Blurred foreground

foxystoat

Hi moose, loving the fact I've come across your website. It is really easy to follow guidance and tips. :-)

Quick query.

Say I'm standing near the edge of the road with my camera facing the same way as the traffic is traveling.

If I wanted to try and get the vehicle image slightly stretched/blurred (to enhance the feeling of speed), but the rest of the photo (background) in focus, what's the best way to achieve this?

Thanks :)

update photo 4 in the sequence on here sort of explains it, but could do with slightly easier explanation: http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/hcht3dfr/shooting-long-exposures.html#!

ohyeahar

Here’s what you need to do:

Shoot in M (manual) mode.

Focus manually to infinity (i.e., switch to manual focus and turn the focus ring to focus as far away as possible).

You’ll need to shoot at a small aperture; maximum is probably f/22. This will make sure everything from foreground to background is sharp.

You’ll need to shoot at a slow shutter speed to blur the traffic. The example you provided was shot at 1/15 second. You’ll need to experiment with this since it depends on how fast the traffic is moving and how pronounced you want the blur effect. Shoot faster for less blur, shoot slower for more blur.
Use a tripod.
Also use either a remote or timer release for the shutter.

The ISO would depend on the ambient lighting. Try ISO 100 first since it should be good enough due to the slow shutter speed. Boost it if you find it’s too dark.

foxystoat

Thanks, that's brilliant. I'll be trying this sometime soon :-)