slow shutter

Hey guys, today I want to show you a couple of travel photography tips. I’m photographing a triathlon behind me and I want to show you some unusual ways of getting some great images at an event like this; a sporting event.

Make sure you checkout my new in-depth article The Ultimate Guide to Shutter Speed in Photography for more tips and lots of examples of how shutter speed is used in photography.

Highlights from this video:
0:10 – Photographing a Triathlon
0:20 – Slow Shutter Speed, Wide-angle Lens
1:00 – Dark Background
1:24 – Get Down Low
1:38 – Tracking Auto-Focus

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Tip #1: Slow Shutter Speed & Wide-angle Lens

The first thing I’m going to do is, I’m going to use a slow shutter speed and a wide angle lens. Most people have a zoom lens, but I’m going to use a wide-angle lens for this at a 1/30 sec shutter speed.

I’m going to get close to the cyclists as they come past and I want to show you how I can get blurring movements. If you’ll have a look at this, you’ll notice that I’m trying to get the cyclists in sharp focus and I want to get the background blurred so that I can show movement and how fast they are going.

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Tip#2: Choose a Dark Background

When you’re photographing triathletes or movement like what’s happening behind me, choose a dark background if you can, so that you can get people to jump out of the background.

Notice that I have chosen a bush setting for the background (darker) and I can show movement and that I can get my subject jump out of the background. So that’s the second tip. Use a dark background when photographing movement especially if the cyclist is wearing bright clothing.

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Tip#3: Get Down Low

Another thing you’ll notice is that I get down low. I changed my angle of view when I’m photographing cyclists because I want to get low and I want to get a lot of movements with the wide-angle lens and slow shutter speed.

AI Servo

Tip#4: Tracking Auto-Focus or AI SERVO

Another tip when you’re photographing movement is make sure that your auto-focus is on tracking auto-focus (AI SERVO). In that way, you can track the cyclists as they’re getting closer to you.

Check out this comprehensive article…

The Ultimate Guide to Shutter Speed in Photography

Photographing the night sky - you'll need a very sturdy tripod

Recap:

  1. I’m using a slow shutter speed to get movement & blurring the background of the image, but I want the cyclist to be in focus.
  2. I’m choosing a darker background
  3. I’m getting low-down to change my angle of view.
  4. I’m using tracking auto-focus to keep the subject in focus even though they are moving towards me.

What do you think of these images? Please leave a comment below.

This is Brent, have a great day!

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