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102 PracticalPhotograPhyKirk Schwarz shows you how to
liven up static action shots witha sense of dynamic movement.Give action shotsa burst of motionby adding blurB
lurry Photos are
bad things, right?
Well, not always –
there are some key exceptions.
some well-placed blur can inject a
sense of dynamism into your shots,
especially if you’re trying to relay
the concept of speed. there are
more than a few ways to do this.
you could employ canny in-camera
techniques, such as panning or
rear-sync flash, but these require
in-depth knowledge of off-camera
lighting, or a steady arm and
hundreds of hours of practice.
But arguably, the easiest way is
to take advantage of Photoshop’s
various blur functions.
Photoshop features a handy
range of blurring tools which
you can apply directly to an image,
without the need for complex
selections first. this technique
used to require masking out yoursubject before applying some
cloning work and motion blur,
but these days it’s a rather more
straight-forward affair.Get to grips with Paths
Path Blur allows you to click and
drag to apply directional blur to
your image, as well as set a speed
and taper for that blur, and create
curves for the effect to travel
along. it’s far more powerful and
customisable than Motion Blur.
it also lets you apply multiple
different directions and speeds
to your shot, so it can be used to
inject realistic movement into all
kinds of shots.
once you’ve mastered this, you
can take it a step further and use
masking for precise results, as well
as the other complementary tools,
which we’ll touch upon, to make
your final image the best it can be.Below & right The original image does a great job of showcasing the skill on
display, but a fast shutter speed has frozen the subject in place. With some
quick adjustments using the Blur Gallery, we can introduce a sense of speed.BEFORE Witha singlE path BluRaFt ERwhat
you need
nPhotoshopCC
nA photoof a moving
subjectwherea fast
shutterspeedhas
frozentheaction