Having Fun with Blur Motion Photography

Meaningful experiences make meaningful photographs!

By Brenda Tharp

photo (c) by Brenda Tharp

The above image is from a fun photo session with a friend. It reminds me of trees in the wind – very colorful trees! There was a lot of movement in the original stained glass with curving panels.

By panning on it with a slow shutter speed, I added to that feeling of movement. But after making several of them, I decided this one has a "focal point" the grayish “V” in the upper left area. That gave the eye something to anchor on in all this motion. Do we always need that? I don’t think so, but sometimes the brain is more comfortable with it. In this case I thought it helped.

“Meaningful photographs are made from meaningful experiences, not just photographic experiences.”

I’m not really sure who said that, but I wrote it down once and have always liked this quote. My experience was just that – meaningful – as we explored several different locations. We shared our love for photography and the creative process. And in that meaningful experience of just four days, I came away with about a dozen pictures that I really like!

Notes from the Editor: Brenda Tharp teaches two outstanding online photo tutorials - Travel Photography: Capturing the Spirit of a Place and Creating Visual Impact - at BetterPhoto's digital photography school.