DRAGGING THE SHUTTER EFFECT IN PORTRAIT PHOTO OR HOW TO MAKE A PORTRAIT MOVE

The effect of “lengthening the shutter speed” is familiar to anyone who has used a compact camera set to the “night portrait” mode. In order for bright blurry stripes around the main subject to appear on the photo, you need to highlight it with a flash using the slow shutter speed. Without this, the background of the photo will be simply dark. The dragging the shutter works particularly well when combined with a bright background.

Extending the shutter speed creates a crisp, clear, well-lit background, while the subject itself is clearly visible, even if in the background there are luminous night streets of Las Vegas or a brightly lit interior. But this technique does not make it possible to add intentional motion blur to a static frame. Continue reading →