Creating a Sense of Motion

[Pichead]

My wife and I took my son to the St. Louis zoo this weekend. At the zoo is a merry-go-round and, of course, my son wanted to ride. So my wife took him on to pick out his animal and I set up to get some photos. My grandma was also along and hung out by me while I decided how to best capture the moment.

I immediately realized that a standard shot of my wife and son going by, while ideal and 'good' wouldn't be unique enough to warrant many second looks. Truthfully speaking, I have tens of thousands of pictures of them so I don't feel too bad when I use an opportunity like this to experiment a bit...

I wanted to show the motion of the merry-go-round, as there were great colors in the lights and the wooden/blue ceiling was standing out as being a good anchor for a shot. So, I found a place where I had an unobstructed view of the ride and started to mess with my settings while they were paying and waiting in line.

Because it was daytime, and very bright outside, I had to make some adjustments in order to get an extended exposure without blowing out most of the photo. So, I set my ISO as low as it would go, which on my D700 was a setting of 100. This requires more light to get to the sensor in order to achieve a correct exposure and I needed the extra time it would take to gather that light. I then put my camera to aperture mode and set it to the smallest aperture (largest f/#) which was f/22 on my 24-70mm lens. This is what was required to maximize my exposure time and create as much blur (motion) as possible.

I don't normally carry a tripod to family outings, and this was the case this weekend when I took this shot. So, I found a railing on which I could place my camera body in order to steady it. I then put the neck strap around my neck and 'pulled back' to put tension on the strap which helped to steady the camera. I took several test shots and found the position which would provide the best angle of view.

The exposure turned out to be 0.8 seconds which proved to be just long enough to give me the motion blur I desired, but not too long as to bring in the inevitable movement related to my not having a tripod. My grandma kept saying, "get ready, here they come" not knowing that I wasn't at all concerned with where they were at any given moment. And, I wasn't about to start giving her this explanation because, let's be honest, there are some people who would be interested, and some who wouldn't...

I'll admit. It's not that great. Truthfully, it's not even good. But I thought I might provide some useful tips related to on-site improvisation and creating a sense of movement with extended exposure times.

My wife wanted to see the 'frozen' shots of her and my son on the ride. I wanted to show her the motion blur that I'd worked out.

It's funny how (as with many shots I take) I want to break down my thought process and on-the-fly adjustments, in order to tell her how I was able to get the specific results...while she just wants to see a nice photo of her and my son passing by on the sea lion... Each type of shot is important to have. But truthfully, there were a hundred cameras pointed at that merry-go-round, and I suspect only one got a 'unique' shot...

[precious]

It is a great shot. As always, your tutorials are detailed and inspiring. Thankyou!

[evader]

another great shot and an even better break down of how you went about taking the shot. I always look forward to your posts...very informative.
Thanks for sharing

[morgandavis]

This is an awesome picture. Thanks for sharing it and how you took it.
You've inspired me to try something like this when the warmer weather comes and carousel opens here in my neck of the woods (Des Moines, Iowa).

[spottydog10]

Great explaination, Thanks
Mike

[jdepould]

You might also want to think about panning with a ~1/20 shutter speed, so your family is sharp, but there's motion around them.