I don’t mind when some of my photos are blurry. Speed-blurry, that is.
I really enjoy the way that speed blur imparts a sense of movement and action to a still photograph.
Whenever possible, I try to get some good speed-blurry shots during every HEAVY DUTY photo shoot.
There are two ways I go about it: Pan Follow and Follow Vehicle, to use the industry terms.
You can do both on a mobile phone—without software or filters—although it’s harder than looking through a viewfinder on a mirrorless camera.
On a phone, you can also shoot 4K video and grab a frame later using the same method you would use to extract any video still.
PAN FOLLOW
Set your camera to shutter-priority mode, marked S or Tv, and use the control dial to select 1/200 of a second.
The camera will adjust the aperture for you. If it has a vibration-reduction setting, set it to high.
Position yourself somewhere with good lines of sight as the subject approaches, passes and moves away.
Use the continuous or multiple-exposure function to take rapid-fire shots as the subject passes.
If your phone has the capability, use one of the side buttons to fire the shutter rather than the touchscreen. This can reduce camera shake, and you can get a better hold in landscape mode too.
Be prepared to delete plenty of blurry shots. If your hand is steady enough, however, there will be some nuggets among the dross.
The bike does not have to be travelling particularly fast. In fact, the faster it is going, the harder it becomes to get a good result.
If you want more background blur, try 1/160 and then 1/125 of a second. If the bike itself is too blurry, try a faster shutter speed such as 1/250.
The skill is to keep the bike and rider as steady in the frame as possible while following their movement as they pass.
FOLLOW VEHICLE
The other—and much easier—method is to shoot from the passenger seat or back seat of a vehicle travelling beside the bike.
Because the camera and motorcycle are moving at roughly the same speed, you may be able to slow the shutter further, to 1/100 or 1/125 of a second, if you can hold the camera steadily enough.
Again, keep the bike as steady in the frame as possible while the background rushes by, and you should get some satisfying speed blur.
Here are some of my favourite blurry photographs from the HEAVY DUTY wayback machine, together with a reference guide you can save.
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