Pixiq

Expressing motion in a still photograph can be done in several ways. One of my favorites is to 'drag the shutter' when using flash. This refers to using a slow shutter speed to purposely blur movement. At the same time, the flash fires which creates a sharp rendition of the subject that appears to be superimposed over the blurred image The effect looks like a double exposure in a way, and when it's successful the result is quite dynamic.

It's impossible to predict exactly how the image will look, so you have to experiment with the length of the shutter, the movement of the camera, the choice of lens and, if you use a zoom lens, you can change the focal length during the exposure to get streaks of color. It may take many attempts to get an image you like, but it's fun, creative, and always surprising.

The two images here were both taken at carnival -- in Venice, Italy and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I typically use shutter speeds in the 1/4 to 1/15th of a second range. Sometimes I move the camera during the exposure as I did in the Venice shot, and other times I rely on the movement of the subjects such as the two dancers in Rio. Just to see what will happen, I will also zoom the lens for an added sense of action. I rely on the flash to provide definition and detail in the subjects, and the long exposure time creates the color and the abstraction.

I use shutter priority for this technique plus ETTL (or i-TTL) on the flash. In shutter priority mode I experiment with various shutter speeds until I like the abstraction, and the ETTL function provides a correct exposure automatically. If the image turns out too light or too dark for my taste, I will then use the flash exposure compensation feature to tweak the image until I'm happy.