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Blurs in the image are popular and attractive design elements. They are created by two photographic causes. By the chosen aperture, which can only bring a part of the image into focus. Or by movement, either of the camera and/or the subject.
While cameras are becoming equipped with better and better "eyes" that can focus faster and more precisely, it's often the blurs in the image that look particularly attractive or that help to set a subject off beautifully. Normal blurring occurs because most lenses are barely able to keep everything sharp from front to back. The area of focus is technically referred to as depth of field. The blur in the image is called bokeh (Japanese boke for fuzzy, blurred). The sharpness and the blur merge smoothly, depending on the subject. The more open the aperture (for example, f2.8), the smaller the depth of field. The more closed the aperture (for example f25), the larger the area that is in focus. A subject that is in focus looks clearer against a background that is completely out of focus; it stands out particularly well on it. Many genres of photography thrive on blurring. Here are just two examples from macro photography and portrait photography, where I have staged blurs in front of and behind the subject.
Blur is created in front of and behind the sharp subject by an open aperture. On the left I used aperture f3.2, on the right I used aperture f2.8 for the portrait. The further away the foreground or background is from the sharp subject, the blurrier it gets.
After this introductory explanation of blur, I would like to turn to motion blur. It occurs when the camera and/or the subject is moving. In the simpler case, you hold the camera still (or on a tripod) and the subject moves. Depending on the speed of the movement you have to adjust the exposure time. With a short exposure time (for example 1/1000 second) you will freeze movement, with a longer exposure time the moving subject will become increasingly blurred.
In the example below, I poked the poppy on the right side of the image and exposed it at 1/20 sec. The aperture was set to f25 to get the greatest possible depth of field across the entire image. Closing the aperture also creates a sun star where the sun's rays are visible. So the blur is a motion blur. The same effects occur when you photograph moving flowers in the wind.
St. Blasius Chapel, Alberswil LU. The motion blur on the right of the picture was taken with an exposure time of 1/20 second.
I took this wipe shot at 1/3 second and pulled the camera up slightly during the shot. Try photographing flowers this way once and try different exposure times. Random wiping effects will result. Choose subjects that have a big contrast to the background (color contrast or light-dark contrast.
I applied the same wiping effect in the forest floor covered by wild garlic in Sihlwald ZH. The exposure time here is 1 second. I held the camera still for a moment to get some sharpness into the image, only after half a second I gently pulled the camera up.
Wipe shots are relatively easy and don't need much practice. You just need to set the shutter speed long enough so that the blur is visible while the camera is panning.
If you have a zoom lens, you can also turn the zoom ring once during a long shot. The blur is then created centrally from the center outward.
On the Stanserhorn in the early morning with a view of Stans and Lake Lucerne, before sunrise. In the picture on the right, I turned the zoom ring during the exposure. The camera was on the tripod, the shutter speed was 6 seconds. It gives the impression of sun rays.
On the Stanserhorn overlooking Lake Lucerne at 1:45 am. 6400 ISO and a shutter speed of 1.3 seconds, zoom 24-70 mm. During the exposure I turned the zoom ring very slightly.
The most demanding discipline are shots in which moving subjects are in focus, while the background blurs in the blur. To do this, I stand along a path or road and let the moving subjects pass me by. I focus on the subjects and pull the camera along with the subject for the duration of the shot. For slow subjects like bicycles or pedestrians, I try 1/20 to 1/60 second. The difficulty with this is that the slow shutter speed does not produce sharpness when there is movement. This only works through trial and error and a little experience. In most shots, both the subject and the background will be blurred. But even such blurry images can be quite attractive, provided you don't belong to the guild of sharpness fetishists. For aperture, I prefer medium apertures around f8, and shutter speed depends on the lens used and the speed of the subject. For cars or trains, the shutter speed can be faster than 1/30 second. I find out the ideal shutter speed in each case by trial and error. The motto is: keep the shutter speed as fast as possible to get the sharpness of the moving subject. Whether the background is a little more or less blurred is not so important for the image. I shoot with aperture priority when there is motion blur: I set the shutter speed fixed, the aperture changes depending on the light situation. In the other case I pre-select shutter speed and aperture, the ISO value is then automatically determined by the camera (recommendation: range of 100-1000 ISO).
I use a normal lens or a wide-angle lens in the range of 24 to 35 mm for these shots. The subject should be imaged as completely as possible, cropping is always possible, never cropping. For all those who consider the feet on each person picture important: They are not very relevant for the picture. When pulling along, I prefer to focus on the head instead of the pedals. Even if the feet are sometimes cut off.
The longer the focal length, the more difficult it is to make accurate pans with the camera. My personal limit for successful shots is the 35 mm lens. The closer you are to the moving object, the better the motion control. I always shoot through the viewfinder and never through the display. It gives me better fine motor control of the camera.
