Please Help A Newbie

I have been slowly getting more comfortable using TV mode on my new 50D.

I want my images to be more interesting and less static. I wanted to capture the motion of the traffic moving past a Georgetown building.

I used TV mode and started at 1/30sec and moved to slower and slower shutter speeds to get motion blur of traffic, but when I did the building in the background got blown out. I tried using exposure compensation, 2 stops, to reduce the blown out areas but no sucess.

I then moved the shutter speed back to faster speeds and of course the building was correctly exposed but the traffic was frozen.

Frustration set in and I moved on

Finally, my questions. How do I get motion blur in well lit sunny areas? I could see using this for shots of a bike race or motorsports.

Shoot later in the day when the sun is not so strong on the light colored building, is that my only option?

Below are my two ugly attempts. Yes I know the composition is not great, too much foreground but they illustrate my problem.

Thanks in advance

I once had photos blown out for "no reason" when in TV mode. I finally found the ISO was 12,800 from a previous attempt to shoot at dusk. There was a reason. The lens could not stop down enough to get a proper exposure.

Fix the shutter speed where you want it, lower the ISO. If the camera tells you it can't get the f-stop closed down enough for proper exposure, use exposure compensation. If it is still too bright, you might have to use a neutral density filter to cut down the light getting in.

Exposure compensation isn't going to do anything for the image you posted when taken in Tv as the lens was stopped down to f/22, which is likely the maximum f-stop number (minimum aperture) for your lens. OTOH, if you shot in Av at f/22 the camera would have picked something like 1/50s and the image would have been properly exposed. Using exposure compensation in Av to reduce the shutter-speed would end up just where you are in the above image (blown out). Exposure compensation is used to allow you to tweak what the camera came up for settings when the meter is fooled ... it can't make an impossible shot possible

Your choices include:

1. Shoot at ISO 50 (no idea if your camera supports it), although in your example you still would have been completely blown out since the image you posted is about three stops overexposed.

2. Increase your shutter-speed to about 1/50s at ISO 100 or 1/25s at ISO 50, which would have resulted in close to the correct exposure, however you wouldn't get as much blur.

3. Use a 3 to 4 stop neutral density filter which would give you a 1/6s or slower shutter-speed.

4. Shoot closer to sunrise or sunset instead of during the brightest time of the day.

ISO 50 (on Canons) is just an ISO 100 shot derated by the processor so that one stop of dynamic range is eliminated.

Sunny F/16 rule states that at f/16 you can expose a sunny day shot with the sun behind your shoulder between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm with a shutter speed of one over the ISO. So ISO 100 yields 1/100 second.

F/16 at 1/100 is the same as f/22 at 1/50 sec. F/22 is as high as many or most lenses go (as narrow an aperture as they provide). Some go to f/32 but that would still only give you 1/25 sec. Besides, at the high f/numbers you lose sharpness due to diffraction. It is quite a significant drop at f/32.

So use a three stop (8x, ND8, or 0.9) neutral density filter, as suggested above. You can also get six stop (64x or 1.8) ND filters but they are more specialized.

In a pinch, a circular polarizer filter can be used as 1 2/3 stop ND but it will affect reflections and deepen blue sky and green vegetation; those may be desirable or undesirable side effects. One can even be combined with an ND8x to make nearly a 5 stop ND, but the extra layers of glass mean special attention has to be paid to avoid flare. Note that even bright specular reflections in the shot or just outside the frame but still inside the hood can make flare or rob colour contrast.

First, I would start with manual exposure. For a good starting point, first set the f-stop OR shutter speed you need for the effect you want. Then the other parameter: shutter speed or f-stop. Then adjust the ISO.
Need an exposure crutch?

Second, along with the info above, this might help: First shoot with moving cars need advice.