Taking Photographs of Moving subjects

If you’re taking a photo of something that’s moving (for example a child on a swing, or a waterfall), you’ll need to decide whether you want to freeze that motion or allow it to be rendered partially or completely blurred.

Whether the motion of the subject is frozen or blurred in the final photo is determined by: a) how fast it is moving, and b) what shutter speed has been selected. For example, a person walking would definitely be frozen at a shutter speed of 1/100, but a speeding car would require a much faster shutter speed.

If you want to control whether a moving subject is rendered frozen or as a blur, you’ll need to put your camera into a mode where you can control the shutter speed. The easiest mode for this is shutter-priority mode (denoted by ‘Tv’, ‘S’ or something similar – consult your user manual if you aren’t sure how to put your camera into shutter-priority mode). In this mode, you choose the shutter speed you want, and the camera determines what aperture will result in a correct exposure. If your camera determines that there isn’t an aperture setting wide enough for a correct exposure at that shutter speed, it will give you a warning message. In this situation you can try increasing the ISO to compensate.

Whether a moving subject is rendered frozen or blurred in your photo is an aesthetic choice, like so many of the choices in photography. In general, subjects that are obviously moving (for example, a dirt bike and rider upside down in mid-air, or a bird in flight) will look good when frozen by the camera, whereas those that aren’t so obviously moving, or aren’t obviously moving fast, (for example, a car on a road) will benefit from a slower shutter speed that will impart some blur to the final image.

Don’t forget that it’s not just people and animals that move. Other things can move too, for example water going over a waterfall, or a tree rustling in the breeze. If you have the time, experiment with fast and slow shutter speeds to find out which works best for a given subject.