I recently watched a Podcast on Photography and one of the items covered was how to blur the background on motion shots. It seemed relatively easy to do. Until you try and do it yourself!
These were all taken in NYC in Central Park near Columbus Circle on a recent trip.
The trick is to NOT have your camera in any type of automatic mode. Ideally you want to be able to set the speed (Tv) of you exposure. Different cameras have different ways of setting that. On Canon’s it’s Tv mode.
These shots were all set on 1/30 of a second. I would suggest experimenting with either 1/60 (but not higher) and possibly lower. Going lower will yield more blur but you have to track the subject precisely.
And the second part is tracking your subject. This goes against everything you learned so far in photography. You do NOT want to keep the camera still completely. Ideally you are tracking the subject as they approach. You also should try and take the photo when they are perpendicular to you as much as possible. It sounds easy but when your subject is moving, it goes by fast!
Lastly I would try and compose your subject so there is empty space in front of the direction your subject is traveling. I did *not* do this very well in the first and last photo. Got it a little in the middle. The empty space gives viewers eyes comfort in knowing the moving subject has someplace to go.
Dabour Photography 