Using a long shutter speed to emphasize movement is an old photography trick. The goal is to keep the subject sharp yet allow the background to blur.
For this particular shot of my Subaru Forester, I had a friend drive my car while I sat in the passenger's seat of another. I placed a bean bag on the top of the door with the window open to hold the camera steady and zoomed my 17-40 lens out to 40mm. With the camera set on shutter priority (TV) at 1/25th of a second, we held the two cars at about 40 MPH while I took a series of shots. The camera was set on continuous autofocus (meaning the camera was constantly seeking the best focus) and multi-shot mode (firing as long as I held down the shutter button, like a machine gun).
Using this technique, I was able to get the subject sharp, yet the shutter speed was low enough to allow the background to blur and impart the impression of speed much greater than we were actually going.
Notice how I framed the shot; with the car off center to the right, it allows it "room to move into the frame." Also, the position of the sun allowed the shadow to cast rearward, enhancing the feeling of forward movement (I tried the same shot going in the other direction and with the shadow in front of the car, it was not nearly as effective).
You could easily get this same kind of shot with your camera - let me know if you have any questions!
Discussion
0 repliesFor this particular shot of my Subaru Forester, I had a friend drive my car while I sat in the passenger's seat of another. I placed a bean bag on the top of the door with the window open to hold the camera steady and zoomed my 17-40 lens out to 40mm. With the camera set on shutter priority (TV) at 1/25th of a second, we held the two cars at about 40 MPH while I took a series of shots. The camera was set on continuous autofocus (meaning the camera was constantly seeking the best focus) and multi-shot mode (firing as long as I held down the shutter button, like a machine gun).
Using this technique, I was able to get the subject sharp, yet the shutter speed was low enough to allow the background to blur and impart the impression of speed much greater than we were actually going.
Notice how I framed the shot; with the car off center to the right, it allows it "room to move into the frame." Also, the position of the sun allowed the shadow to cast rearward, enhancing the feeling of forward movement (I tried the same shot going in the other direction and with the shadow in front of the car, it was not nearly as effective).
You could easily get this same kind of shot with your camera - let me know if you have any questions!