motion blur photos... on purpose (Blurpose)

The end of summer is upon us. Well, technically, it's already fall, but here in Florida, we still have a little longer until we get true sweater weather. My wife and I had a sitter on a beautiful Saturday, so we took a much-needed day-date to a local nursery. We ate tacos and finished the day with a walk on Vilano Beach to watch the sunset. As always, we had cameras on hand to document the day, but when we got to the beach, everything started to look... well, boring. So, I decided to experiment.

I've created motion blur photos in the past, and you probably have too. It's not really that complicated, but if you're interested in learning the steps to achieve this look with your own camera, scroll to the end of the post for the most simple step-by-step tutorial you'll ever read.

Taking motion blur photos can be a fun way to experiment at a boring or familiar location or add an extra dimension to your images on a dull, overcast day when the lighting is less than ideal. Motion blur is a popular trend online right now, and many photographers use this effect to exaggerate movement, often with a nostalgic feel that can sometimes enhance an otherwise tolerable image. It's okay, just overuse it.

All of the images were captured using the Fujifilm X-Pro 2 and a 16mm 1.4 lens, with the exception of the portrait of me below, which Candace made using the Sony ZV-1. I always shoot in RAW and edit in Lightroom Classic. This set was processed using Cinegrading Lightroom presets.

Here's the overly simplified rundown if you're interested in learning how to create motion blur images.

Motion blur is pretty simple to achieve with any camera that has manual controls for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. You'll need to set your ISO as low as it will go, select a slow shutter speed around 1/15 - 1/30 of a second, choose a small aperture, shake camera and viola.

Step 1. Switch your camera dial to M (manual) mode, it's not that scary, I promise.

Step 2. Change your ISO to its lowest setting, typically this is around 100.

Step 3. Select a shutter speed around 1/15th - 1/30th of a second.

Step 4. Adjust your aperture until you have a correct exposure.

Step 5. Shake your camera while pressing the shutter button.

Tip 1.

Starting out, try shaking your camera in very small movements. Depending on the scene and the effect you're aiming to achieve, you can shake it vertically, horizontally, or at any angle you want. Just avoid shaking it like a polaroid. Small circles and quickly spinning the camera like a steering wheel, will also result in interesting effects. In these images, I used vertical, horizontal, and 45-degree movements, but feel free to experiment with your scene and have fun with it.

Tip 2.

A neutral density filter helps because they block the amount of light coming into your lens by a stop or two depending on the type of filter, this allows you to manage your ISO and aperture more reasonably but it's not necessary at all, some cameras have built-in ND filters but I didn't use one here.

That's it, I hope you enjoyed this set. Go experiment, have fun, and keep growing.