Creative Photography | Using Slow Shutter Speeds to a Create Sense of Motion

© 2011 Wazari Wazir | Blurry Vision | Royal Malay Regiment at Parliament Square | 18-70mm | f/16 | 1/40 | ISO 200

While waiting for the events to begin I like to play around to keep me busy. This photograph were taken during welcoming ceremony of the visited Vietnam’s President Truong Tan Sang to Malaysia. The subject here is the Guard of Honour from Royal Malay Regiment. Usually for this kind of event, we the media members arrive at the location one hour before the event start, just to get to know the flow of the event, but actually the flow of the event is almost the same but we just wanted to be here as early as possible in case there is some changes.

Anyway, I just wanted to talk about slow shutter speed here,for this photograph I think if I just use fast shutter speed and freeze the movement of the army, the photograph will have less impact compared to if I use slow shutter speed. I want to create a sense of motion here. I did not only use slow shutter speed here but I also panning a little bit to get this shot. Actually they were really close to me, I’m using wide angle lens for this slow shutter speeds shot which is not an ideal lens for panning but I just wanna have some fun. This photograph will not going to end up in the album for sure.

What I’m trying to say here is that, try to be creatives if you have the time and not in a hurry, even if you are at an official function, you still can have some “fun” if the time permit. Do not get stuck with fast shutter speed all the time, vary your shot, you may not end up with a perfect image but it is good to have some variation. You can use slow shutter speeds in two ways, static slow shutter speed like taking a photograph of a waterfall or light trail where you mounted your tripod and the second way is to use slow shutter speeds and at the same time pan with the subject, I mean “panning shot” like taking a photograph of a moving vehicle, use slow shutter speed and follow with the movement of the car to get a sense of motion.