 3:09 am
@ The Floating frog - That’s probably why I was able to get my one in the car.
@ Pete - I really like the waterfalls shots, too. I checked out yours as well, they’re great!
@ Steven - That sucks about the restaurant using your images without permission. I hope you get it sorted out.
November 14th, 2008 at 3:40 am
Wow, it’s so hard to pick a favorite cause they all look really cool, good collection.
November 14th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Really awesome shots. I’m particularly happy to see the shutter speeds listed…great bit of info to have.
Another pretty waterfall picture - http://pa.photoshelter.com/img-show/I0000m6e7iykAlKs
November 14th, 2008 at 4:37 am
Technically, a lot of these weren’t “blurred”. They were shot with long exposure time & either pan / tilt / zoom.
Blur (or a lot of people mistook for background bokeh) has nothing to do with the above shooting techniques. Blur happens when you introduce camera / lens shakes.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:44 am
Those shots are amazing. I love the blur effect especially when used at night. Seeing the trails of tail lights and headlights makes pictures look so cool.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:28 am
The pics are really amazing.. I never thought such beautiful landscape shots (the once with moving clouds) can be taken with long exposure. I need to try it
I have a few shots which shows motion.
Please let me know what do you think.
thanks,
Dinuraj
November 14th, 2008 at 8:30 am
The pics are really amazing.. I never thought such beautiful landscape shots (the once with moving clouds) can be taken with long exposure. I need to try it
I have a few shots which shows motion.
http://flickr.com/photos/kdinuraj/3001091462/
http://flickr.com/photos/kdinuraj/3000252849/
Please let me know what do you think.
thanks,
Dinuraj
November 14th, 2008 at 11:02 am
whoever this is didn’t get permission from myself, that’s for sure.
thanks for the feature, but i’d appreciate if you would at least *ask* before using my photographs.
j.
November 14th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
long exposure photography is really very interest,the photographs which are amazing to me.definitely i will try to shoot some of moving object.
thanks for sending this article, to me it is a opportunity to think and try
regards
srkalvala
November 14th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Jon - I’ve emailed you. Very sorry about this - I’m a bit confused as to why we used your image when we originally posted this post a year back - but we’ll get to the bottom of it.
November 15th, 2008 at 3:02 am
A couple of the posts implied that using Photoshop to achieve the effect would be “cheating” and I guess I can understand that sentiment. But as better cheater than a photographer, I’d be interested in knowing what filter can be used in PS or Photoshop elements to achieve the same effect (I don’t think the “blur filter” will create the sense of motion that I am looking for.
November 15th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Wow, there are so many talented photographers out there it is amazing.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:26 am
great selection of motion capture!!! I love them real and not photoshoped, just missing one spinning kid!!! :D ouch, reminds me how it hurts!! :D
November 19th, 2008 at 7:29 am
I love these shots. I’ve recently started to get into photography a lot more and found a love for long exposures.
Here’s one I took a few weeks back. The settings are underneath the pic. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22613062@N04/3024281208/
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:05 am
Impressive images! Thanks for sharing!
December 14th, 2008 at 6:28 am
it is impossible to dislike theese photos.
January 19th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
wow, cool!! amazing!!
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:34 am
Love this site, you are doing a great job.
Thanks,
JD
February 14th, 2009 at 3:27 am
i like the pictures and also the site.
February 15th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I find it completely unnecessary to choose a favorite. These images are all exquisite in different ways.
You don’t have to use a fancy camera to achieve this effect. When I was in third grade (in the 1960s) I took a snapshot of my friends while we were on a spinning structure on a playground, which turned out very similar to the teddy bear shot by Mr Bones. I was using a “brownie” type camera - fixed shutter speed, fixed aperture. The key is that I was moving at the same speed as my friends, because I was sitting in the middle of the spinning structure (whatever it’s called). So, in relation to my camera, my friends were perfectly still, while the background spun around us.
February 18th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I’m glad to find that some people appreciate my photography (markal shot on this page). However, I believe it is customary to ask for permission before using a photograph that has clearly set “All Rights Reserved” in the permissions on the Flickr page. And I see I am not the only one to have a photograph used without being asked first.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Mark - as I said in my email to you I’ve removed the image and apologize. I don’t know how it happened as we work hard to keep images used on this site CC licensed. The process we use to get images from Flickr stops us from using all rights reserved images - so I’m confused how this happened.
Any chance you changed your licence sine this was originally published in 2007? That’s the only explanation I can think of.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:11 pm
This images are really stunning. But pls try and analyze it one after the other.
June 5th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
hey darren excellent one !!!!!!!
the magic is due to servoAF (
auto Focus) , isn’t it ?
June 6th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Love this site. Great pictures. I am in the market for a new Canon Portrait lens. Anyone have good suggestions?
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