Using a slow shutter speed to create motion blur in the background - Nikon D80 Tamron 17-50mm @ f/2.8 ISO 400 1/40thI made the photgraph above three and a half years ago, still early in my DSLR photography career while I was living in Tokyo, Japan. I noticed the wind catching and spinning this fan around like crazy. I knew I wanted to juxtapose the stillness of the statue with the manic motion of the fan. To accomplish this I needed to set a shutter speed slow enough to blur the fan blades, but not too slow that I could not handhold the camera steady enough to keep the statue looking sharp.
I found that 1/40th of a second shutter speed produced enough motion blur in the fan without camera shake causing overall image bluriness. If I had a tripod with me it would have been a simpler shot to execute. It was actually lucky that there was a lot of shadow in this part of the temple garden which allowed me to use f/2.8 to try and produce a little bokeh, even though I was using a wide angle lens.
So this weekend my photography tip and homework assignment is to go out and see if you can find some background object to catch in motion blur while maintaining a sharp, in focus subject. Put a link to your photos in the comments below!