Wrong camera settings? What happens can surprise you!

I totally get you. You are obsessed about the quality of your pictures, constantly checking if they are sharp and freaking out whenever seeing the slightest amount of motion blur. Good news, I have a diagnosis for you: the disease is called pixel peeping.

I used (use?) to suffer from it as well, until I started checking the grand masters of photography and realized that “sharpness” is overrated. Nevertheless, I still realize that this is a very important aspect and clients demand it.

But when it comes down to creativity, all the rules can be broken and unsharp, blurry or shaken pictures can lead to interesting results.

First of all, let me credit Ted Forbes (video below) for bringing to my attention the photographer Ernst Haas. Mr. Haas makes a superb use of slower shutter speeds, to “freeze” motion. No I am not crazy. With a quick google search you can appreciate the creativity of his work.

Haas actually aims at showing motion, hence the choice of a slower shutter speed to make his subjects non-sharp, blurred. Then, his authentic post-processing bring his photos to the next level.

Inspired by Haas, I played around during my last trip to Amsterdam. My lens of choice was the great Sigma 17-50 F2.8, check my review here! One of the first things I learned was that you need to close down the aperture a lot or use an ND filter (sunglasses for your camera).

For the picture below I set a shutter speed of 1/3 of a second and I had to close down the aperture (f. 13)

The effect is really nice and fun, looks like I was able to capture few ghosts in this Museum Hall. The effect will be even more dramatic in crowded places or if you have fast moving objects! However, if you want to capture a bike you should start with a faster shutter speed like 1/30 of a second.

So now is your turn to experiment with slower shutter speeds and show me your photos! Load your work on Instagram and use the hashtage #sharpnessisoverrated and let's build the slow shutter community!

#Travelphotography #mobilephotography #photographytricks #photographytechniques #streetphotography #ernsthaas #creativephotography