How to Freeze and Blur Movement With Flash Photography

Flash can be an excellent tool to freeze motion, especially when you are working in the studio or do not have extreme amounts of available light for using ultra-fast shutter speeds. But you can get even more creative results by mixing the freezing power of a flash with a long exposure that captures motion, and this fantastic video tutorial will show you how it is done. 

Coming to you from Gavin Hoey with Adorama TV, this great video tutorial will show you how to use flash to freeze movement and then to extend the technique to blend frozen motion with movement, creating uniquely eye-catching images. This technique uses a mixture of a longer exposure with firing the flash at the end of the shot. This allows the camera to pick up the motion of your subject using ambient light, creating a blur that follows the trail of their motion. Then, the flash fires, freezing the subject at the last moment before the shutter closes. This results in a sharp subject with a trail of their own motion behind them, which can be a very unique and powerful effect. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Hoey.