How to Take Blurred Pictures With a SLR Camera

Capturing Motion

• 1

  Lower your camera's ISO setting, or sensor sensitivity. When using slower shutter speeds, you'll need to compensate for the amount of extra light that will reach your camera's digital sensor. An ISO of 100 or 200 will allow you to use slower speeds without overexposing the resulting picture.

• 2

  Switch to shutter speed priority mode, represented by Tv on most mode dials. This mode lets you select the speed of the camera's shutter while the camera selects an appropriate aperture, or size of the lens opening.

• 3

  Decrease your shutter speed using your camera's control pad or digital menu. To blur motion during a car race or sporting event, select a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. For more blur, use a slower speed. For less blur, use a faster speed.

• 4

  Pan your camera along with your moving subject to blur the background. This keeps your subject in focus while turning the background into a colorful, streaky blur.

Using a Shallow Depth of Field

• 5

  Switch to aperture priority mode, represented by Av on most mode dials. This lets you select the lens' aperture while the camera sets an appropriate shutter speed.

• 6

  Widen your aperture to f/4, f/2.8 or wider. The lower the numerical value, the wider the lens opening. As a lens opens wider, the depth of field becomes increasingly shallow. At f/2 or lower, the depth of field is so shallow that a subject's eyes may be in focus while her ears begin to blur.

• 7

  Engage manual focus (MF) mode on your camera's lens. Focusing manually is often more precise at a wider aperture than autofocus.

• 8

  Peer through the viewfinder and compose your image. Rotate the focus ring to bring your subject into proper focus.

• 9

  Press the shutter button to take your photograph. Review the image in your camera's LCD screen and reshoot if necessary.