As part of a 52-week challenge I’m doing, I wanted to capture “Motion Blur.” My goal was to step outside my comfort zone and create something I normally would photograph. There was a carnival setup just near my house and it had a large Ferris wheel.
How I got the photo: Setting the scene
I visited the location with my camera several times during the day, but it was never running at the time I visited. I did, however, manage to work out roughly where I wanted to set up my camera and tripod. I also decided that during the day was way too bright to get the motion blur I was looking for. I decided I needed to visit at dusk or later, but had to visit when not too busy and before the carnival packed up and left.
The evening I chose to attempt to get my shot was stormy, and I found that the Ferris wheel was only working intermittently. I had to get my shots before the rain came and the wind picked up.
I set my camera up on a tripod, got my focus on the middle of the Ferris wheel and waited. I took a series of photos, every time it was running, however, I was not really getting my motion blur as I saw it in my mind. I should have bought ND Filters. And then just as the skies got really dark and stormy I had another idea. A composite, to capture the blur from image to image. So I took another series of images and finally decided to head home.
How I got the photo: Camera gear and settings
- Camera: Sony a7R V
- Lens: Tamron 28-75mm lens
- Camera settings: ISO100, f/22, 1/30 secs (on a tripod)
Putting it all together
I took a series of 10 images and opened them in Photoshop as layers in a single image. I cleaned up a few rain spots on the base layer, then set all the other layers to Lighten. This allowed the lights to show up but not the rest of the image. It gave a slightly ghost-like appearance to the Ferris Wheel and the cool stormy backdrop was a bonus! I also used a curved layer to darken the image slightly, set to Multiply, to make it more dramatic.
All of these images together can make a really large file, so I suggest flattening the image, but it’s not a necessity.
So that’s the final image, 10 stacked and blended composite, what do you think?
