Gary Williams Photography » Motion Blur

Wahkeena Falls Foreground

admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 18:00:58 +0000

Another detail from Wahkeena Falls. This was .5 second exposure to create the blurred effect.

Wahkeena Falls Detail

admin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 15:48:47 +0000

I used a telephoto lens to isolate a detail of Wahkeena Falls. Wahkeena is one of the smaller falls along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.

Multonomah Falls

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:20:16 +0000

Multonomah Falls are the best known of the Columbia River Gorge waterfalls. They receive many thousands of visitors each year. This was a 3 second exposure and, obligingly, the couple on the bridge did not move.

Horsetail Falls

admin — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:13:49 +0000

Horsetail Falls is one of several spectacular waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. I used a Variable Neutral Density filter to slow the shutter speed to 6 seconds to create the blur of the falling water.

Falling Water

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:31:36 +0000

The drama of water falling creates an additional energy. This photograph is a sepia treatment of McWay Falls south of Big Sur on the California Coast.

Energizing Movement

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:34:43 +0000

A slow shutter speed can suggest the flow of water by blurring the movement. A fast shutter can capture the energy of a single moment in the flow of water. This photograph was shot at 1/500th of a second. It is a detail of a small stream in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.

Flowing Water

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:49:10 +0000

Water in motion appeals to the senses and to the spirit. Water soothes, satisfies and energizes. Simple and elemental, water attracts us. Lakes, rivers, streams and, especially, waterfalls lead us to a meditative state. I will post photographs of water in motion over the next few weeks. This first post is a detail of the Kings River in Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon National Park.

Traffic Lights in Las Vegas

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:47:08 +0000

A second image of intentionally blurred car lights in Las Vegas. The shutter speed was longer, 1.3 seconds, to lengthen the trails of the headlights and taillights of the cars. The motion suggests the continual flow of visitors, cars and money in Las Vegas.

Flowing Traffic in Las Vegas

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:19:53 +0000

In September 2009 I attended a Photoshop conference in Las Vegas. It was my first visit to Las Vegas and I wasn’t sure what to expect. As a landscape photographer, I was more drawn to the hills around the city than to the casinos, but I decided to see what I could find. This shot was taken from one of the pedestrian walkways above the main strip. I slowed the shutter speed to 1/2 second to blur the lights of the cars and suggest some of the frenetic energy of the city.

Circular Motion and Intentional Blur

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:55:33 +0000

A pleasing effect is created by rotating the camera as the shutter is open, as I did on this image of flowers in my front yard. A more symmetrical result is possible by using a tripod and a telephoto lens with a tripod collar. If the collar is loosened slightly while attached to the tripod, it is easy to rotate the camera about 180 degrees while the shutter is open.