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How to Create Blurred Photos

A blurred photo can convey a sense of motion or tell a story in a way that a posed, static image can not. Blurring can also be used to make a distinction between the foreground and background of an image. Motion blur, which usually occurs while photographing sports or other fast action, leaves streaks of the subject across the frame. Background blur, a helpful technique implemented by portrait photographers, helps set the subject apart from his scenery. With some simple camera and lens manipulation, you'll be creating artistically blurred photos in no time.

Things You'll Need

Camera
Image editing software

Instructions

- 1
  Capture motion blur by slowing down your camera's shutter speed. Fast shutter speeds such as 1/500th of a second and above will freeze most fast action, such as a footrace or cycling competition, and result in little detectable blur. Opt for a shutter speed of 1/125th or slower to capture the colorful streaks of your passing subject.
- 2
  Pan your camera along with a moving subject to preserve its sharpness and blur the background.
- 3
  Set your camera's flash mode to "slow sync". In this mode the flash fires at its sync speed, which is usually 1/90th to 1/500th of a second on most cameras, while the shutter remains open for a longer duration. The result will be a sharp, brightly lit subject amidst an illuminated motion blur.
- 4
  Blur the background of an image by selecting a wide aperture, or lens opening. Wide apertures like f/4 or lower provide a shallow depth of field, or effective range of focus. At an aperture of f/2.8 you can keep your subject in sharp focus while turning the background into a colorful, smoothly blurred backdrop.
- 5
  Blur selected areas in your photo, or the entire thing, using an assortment of filters in your favorite image editing software. Once the image is open, browse to the "filter" tab at the top of the software window and select "blur" from the drop-down list.

Photography