Basic Photo Tip: Stopping Action and Motion Blur

In photography, you usually want to stop all of the action in a photo and remove any motion blur. But sometimes you don’t. Deciding on which is often determined by what your overall goal is in taking the photo.

Do you want to capture the moment of joy when a football player crosses the goal line? Then stopping the action is likely what you want. But what if you shooting a NASCAR race? Stopping all action, including the spinning wheels, will make it look like the cars are just sitting on the track. In that instance, you probably want a little motion blur to convey the feeling of how fast they are moving.

Let’s talk about stopping the action first. There are a couple of basic rules to remember. First, for normal photography (things like portraits, landscapes, and candid photos), take the length of your lens and put it under a one. In other words, if you are shooting with a 50mm normal lens, then you need to have 1/50 of a second to expect a sharp, clear photo.

Lens Length Shutter Speed 30mm 1/30 50mm 1/50 200mm 1/200 500mm 1/500

If you are trying to capture a subject in motion, however, you need a faster shutter speed. This is especially true for sports, as shown in this football photo.


The rule of thumb is the same, but you have to triple the length of your lens to expect a sharp, clear photo.

Lens Length Shutter Speed 30mm 1/90 50mm 1/150 200mm 1/600 500mm 1/1500

Let’s go back to the NASCAR example. How do you create the motion blur to help a car look like it is moving? By panning. Panning is the act of moving the camera in the direction the subject is moving while taking the photo.

Let’s say you’re at a race and the cars are going past you from the right to the left. In panning, you need to focus on the zone the car is about to go through and as the car drives through that zone you follow it with your camera, keeping it in the viewfinder the whole time. Panning also requires you to slow your shutter speed down a little bit from normal sports photography. As a rule of thumb, try the one over your lens’ length as a starting point and then adjust as necessary.

There is definitely a trick to panning, and it generally takes a lot of practice to get it down. Here is a good example of panning from a road race:



Do you see how the blurred background and blurred wheels on the car help make it seem like the car is going really fast? When you get it right, panning can be fantastic!

Basic Photo Tip: Angle of view and depth

Almost everyone who owns a camera has a zoom lens, whether it is on a point-and-shoot camera or they have one for their SLR. But what exactly happens when you zoom in or zoom out with your lens? Why does your subject get closer or further away? Angle of view is the term for how the camera shows a wider or narrower angle.

It is a difficult subject to understand. Personally, I don't completely understand it myself. But I do know that if I zoom in on a subject the angle of view narrows significantly, while if I zoom out the angle of view widens.

There are three web pages that I would recommend to see the differences in angle of view and get a better understanding. The first is the Wikipedia entry on Angle of View, particularly the section on lens types and effects.

The second is a cool page that lets you click on the various types of lenses from Canon and see the differences in angle of view. You can also click on the different Canon SLR cameras and see how the camera's digital sensor size affects the view.

The third is from Canon itself and it is a little program that lets see all of this simulated in one picture. It starts from a 15mm fisheye to a 1200mm super-telephoto lens.

There's one more important factor to consider when using lenses. Zooming in on a subject also narrows the depth of field, while zooming out increases it. Depth of field refers to the portion of the photo that is in focus. The other factor that affects depth of field is what aperture you have your lens set to.

Although this is on a small scale in a closeup photo, here is a good example of depth of field.

Basic Photo Tip: How cameras work

I know some might think of this as shameless plugging of the company that employs me, but if you want to know how film and digital cameras work, then you can't beat the explanations at HowStuffWorks.com. Check them out for yourself!

How Cameras Work

How Digital Cameras Work

Basic Photo Tip: Light

Light is the most basic element in photography. In fact, the word photography comes from two Greek words meaning light and writing, so it literally means writing with light. The amount of light, its intensity, and its direction can make or break a photo more than anything else, except for maybe focus.

