Bonus photo tip from nighttime in Times Square ... "Dragging the shutter" Oct 25th | filed in: Photography tips
"Dragging the shutter" is a funky photo term that intimidates some newer photographers.
Use a flash (I was using my 580EX) and set your shutter speed on your camera to something slow.
Set it slow enough so there will be motion blur all over.
Set your camera to "shutter priority mode" (on Canon, it's Tv on the dial).
The camera will choose an an aperture setting for you that way,
or you can shoot in full manual and choose both your shutter speed and your aperture.
Use a setting like 1/10th sec or slower. 1/2 sec is good, or you can go even slower!
Your first worry will probably be "I can't hold the camera still enough for that!
And my subject can't be that still, either."
That's what the flash is for!
When you take the picture, the quick light burst from the flash freezes your subject
as if you were taking a picture of them at a quick shutter speed.
But the shutter stays open longer, letting in more and more light and motion.
The results can be really fun!
Here's a "drag the shutter" shot of the famous Joe Dellasega from the Mpix team:
I held the camera still so that the buildings wouldn't be blurry
(the flash isn't powerful or long-reaching enough to freeze the top of the Empire State Building).
Joe is captured by the flash, and even though he was moving around a lot, he's not too blurry.
The cars wizzing by are captured in that cool motion blur because the shutter was open so long!
Here's a shot that Joe got of me with the traffic rushing by, but I'm not blurry because
I was frozen by the flash:
Here's one more fun thing to try if you have a zoom lens.
Freeze your subject with your flash, and while the shutter is open,
zoom your lens in or out! It's a fun little thing to try, and the results can be really cool!
When you get a great nighttime shot "dragging the shutter",
treat yourself to a print on METALLIC PAPER from Mpix!
Night shots with bright lights look AWESOME on Metallic paper from Mpix!
Have fun!
~Carey
Use a flash (I was using my 580EX) and set your shutter speed on your camera to something slow.
Set it slow enough so there will be motion blur all over.
Set your camera to "shutter priority mode" (on Canon, it's Tv on the dial).
The camera will choose an an aperture setting for you that way,
or you can shoot in full manual and choose both your shutter speed and your aperture.
Use a setting like 1/10th sec or slower. 1/2 sec is good, or you can go even slower!
Your first worry will probably be "I can't hold the camera still enough for that!
And my subject can't be that still, either."
That's what the flash is for!
When you take the picture, the quick light burst from the flash freezes your subject
as if you were taking a picture of them at a quick shutter speed.
But the shutter stays open longer, letting in more and more light and motion.
The results can be really fun!
Here's a "drag the shutter" shot of the famous Joe Dellasega from the Mpix team:
I held the camera still so that the buildings wouldn't be blurry
(the flash isn't powerful or long-reaching enough to freeze the top of the Empire State Building).
Joe is captured by the flash, and even though he was moving around a lot, he's not too blurry.
The cars wizzing by are captured in that cool motion blur because the shutter was open so long!
Here's a shot that Joe got of me with the traffic rushing by, but I'm not blurry because
I was frozen by the flash:
Here's one more fun thing to try if you have a zoom lens.
Freeze your subject with your flash, and while the shutter is open,
zoom your lens in or out! It's a fun little thing to try, and the results can be really cool!
When you get a great nighttime shot "dragging the shutter",
treat yourself to a print on METALLIC PAPER from Mpix!
Night shots with bright lights look AWESOME on Metallic paper from Mpix!
Have fun!
~Carey
Oct 25th
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