Lens Zoom-Blur Effect – Photography
Most of the time blur is really frustrating for photographers, but blurring can be used to create very interesting effects like in long exposures. The ‘Zoom-Blur Effect’ as it’s sometimes called can be used to draw the viewer’s eyes into the photograph and onto the subject with the edges blurred, our eyes tend to disregard the blurred parts and look for the sharp in-focus areas.
In this short simple tutorial I’ll show you how to achieve this effect. Unfortunately if you have a compact digital camera or do not have a manual zoom lens it won’t be possible to achieve the same effect, however I’ll show you how to replicate this effect in GIMP.
Drawing attention inwards on the sign
Details:
- 1/3 secs
- F 32
- ISO 400
1. For the best results its best to have a zoom lens with a reasonable variability in focal length, this will help increase the blur and be easier to control.
2. The hardest part of the overall effect is fine tuning the shutter speed, and it varies for each scene as there might a good light source which could over exposure your photo or the opposite, leading to an under exposure photo. So it is difficult to define one specific shutter speed, however it is not a huge problem with digital photography, because you can receive instant feedback of what the photograph is like on your LCD screen.
When shooting use the Shutter Priority mode for quick adjustments without the concern of the aperture and focus on the shutter speed. To help give an idea of what shutter speeds are ideal I’ve listed some of the details on of the photographs below:
3. The main concept of this technique is to expose for enough time so that the sensor or film can capture the blurred lines, and this is created by twisting the zoom out or in!
French Flag
Details:
- 1/13 secs
- F 32
- ISO 100
4. For these longer exposures preferably use a tripod to avoid wobbling the camera. This shot below was taken using a tripod and the CALTEX Logo is very sharp as a result of a steady camera.
CALTEX
Details:
- 2.5 secs
- F 14
- ISO 100
Beck's
Details:
- 2.5 secs
- F 9
- ISO 100
Gargoyle Notre Dame - Paris, France
Details:
- 1/8 secs
- F 5.6
- ISO 400
Stair Well
Details:
- 1/3 secs
- F 36
- ISO 100
5. Try switching to manual focus and blurring the lights and then zooming while out of focus. You’ll get these softer streaks:
Blurred Traffic Lights
Details:
- 2.5 secs
- F 10
- ISO 100
6. Experiment with this technique and be creative with the long exposures. Try moving the camera ahile exposing and zooming in, and firing a flash to freeze a subject, use a slow sync flash for better results.
If you’d like to use these photographs please Contact Me!
Please comment below if you have any questions and I’ll answer them ASAP!
All images on this site are copyrighted© – All Rights Reserved.
Written by Mike
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Michael Scott is the publisher and photographer behind Scott Photographics! He is very passionate about his photography and enjoys sharing the best of his experiences for others to enjoy too! Contact Mike via email!
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Thanks Jim, keep trying :) If you are focussing in on a subject, it is better to Zoom out and even expose longer on the subject before zooming out!
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I”ve not had much success with this technique but am ready to try it again. I’ve forgotten whether it is better to zoom in or zoom out?
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Hi Varnika,
Sorry for the late reply! I haven’t achieved many great results with a compact camera with this technique before, however if you practice with a slow shutter speed, (possibly low ISO if the lighting is too strong), and rotate the camera it can get a similar blur effect, but without a zoom lens I’m not sure the camera settings/commands will allow you to zoom while taking a photo!
Otherwise you can post-process it via Photoshop or GIMP: https://www.scottphotographics.com/zoom-blur-effect-in-gimp-gimp-tutorial/
Good Luck,
Mike
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Hi Michael. Congrats for these great shots and thanks for this useful and creative idea. Can this kind of effect be achieved by a point and shoot camera? I have Sony DSC HX1. How do I do it? Set it on Small shutter speed and then click and start zooming in or out??
Thanks
Varnika
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Hello! Great article! I will bookmark this site.
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Thanks :)
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Wonderful! I’m very jealous of those photographs, I wish I could do as well.Those images took a lot of ability to create, well done. I’ve bookmarked this site.
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Wow! Some really nice photographs there, you are very artistic.You must be very talented to get such impressive photographs, I’m impressed.
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Very cool technique. I am working on a book and would love to feature this photo — email me if you are interested. Thanks!
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I do use a tripod for the longer shutter speeds, but for the shorter exposures you don’t always need a tripod – some wobbling can be a nice effect :) !
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Thanks for the info. I haven’t done this in ages. Do you use a Tripod? Gave me some fun portrait Ideas! Check out my Blog here at https://www.nakean.com/Nakeans_Photography/Blog/Blog.html