Natural light usually provides the most pleasing, natural-looking shots. This includes direct lighting, straight from the sun, and ambient light. Ambient light is light reflected off of or shining through objects. Examples of this are light reflecting off of a wall, shiny surface, or through thin curtains. Without ambient light, objects in shadow would be completely black.

Sometimes, however, there isn’t enough natural and ambient light to take a photo. That’s when a flash comes in. The camera’s flash creates enough light to take a photo, but it usually doesn’t have much range.

Getting the exposure right for the given amount of light is critical. It can make or break a photo. For more information on exposure, see the lesson on exposure and shutter speed.

Basic Photo Tip: Exposure and shutter speed

Many of you have probably heard the term exposure before. But what is it exactly? It is the total amount of light that falls on the camera’s film or digital sensor while taking a photo. Too much light and the photo will be over-exposed, making the shot too bright with little detail because features will be washed out. Too little light and the photo will be too dark, making it difficult to make out the details.

A properly exposed shot will have a great range of light, allowing you to see detail in the shadows along with highlights in bright areas. A really good example of this is in wedding photography. The right exposure will let you see the details in the groom’s black tuxedo but also see the lines and patterns in the bride’s white wedding gown.


In the past, photographers usually had to draw upon their experience to determine what exposure to use. But thanks to advancements in technology, all modern cameras have light meter built in to eliminate the guess work.

Thanks to this tool, your camera will generally pick the right settings to properly expose your photo. But it’s not fool proof. See the lesson on exposure compensation for an explanation of how it works will help you pick the right exposure when your camera doesn’t.

But just because your camera can pick the right exposure doesn’t mean the photo will come out right. You also need to pay attention to your shutter speed. If it gets too slow, then you will risk moving the camera while taking the photo. This is normally called camera shake.

With a normal, non-telephoto lens, you need a shutter speed of 1/60 of a second to guarantee there won’t be any camera shake. That is why when a flash is needed, most cameras will set the flash intensity to be strong enough to get a photo at 1/60 of a second.

However, if you practice good technique while holding the camera, you can often get a sharp clear image free of camera shake all the way down to 1/30 of a second. Good technique means you stand with your feet spread comfortably apart, with two hands holding the camera, your elbows resting on your chest, and holding your breath. It may also help to lean your body against a wall or post.

If you use a tripod, however, you can go with long shutter speeds and not worry about camera shake. The tripod will keep the camera stationary, allowing you to get outstanding, clear photos even with exposure times reaching into several seconds.

But what about those times when you don’t have a tripod, or your subject is moving and long exposures won’t work? The lesson on aperture and ISO speeds has your answer.

Basic Photo Tip: Aperture and ISO speeds

So you have a great shot to take, but you don’t have a fast enough shutter speed. What can you do without using your flash? There are actually two options – open up your aperture or change your film speed.

So what’s your aperture? The aperture refers to a numerical representation of how wide the lens opening is inside the lens. On all SLR and most point-and-shoot digital cameras, you can open or close your aperture to let more light or less through.

Many people think a lens has only one fixed opening for how much light gets through. But that is not true. The vast majority of cameras (some point-and-shoot film cameras being the lone exception here) have the ability to change the lens’ aperture and let more light through. This is commonly called the f-stop of a lens. The bigger the opening, the more light comes through, and the faster the shutter speed can be.

Similarly, you can change the film speed and get the same results. The higher the film speed, the more reactive to light the film or sensor is, and the faster the shutter speed can be.

This is where one of the biggest strengths of digital cameras comes in. Whereas with film cameras you can change the film speed only by changing the whole roll of film for a new one, with digital you can change the film speed through a camera setting. So if you are shooting at 100 ISO film speed and you notice it is getting a little dark, you can change a digital camera to 200 ISO in between shots and keep going. ISO 200 film is twice as reactive to light as 100 ISO, so it will double your shutter speed.

That is the key to understanding exposure. Being able to double your shutter speed is called one stop of exposure. Therefore, going from 1/125 of a second to 1/250 is one stop, going from 1/125 to 1/500 is two stops, and going from 1/125 to 1/1000 is three stops.

