One of the best attributes of digital photography is the instant gratification of seeing your photograph appear on the preview screen, this handy feature makes today’s cameras great for experimentation. One technique I use to put a little spice into situations with poor light quality or jazz up party snapshots is to add a little controlled motion to my images.

This technique is counterintuitive to what you’ve been taught about photography, because you don’t hold the camera as still as possible, you actually use exaggerated camera movement to make a more artistic image.

Since you’ve made the investment in a digital camera and you don’t have to purchase film or are obliged to make prints, shoot and practice - it only costs a little battery power.

• First take your camera off the fully automatic setting and set it to manual or at least as close to manual as you can get. Then set you your camera ISO to 100. This will force the camera, in low light conditions, to choose its widest aperture and slow the shutter speed to create a proper exposure.

• Next check your camera menu to see if you can control the flash exposure. If possible, reduce your cameras flash output by –1 f stop. When you use a low ISO in reduced light situations, your shutter speed may be as long as 1 second.

• Set your camera to wide-angle and ask someone to stand about 6 feet away, hold the camera steady as you take the photograph. Listen and watch closely to your cameras process as you take the photo. You will notice the flash fires as the shutter opens, then about a second later it will close. The result should show balanced ambient room light (don’t worry that it’s a little blurry) with pleasing fill flash on your subject.

• Now let’s add a little twist, literally. Shoot the same subject but this time just after the flash goes off, pivot your camera 90 degrees before the shutter closes. The flash freezes your subject and the motion of the camera combined with long exposure will cause the background to blur in a semicircular fashion.

As you get your motion and timing down, you will find the combination of low ISO, slow shutter speed and reduced flash output can be your recipe for creativity.

— Ken Geiger

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