Brewskies, Big Sur, and Blurred Photos

Being from Monterey, I am incredibly lucky that Big Sur is just a hop, a skip, and a quarter tank of gas away. My sister, Melissa, and I jumped in her car and skirted our way down the coast until redwoods towered over our skulls. We sat by the river drinking brewskies (yeah, I am not ashamed to use that word), ate burritos, and trampled through the incredibly calming redwood forest.

Coast of Big Sur, California

If you have never walked through the redwoods, stop what you are doing right now and find a forest. Walk through it. Are you back yet? Then you probably understand the magical effect of they tend to have on people. When walking in the redwoods, a feeling of calm floats over you. It's like the feeling you get when you lie down and someone makes the bed over you. You feel safe, calm, and all of your anxieties melt into petty puddles.


In this particular redwood grove, Melissa and I found a hollowed tree trunk, charred by a fiery past. I whipped out my trusty camera and snapped a picture of Mel hunched in the tree. She walked out and my camera was still taking the photo. Because I forgot to put the flash on, the image blurred heavily and caught all of Melissa's movements. *DING* inspiration! See? I told you it could hit you anywhere! Simple camera malfunctions can actually produce some pretty sweet images. Like this one:

This is a relatively simple technique called Motion Blur (such a fancy name), here's how to do it!

An example of using light with the motion blur technique

• First, find something to steady the camera. If you have really shaky hands like me, you might want to think about investing in a tripod. But, in this case I just used a fallen log. 
• Next,  you want to set the self-timer. If your digital camera doesn't have this, you got ripped off. It will most likely be under "Settings". While you are there, find the tab that says "ISO" and select the lowest number possible! In traditional photography, ISO is the indication of how sensitive the film is to light. The same concept applies to digital photography, although I'll be honest - I have no idea how it works. 
• These projects work best in low-light settings. Turn your flash off. 
• Steady you camera on your tripod (or log) and shoot at your moving object. You can use people, water - anything that moves. Or you can use my favorite... LIGHT! Since you have self-timer, you can take a photo of yourself first to test out the waters. But at some point, it is smart to start shooting unfamiliar objects. It strengthens you as a photographer to be able to capture real-life images. 
• Enjoy your funky image, you photographer you! See? I told you it was easy!

There are ENDLESS possibilities! For inspiration & to see how other people have used this technique, check out 45 Beautiful Motion Blur Photos. In a couple of weeks, we will be looking into simple editing and how it can transform a picture. Stay tuned!