Keeping track of stops with shutter speeds is very simple. Aperture values, on the other hand, are more complex. They start with a very low number (like f2.0) and go up, but not in a scale you would think as logical. A f2 aperture setting creates a large opening in the lens and lets in a lot of light. A f2.8 aperture lets in half of the light as f2, and therefore is one stop less. Two stops less light will be f4, and f5.6 would be three stops less.

Below is a scale showing all of the normal shutter speeds and aperture values, set one stop apart. If your camera was saying that a photo will be properly exposed at 1/125 of a second with an aperture set to f8, then all of the settings below will result in exactly the same exposure.

Shutter	1/15	1/30	1/60	1/125	1/250	1/500
Aperture	f22	f16	f11	f8	f5.6	f4
ISO	100	100	100	100	100	100

Similarly, if you changed your film speed between shots, all of these would result in the same exposure, too.

Shutter	1/15	1/30	1/60	1/125	1/250	1/500
Aperture	f8	f8	f8	f8	f8	f8
ISO	100	200	400	800	1600	3200

Do you see the relationship? As your shutter speed goes up, your aperture value needs to go down. The opposite is also true. As your aperture value goes up, your shutter speed will go down. The key here is to remember that the higher the aperture value, the smaller the lens opening and the less light goes through to expose the photo.

Basic Photo Tip: Using light to your advantage

Now that we have a better understanding of exposure, let’s go back and visit the topic of light again. Not all types of light are the same, and certain kinds of light are better than others.

For many subjects, direct sunlight can be very flattering. This is especially true for landscapes, architectural, and sports. Take, for instance, this photo of Main Hall at Southern Virginia University. It was taken in the middle of the afternoon with the sun shining directly on the face of building. It looks great!


For other subjects, however, direct sunlight can be harsh and unflattering. Many portraits are this way.

When taking photos of people, you usually don’t want the sunlight to be shining directly in their faces. It can cause people to squint and wrinkle up their faces. In fact, the only time I like to use direct sunlight in portraits is late in the day, during the last hour before the sun sets. This light is diffused greatly through the layers of the atmosphere at this time of the day, which results in a softer, warmer light than what you have during midday.

Ambient light is much better for portraits and general people photos. There are several things that can be the source of your ambient light – the open sky above, reflecting from off a wall, or filtering through curtains.

What’s even better is when you can use ambient light that is coming primarily from one direction. If you can have the light coming slightly from the side and the front at the same time, then that is ideal. It will create slight shading across the face, which will help create a three dimensional effect.

Take a look at this photo of my daughter. It was taken at a swim meet, and she was waiting for her event. She was sitting in the shade, but the ambient light was coming from above her and to her right. The soft ambient light created faint, soft shadows on her face which allows you easily see how it is shaped.


Since it is coming straight from your camera, light from your flash can cause all of the shadows to disappear and effectively flatten the details of your subjects face. There are some tricks you can use with your flash, though, that will enhance a photo.

For instance, if you have a dedicated flash attached to your camera you can point the flash into the ceiling above or an adjacent wall. This is called bouncing your flash, and it works best when you use a white wall. In this photo, I captured my niece licking the spatula from mixing a cake. I bounced the flash off of the ceiling, creating a much better photo than if I aimed it right at her face.


Notice the light of the bounced flash is reflecting in her eyes. This kind of light reflection really helps your subject seem alive, whether you are shooting a person or an animal. Look for ways to capture that and your photos will improve dramatically.

You can also use the flash to fill in where the dominant light source is directly behind the subject, as in these two photos.


Because of the bright background, the camera was fooled into thinking it didn't need to use the flash. For the second shot, the flash was used to fill in the dark foreground.

