Travel Shots - Capturing Motion

April 2026

Hello Everyone

On a recent email we talked about creating motion. The example was a gliding sea gull. To create the motion we panned the camera with the gull resulting in a crisp image of the gull and a blurred background. This simulates what the eye perceives as it naturally follows the gull and, by focusing on the gull, blurs the background.

In this example we used a different process to create the motion. Rather than move the camera we mount it on a tripod. The strategy is to slow down the camera shutter so the action is moving faster than the shutter. Usually a combination of a slow ISO and Shutter Speed is used. The effect works really good in the evening or at night with lights on the moving subject of projected on it.

Our image was shot at ISO 100, 4 second shutter and f/9 aperture. Its about 8PM on a July evening so we are approaching twilight. The 4 second exposure explains the need for a tripod as its impossible to hold the camera steady for that long without shaking the camera. The image would appear to have a case of the "shakes". With a steady camera, our resulting image captures the blur of the train moving, aka the motion.

We have a few shots from this session on the website available both as "Framed Prints" and for Licensing.

Please do not hesitate to contact me for additional information.

Thank You

Mike Pesaturo Photography