# Shooting technique for a "warp speed" or "tunnel vision" effect?



## mkfotos (May 21, 2014)

Hi everyone!

New to the forum and excited to be on here.

I would like to get some opinions and advice on how to shoot the "warp speed" effect on my DSLR.

To be more specific; consider a pan shot from left to right (or vise versa) at a slow shutter speed blurring the background giving the effect the subject is travelling much faster than it is.

Now I've been practicing and trying to mimic this effect through the depth field of vision, i.e. as the subject is travelling directly towards or away the camera lens, blurring the entire perimeter into the focal center point of the subject. The result being a "warp speed" effect as what you would see the starship enterprise do when it turns on it's after burners.

I would appreciate any techniques for shooting this type of photo.

Thanks!!


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## Scatterbrained (May 21, 2014)

It's called a zoom shot.


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## pgriz (May 21, 2014)

One way is to zoom the lens while you're taking the shot - that always creates streaks that make it appear your zooming into (or out of) something.


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## Scatterbrained (May 21, 2014)

pgriz said:


> One way is to zoom the lens while you're taking the shot - that always creates streaks that make it appear your zooming into (or out of) something.


exactly.   

I've found this works best around 1 second and from a tripod.   I'm assuming of course you're looking for some thing like this?




Peace on Earth, and Merry Christmas by tltichy, on Flickr​
Of course, another thing you can do is mount the camera onto something that is moving forward. . . . . . . 



PeopleMover: Empty Point of View by tltichy, on Flickr​


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## mkfotos (May 21, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> It's called a zoom shot.



I've read different people refer to it as different terms.  But I like zoom shot and will use it stay consistent.  
Thanks scatterbrained :thumbup:


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## mkfotos (May 21, 2014)

Scatterbrained said:


> pgriz said:
> 
> 
> > One way is to zoom the lens while you're taking the shot - that always creates streaks that make it appear your zooming into (or out of) something.
> ...



Something to this effect, yes.  It'll mostly be for motorsports action shots therefore the 2nd suggestion (mounting it to fixed location) won't be an option.  However mounting it to a pod (in my case monopod would be used more often then tripod) is a good idea.

I've tried PGRIZ's suggestion of obviously zooming in or out as the subject closes in on me, however i struggle with getting a good focus lock on my subject and often the subject and entire photo just ends up blurry and messy.  The monopod will help i think.

Obviously practicing this will help me greatly but would like to be practice the proper (and best) technique would go along way as well, but any suggestions on:

- what shutter speeds I should be using?
- zoom 'technique', i.e. how quickly to zoom during the shot, when/where to start and stop the zoom lens?


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## Scatterbrained (May 21, 2014)

If you're trying to get that look with cars coming at you and the bumper is sharp but the rest is a blur it's not a zoom shot, it's a matter of panning as the car is turning slightly away from you.   If you're on the outside of the sweeping arc of a section of track and panning with the front of a vehicle you can get the front sharp and have the rest blurred.


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## Derrel (May 21, 2014)

Zoom from telephoto to wide-angle. You can do it fairly well with a VR lens. A tripod works as well. It can be done at a variety of speeds, from 2 seconds to as fast as 1/8 second. It takes some practice.







You can also just pan, like this shot I took on Sunday of a red semi truck and box, at 1/50 second. You can also try combining a pan + a zoom shot.






[   D3X_7405_PRINT.jpg photo - Derrel photos at pbase.com    ]


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## Scatterbrained (May 21, 2014)

I think he might be looking for a shot similar to what is at the bottom of this shutterspeed motorsports tutorial, where the front of the car is sharp and the rest is a blur:
Knowing when to use slow, medium and fast shutter speeds | P1 Race Photography


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## mkfotos (May 21, 2014)

Yes that's the kind of effect I'm practicing from 3 different angles:

1. from an ever so slight bend, like scatterbrain mentioned (like the touring car photo)
2. directly head on or behind (like the red porsche and subaru)
3. slightly from atop (black porsche)

I've been playing with shutter speeds of 1/10 to about a second.  starting the zoom right when i've hit the shutter all the way through the shot.  at this point i have been only using continuous auto focus.

do I have the technique correct and it's just a case of practice makes perfect, or should i alter my settings and approach to assist with the shot?


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## Derrel (May 22, 2014)

What's in the _center of the frame_ is what stays the sharpest, so if you want the front of the car sharp, keep that in the center of the frame, and crop later. Your zooms seem to be good. Keep practicing, keep shooting. You've already got the basic idea down pretty well.


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## mkfotos (May 22, 2014)

Derrel said:


> What's in the _center of the frame_ is what stays the sharpest, so if you want the front of the car sharp, keep that in the center of the frame, and crop later. Your zooms seem to be good. Keep practicing, keep shooting. You've already got the basic idea down pretty well.



These weren't my photos by the way, but the effect I'm after.  
If my shutter speeds and zooming technique, as previously described, are the basic idea (unless someone can suggest a better technique) I'll just have to keep practicing. This time with the help of a monopod which i hope will make a big difference.


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## bratkinson (May 22, 2014)

One of my favorite zoom shots was taken from a train station platform of a 125mph+ Amtrak Acela Express train.  Having the camera on a tripod certainly had to be a requirement, just as (in my estimation) having the camera on a tripod for the best panning results.

In the case of the high speed train coming at the photographer, the 'trick' was to zoom back at a comparable speed of the train to keep the nose of the train in focus and essentially 'fixed' in the photograph.  I'm sure it took lots of practice and many shots to get the zooming 'speed' synchronized with the train speed to keep the train in focus for perhaps 1/2 second, maybe even longer.  I'll also guess that the photographer used center point only AF otherwise the camera/lens would go 'nuts' trying to figure out where to focus.  

I'd post a link to the shot but one must be a paid subscriber to the site or else the picture is less than 2" square.  It'd take me a while to find it, as well.


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## IzzieK (May 22, 2014)

Oh -- I thought you mean shutter speed photography...I would have recommended shooting a watermelon.


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## mkfotos (May 24, 2014)

I spent the day at the track today trying this technique.  I think i've got the principles down but it takes practice to get it right.  Most didn't come out so well but some did which tells me I've got the idea, just lots of practice to perfect it.
The biggest thing to practice, and the "trick" is to get the lens zoom speed to synchronize with the shutter speed.  Depending on how extreme you want the effect, I see this relationship is paramount, but equally as difficult to perfect.

Thanks everyone for the help


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