Ideas for using motion blur photography.

Learn fun and creative ways to incorporate motion blur photography into your portfolio.

While many people think of motion blur as a technical mistake, when used intentionally, it can actually be an effective creative technique that you can use to enhance your images and add visual interest.

Tips to create controlled motion blur.

To create controlled motion blur in your images, follow these simple steps:

1. Slow down your shutter speed: A slow shutter is necessary to create motion blur in your images. Ideally, set your shutter to 1/60 second or slower to capture the blur effect.
2. Select what parts of your image you want to be blurred: You may want to capture the blur of a subject’s movement, or alternatively, capture a sharp subject with a blurred background.
3. Control your camera movement: When creating controlled motion blur, use a tripod to eliminate unwanted camera movement.

Four interesting ways you can use motion blur in your photography.

From sports to street photography, intentional motion blur can add energy and excitement into your images. Here are some fun ways to use motion blur:

• Add energy to sports photography: Motion blur helps to emphasize the speed and power of athletes in competition.
• Create stunning night photography: Use very slow shutter speeds to capture dazzling light trails during night photography from moving objects like cars.
• Give the feeling of speed: Allow fast-moving objects to blur with their movement to capture the feeling of speed in an image.
• Isolate your subject: Move your camera with your subject and allow the background to blur to create a sharp separation between subject and background.

Explore what more you can do to add motion blur and other effects to a photo with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom today.