image by https://panorist.com/attophoto

Having the knowledge of how to take pictures in movement is very important when you are a street photographer. Just because you probably can’t ask to your subject to stop while you take your picture, or perhaps you are also in movement. With the following tips you will learn how to do photography in movement.

Photography with movement

You might be in diferent photography situations:

• You are in movement, but your subject do not.
• You are stopped but your subject is in movement.
• You and your subject are both in movement

Each type of situation needs its camera configuration parameters, also depending on the result you want to capture. You have to decide if you want to capture an instant or if you prefer to get a photo with movement.

Taking a quick shot

When the subject is moving and you want to take a picture, for example, an athlete who is doing physical activity, then you should choose the faster shutter speed.

1.     Shutter Speed

You must use a shutter speed of at least 1/500 second or more. However, remember that fast shutter speeds can generate underexposed photos. Fast shutter speeds limit the amount of light entering image sensors, so the higher the shutter speed, the darker your images will be.

This wouldn’t be a big problem outdoors, but if you are indoors, you may need to fix it. You can counter underexposed photos using a flash, increasing its ISO, or changing the aperture. Remember the “triangle exposure”?

2.     Increasing The Aperture

The aperture is the hole where light enters your camera to the image sensor. Having a fast shooting speed, it is possible that not enough light enters through the camera and you will only get dark photos.

Choose a low f (“focal length”) to increase the opening and allow more light to enter. However, increasing the aperture can decrease the depth of field in your photo.

Increasing the aperture may lessen the depth of field of your photograph.

What does this mean? It means that many of the elements in your photography can be out of focus, especially the background. A high f can help you focus the entire scene, but a lower f, like f 2.8, can make the entire background seems like it’s out of focus.

How to create a movement effect

There are two ways to get a sense of movement in your images: Either your subject moves, or your camera moves (or both at the same time)

1. Secure Your Camera

In this type of shot, you must do everything possible to keep the camera perfectly stand. Whether using a tripod or placing your camera on some other stationary object (consider a shutter release mechanism or using the self-timer), you’ll want to make sure the camera is perfectly secured.

2. Slow Down Your Shutter Speed

The reason for motion blur is simply that the amount of time a camera’s shutter is open is long enough to allow your camera’s image sensor to “catch” your subject’s motion.

So, tip number one for capturing motion in an image is: select a longer shutter speed.

If the shutter speed is fast (for example 1/4000 of a second), you won’t see much movement (unless the subject is moving very fast), whereas if you select a longer shutter speed (for example , 5 seconds) you won’t need your subject to move too much.

3. Small Apertures

If you shoot in shutter priority mode, the camera will automatically shoot for you, but if you are in manual mode, you must decrease its Aperture by an amount proportional to the amount that lengthens the shutter speed.

Fortunately, this is not as difficult as you might think because the shutter speed and aperture settings are arranged in “stops.” As the shutter speed decreases with a “stop”, it doubles the amount of time the shutter is open (for example, 1/250 to 1/125). The same goes for the Aperture setting: as Aperture decreases at one stop, the size of the shutter aperture decreases by 50%. This is great because a 1-stop setting on one means you only need to set the other on 1 stop too and you’ll still get good exposure.

4. Decrease Your ISO

Another way to compensate for the extra light that a higher shutter speed lets into your camera is to adjust your camera’s ISO settings. ISO affects the sensitivity of your digital camera’s image sensor. A higher number will make it more sensitive to light, and a lower number will make the sensor less sensitive. If you choose a low number then you can choose longer shutter speeds.

5. Try Shutter Priority Mode

One of the most important settings when photographing an image that emphasizes motion is the shutter speed (as described above). Even small changes to the shutter speed will have a big impact on your shot, so you want to shoot in a way that gives you full control over it.

This means switching your camera to full manual mode or shutter priority mode. Shutter priority mode is a mode that allows you to set the shutter speed and where the camera chooses other settings (such as Aperture) to ensure the shot is well exposed. It is a very useful way to play, as it guarantees that you get the movement effect you are looking for.

How to do Panning

Imagine a photograph showing city lights with a visible light trail from passing cars. To take these types of shots, you must keep the camera steady so that it can capture the lights of the city. As a car passes, your camera will capture it as a light trail.

Panning works in reverse. Instead of holding your camera, you pan, move the camera to follow the moving car. As a result, the car is captured in focus while the rest of the city behind it is in a blur.

It is true that this is easier said than done. You will probably be more successful if you have a slowly moving subject, such as a running dog or a walking baby.

In any case, you should practice panning in your camera to get absolutely beautiful photos. But how to do panning?

1. Go for a slow shutter speed

Your shutter speed should be slower than what you normally use to take “normal” photos. Remember that other factors, such as light and subject speed, will help determine how slow the shutter speed should be.

Because you are using a slow shutter speed, you must keep your hand very stable or else a lot of camera shake (blur) will appear in your shots. You can also use a tripod that has a rotating head to help you keep your camera stable.

2. Choose a great background for your shot

When scrolling, the background will be blurred while the subject is in focus. However, that does not mean that your background is not distracting. Choose a background with a single color or solid colors without distracting the shapes.

3. Pre-focus your camera on the spot that you intend to take your shot

For example, you can start following the subject when it appears at the end of the block, even if you want to capture the subject when it reaches the center of the block. You must configure your camera so that the focus is sharper when the subject reaches the middle of the block.

4. Release the shutter as gently as possible to reduce camera shake

After releasing the shutter, continue to follow your subject to make sure the photo looks smooth. Now, practice!