Technique : motion blur...

[jiggling_john]

Ok, So I wanted to take a photo of someone in a street setting where they stay still, and the people around them are blurred from their motion (walking, whatever) so I end up with a picture where the subject is clear and sharp, the other people are blurred...

I tried doing it with my 50mm, stopped down a fair way, 2nd curtain sync (on board flash - i cant afford an EX yet... :( and a slowish shutter. The problem i had was the subject was also blurred in my pictures - until i brought the shutter speed up to about 1/30th - which wasnt enough to create the blur...

Does anyone know how to do this properly or what kit im missing that I'd need?

[davidmigl]

Did you use a tripod?? Handholding at ss's below 1/30 can have, well, blurry consequences.

[jiggling_john]

this did cross my mind before i went to do it... but, this place is so busy you would literally have people tripping over the thing... maybe a solid object to rest on would be a good idea...

I wondered whether the onboard flash wasnt powerful enough for this kind of shot.. my other thought was maybe it'd be an idea to do it when its slightly darker so the subject becomes more defined when the flash fires..

[cfcRebel]

Are you doing this in day time, or night?
I have done something similar in my San Francisco trip. I took a few environmental portraits of my family at dusk, using the Golden Gate Bridge as bg with cars' headlight and taillight blurred, creating red and yellow light streaks. I used tripod, cable release and flash, in M mode. I remember my shutter speed was between 1 and 3 seconds. The flash highlighted/froze my subject, while the slow ss allowed the light from the bridge and cars slowly entering the camera.

[RuggerJoe]

this did cross my mind before i went to do it... but, this place is so busy you would literally have people tripping over the thing... maybe a solid object to rest on would be a good idea...

I wondered whether the onboard flash wasnt powerful enough for this kind of shot.. my other thought was maybe it'd be an idea to do it when its slightly darker so the subject becomes more defined when the flash fires..

If you are worried about people tripping on the legs when fully spread out why not only spread them partially. I would at minimum use the tripod like a mono pod with one leg extended eliminating up and down motion of the camera or with with 2 legs extended straight down and only slightly spred side to side. That will at least remove 2 axis of shake (up/down and swaying side to side) and help a little bit, thought not as much as using all 3 legs and a remote release. to bad they don't put reflective tape or something on the legs.

[RgB]

Take two shots one at a slow shutter speed for the people and the second faster for the person then overlap the slower and with a soft eraser reveal the person that was sharp.

:):):)

[Nidz]

You can cheat and just use a filter effect in Photoshop. :P

[RgB]

You can cheat and just use a filter effect in Photoshop. :P

Oops forgot about that!