Shooting Series: Motion

Shekinah Shazaam Photography · February 19, 2017 · Blogging, Photography, Shooting Series · 0 comments


In continuation of my shooting series, this week I’d like to give a couple tips in regards to shooting motion. At some point, you may find yourself wanting to freeze or intentionally blur an action. Both tips will be dependent on setting your shutter speed properly, but are very easy to achieve once you get into the habit. So without further ado, let’s get in!


Tip 1: Freezing Motion

In order to freeze motion, you will need your shutter speed to be set very fast. But you can’t set it so high that not enough light will get in. So you have two options here: you can either put your camera in shutter priority mode and let the camera figure things out, or you can keep fiddling in manual mode until (with practice) you know what your best settings will be.


The speed at which your subject is moving also plays a large role. For instance, you will need a faster shutter speed for someone who is running vs someone who is walking. (Think 1/1000th vs 1/100th.)


Tip 2: Blurring Motion

In order to blur motion, you will need your shutter speed to be set very slow. Just as a high shutter speed allows less light in, a slower shutter speed allows more light in. You have to be careful not to overexpose your subject because of this.


A great help for slow exposures is to mount your camera on a tripod & use a remote. Doing so will ensure that there isn’t any camera shake disrupting your image.


Specific examples of what I’ve done won’t be helpful since every person will be tackling different subject matter with different camera bodies, lenses, and times of day. But I will say that mastering how you want to show motion will come very quickly after a little practice.


May the light be with you.








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