The background is also important - a blue sky or a monotonous concrete wall are unfavorable. Therefore, choose a background for your location that thrives on light-dark contrast. A light forest is an example where the play of light and shadow leads to effective wiping effects. I also prefer backlighting for this reason, because in this light the contrast in the background comes into its own better. Let's take a look at what happens on a bike route in the Napf area and in the Emmental ...
As an example I show here a forest background, which lives from the light-dark contrast. I exposed the picture with 1/80 sec., unfortunately the camera did not focus on the subject, but on the background. My distance with the 35 lens to the person is about two meters. The speed is moderate. Such reject shots are quite normal.
Photographing from a bicycle is only recommended if safety is not compromised. The new generation of cameras and lenses with 5x image stabilizer also allow for moving and spontaneous moments. Here with the 35 lens, 1/250 sec, 800 ISO, f11 aperture. Resolution and sharpness are so good that you can see the flying photographer reflected in the sunglasses.
This photo was taken at 1/250 sec, aperture f22 and 800 ISO. The drag effect manifests itself in the slight motion blur in the background, while the bike is relatively sharp. The motion blur is greater at the edges of the image than in the center. A blur in the sky disappears, it is hardly noticeable there.
Exposure time is 1/25 sec, 35mm, f22 aperture. The speed of the wheel is estimated to be 20 km/h. Despite the slight motion blur of the rider, the large background blur is a major design factor.
If the sharpness is sufficient, the crop can be chosen in retrospect. It is better to use a smaller lens that leaves a lot of surrounding space. Speed photos are not photographed to size, but cropped in post processing.
In this photo it is clear that the motion blur is smallest in the center and largest at the edges. By the way, in the center of the picture the background is dark, which leads to especially vivid results in backlight.
Forest roads are always narrow, so I choose intersections, curves or bulges that allow a greater distance to the bike. With the 35 mm lens, I'm often too close, which is why the feet or head are sometimes cropped. With a moving subject, precise framing is not so easy - if you operate with a wide angle, you're on the safe side.
I also use the continuous shooting function, which writes twelve to twenty images per second to the card on my Canon EOS R5. In practice, however, I experience phenomena that I can't really explain yet. The following series of images was taken with a shutter speed of 1/15 second, autofocus on tracking (servo), aperture f11. The photos of the running series show a different sharpness: once the rider is in blur, once she is in focus, once the front wheel is in focus, once the rear wheel.
Within a series of images taken with continuous shooting and focus tracking, the image sharpnesses lie irregularly. Even at this resolution, the phenomenon is clearly visible with the wheels.
Here, too, a blurring problem becomes visible within the image series.
To identify the problem, I investigated the question why this is so. I got quite different approaches to solve it:
1. Rolling shutter effect. To explain the effect would go beyond the scope here, interested people can watch various tutorials on YouTube. However, I haven't found any such phenomena yet, the rolling shutter effect looks quite different.
2. Use a mechanical shutter instead of an electronic one. With mirrorless system cameras, the shutter type can be set. The purely electronic shutter takes up to 20 fps, the mechanical shutter up to 12 fps. However, the speed depends on various factors and cannot be selected precisely. With a speed of 20 fps and a shutter speed of 1/15, something doesn't add up ...
3. Do not shoot in full format. My 45 megapixel camera produces a data volume of 12 times 45 megapixels in one second. After all, 540 million pixels have to be handled in one second! Maybe it has to do with the writing and reading speed?
4. Increase the buffering with a fast card. The problem may have to do with the intermediate buffering from the camera to the card. However, I use the fast CF Express cards ... That can hardly be the problem.
5. Switch off the stabilizer of the lens. The image stabilizer is able to compensate for small unintentional camera shake. In wipe shots, the camera movement is intentional, consequently the image stabilizer would have to be turned off. For me, this is the most plausible explanation.
I haven't found the precise answer yet, maybe someone from the circle of readers knows? What is certain is that the high intelligence of today's cameras does not necessarily mean that shooting is easier to manage. On the contrary, I have to deal with the technology and camera functions more than ever. The phenomenon of motion blur is sometimes amusing, even though the shots were never planned that way ...
Finally, a few impressions with motion blur that have a special appeal.
Kart track Spreitenbach. ¼ second exposure, during the shot I additionally rotated the zoom ring.
Motocross in Wohlen. Taken with an SLR camera, 35 mm, ISO 100, aperture f6.3, 1/60 second, camera pulled along. Again, the sharpness is different in different zones.
A collage of three different images can also be ordered relatively easily as greeting cards. Here the increasing motion blur and moving out of format is part of the design game.
You can find more ideas and photos in the book: «Fotografie für dich»
Ralf Turtschi; Fotografie für dich; 272 pages, hardcover with adhesive binding and round spine, with over 750 photos and illustrations; price Fr. 40.- (excl. shipping/packaging); includes two vouchers, one for Fr. 30.- from Bookfactory, one for Fr. 20.- from Printolino. Self-published.
Information and orders via the webshop: www.fotografie-fuer-dich.ch or in bookshops