Photography is about capturing a moment in time to remember and to show to others. Sometimes we do this without thinking about, but other times people use specific techniques and camera settings to create the illusion of motion within the image.

This first selection of images captures the motion and freezes it. If you look closely, you can sometimes see things that show the motion like some hair that is out of place, other times you can see things defying gravity or the object in the image defying gravity.



Another way to show motion is to use multiple exposures and either having them layered together so the object looks like a ghost with a solid background, other times the images are layered so it looks like there are multiples of the same person within the image.



One of the most common ways to show the motion within a picture is to have the main object moving fast enough that it is blurred within the picture. With a shutter speed of 60+, you can stop the motion of most moving object so you need to use a tripod and a slower shutter speed, unless you are shooting something that moves fast. Often times when I am shooting hockey pictures, I'll shoot with 250 so I can stop it as the players and everything move fast.

In the following images though, the shutter speed is slow enough that the object moves while the picture is being captured.



A more difficult way to show the motion is if you are using a slow shutter speed and moving the camera while your subject is moving. The goal is to pan at the same speed as the movement. This then allows the subject to stay on the same place of the sensor or film, keeping it sharp. However, since the background is being moved across the sensor/film, it blurs it and makes it look like it moved.

To take these types of pictures I'll often use an f/11 shot at 1/20 and then pan the camera. I can take 100 pictures and get 1 or 2 that turn out well.



Lastly, for those who don't know me, which is nearly everyone. I have a love of film even though I shoot a lot of digital. I have my own darkroom with 2 enlargers and am working on getting back to doing some of that work. If you enjoy the darkroom please check out and support/join A new group that I want to use to promote and educate people on the darkroom.

So here are some images taken with the various techniques described above, but done the traditional way.



If you like any of the above images, make sure to comment and the artist. The deserve the recognition for their work!