Basic Photo Tip: Rule of thirds

One great way to improve your photography is to always remember the rule of thirds. Simply split your frame into thirds, both horizontally and vertically. This will crate something like a tic-tac-toe diagram, with four intersecting points in the middle. You now have several places to position the focal point of your photo – at any of the four points and along one of the four vertical or horizontal lines.

Confused? Don’t worry about it. Let me show you some examples.


Instead of putting the skyline in the horizontal center of the photo, I put it two-thirds of the way down. I felt the clouds were the focal point, so I wanted to feature them more than the reflection.


Landscapes and water reflection shots should be put one-third up from the bottom or one-third down from the top, but hardly ever dead center. The exception to that rule usually happens when you are trying to have total symmetry between the top and bottom of a reflective photo.




For this portrait of my wife, I wanted to do something different than a typical photo. So I turned the photo horizontally, and put her one-third of the way into the photo from the left, leaving plenty of empty space in the direction she is looking.


If you take a typical vertical portrait, be sure to put the face or the eyes along the line one-third down from the top, as in the revised photo of my wife.




In this photo, both my daughter and the house were important. But the focal point was still my daughter. By putting her on one side, I could still include the house and have a good balance between the two.

Basic Photo Tip: Framing and leading lines

Framing and using leading lines can do wonders for your photography. They can take a good photo and make it great. Using these elements properly can really rivet your viewer’s attention to your photo.

Framing is using something in the photo to frame the subject. You can frame the subject with two tree trunks, in a mirror, through a window, under an archway, or in any other similar way. You often see this in portrait and wedding photography.

Below is one of my favorite photos. Here I use the bottom of a curved playground slide to frame the face and hair of my youngest daughter. It’s a very simple framing technique, but works really well.


In other example of framing, let's go back to the photo of my daughter waiting for her event at a swim meet. I used the out-of-focus bodies of two other swimmers to frame her face.


As for leading lines, look to see if there are any natural elements that will lead the viewer’s eye into the photo or towards the subject when you are composing a photo. These leading lines can be things like a path, roadway, river, railing, or even clouds in the sky.

In the next photo, we were walking around the gardens surrounding the Alamo in San Antonio. I just loved the shot of my daughter following the rest of the family, but turning around to make sure I was following to. Notice how the path keeps your attention in the photo.


In my photo below of the Blue Ridge Parkway, the curving road leads the viewer’s eye into the center of the photo.


Leading lines can do wonders to subconsciously keep them looking at the photo, but only if they lead the view into the shot. Leading lines can easily draw the viewers eye out of the photo, too.

Because the road in the photo above disappears before reaching the left edge, it helps keep the viewer’s eye in the photo. If I had composed the photo so the road went from one edge to the other, I would have risked the viewer’s eye going out of the photo. Then the viewer could easily loose interest.

Basic Photo Tip: Exposure compensation

In the vast majority of photos, if you took all of the colors in the photo (when properly exposed) and swirled them all together, it would come out as a medium grey. They call this 18% grey. The light meter in your camera is designed to expose your photos to match 18% grey.

Most of the time this works with fantastic results. It is simply amazing that such a basic idea works out 80% of the time. However, there are a few instances when 18% grey won't work.

If you have an overly bright photo, like kids playing in the snow, your shot will likely have grey-colored snow. If the photo is overly dark, like a close-up of three Oakland Raiders in their black home uniforms, your shot will likely have grey uniforms and overexposed faces. The 18% grey is the culprit in both situations.

You can get past this problem by using the exposure compensation setting on your camera. Most cameras have it, even point-and-shoots. It allows you to add or subtract exposure from your shot.

By adding in one to two stops* of extra exposure in your shot of snow, everything should turn out looking bright and white. Similarly, by subtracting one to two stops of exposure in the close-up of the Raiders players, the uniforms should be brought down to their usual black.

You may need to experiment a little with what works best in each of your photo taking situations. Just don’t forget to dial that exposure compensation back to zero when you are done, or you will likely regret it the next time you pull out your camera!

*for information about what a stop is, see the lesson on aperture and ISO speeds.