On any given job site, there are multiple moving machines, workers, debris, and only so many ways to show that motion in a photo. Spreading dirt and evening out gravel loads can require a lot of passes with machinery. It would be easy to point the camera and freeze the action of the dozer moving but what is the story? What is the photo telling? Showing the motion in the photo would convey more of what the machine is doing and altogether make it more visually interesting.
There are three basic choices in photo style, fast shutter (freezing action, everything sharp), slow shutter (blurring objects in motion, things not moving are sharp), panning (freezing action, subject in motion sharp, everything else blurry). I decided to try a panning shot.
With a slow shutter speed, moving the camera the same speed and motion as a moving object in focus, if done right, will give the object a feel of movement. Aspects out of the focus area will be blurred while the areas of focus will be sharp. To achieve this, you need to adjust the shutter speed of your camera to between 1/10 to 1/50, the more dramatic the blur, the slower the shutter speed. PLAN YOUR SHOT. The background can be important, the slower your shutter, the blurrier the background. Before the object passes in front of you, start taking shots early, and pivoting the camera to the motion of the subject. Imagine there is a rope at the end of the lens tied to the subject and it is turning as the subject passes in front. These can be hard to get, so be prepared to try multiple shots to really nail it.
