Shoot Blurs: Round in Circles

Radial blurs look best when the colours in the frame are vibrant. Exposure: 1/50sec at f/22 ISO (I00).

Chandni Gajria twists, twirls and swirls. Dance and let your camera do a routine too. The results will surely surprise you.

Often beginners fret over the technicalities of photography. But when a technique is as fun as radial blurs, the technicalities can be kept aside. Similar to camera shake, the only difference in radial blur is that here the camera is moved in a circular motion while releasing the shutter.

The Technique
The technique is quite simple. A slow shutterspeed of 1/2sec to 1/15sec should do the trick. Depending upon the amount of radial blur you want visible in the picture, experiment with different shutterspeeds in this range. And as soon as you have pressed the shutter button, turn your camera in a circular motion.

Making Most of Radial Blur
Just like camera shake, landscapes, trees and people are good subjects for radial blurs too. However, you can break this norm and try shooting still life and even architectural elements. Since the motion of the blur is circular, look for objects and even patterns that are in the shape of a circle. These could be a fan on the ceiling, a flower, a lamp in the shape of a circle and so on.

Keep Your Camera in Check
While attempting techniques where the camera needs to be moved in a particular fashion, it is important to keep the camera protected. Make sure it is safely strapped around your wrist. You would not want the camera to fall!

Quick Tip
Keep an eye on any distracting elements in the background while shooting a blur photograph.

This article originally appeared in the November 2012 issue of Better Photography.