Introduce movement

Aperture and shutter speed meet for dynamic motion

Opportunities for producing these types of images might be more difficult to come by, but they will present themselves on occasion. I try to introduce motion under two distinct types of circumstance. The first, as illustrated by the main image, is when a static subject, such as the paws of a fishing bear waiting stoically in a river, has the motion of water passing around them. In this instance it is a brown bear, but it could just as easily be a UK bird species such as a heron or dipper.

The second circumstance is when there is repeatable behaviour, such as fulmars wheeling in dawn light or a greylag goose bathing furiously. Images with a sense of motion, or ones that require panning, where you move the camera with the motion of the subject, produce far fewer successful images and so it is best to only attempt them when you will have multiple opportunities.

The most effective shutter speed will only be determined through trial and error but the three critical aspects for you to consider are: the speed of motion of the subject, your distance from the subject, and the focal length of the lens that you’re using. A good base point at which to start is 1/20sec and below.