The "National Geographic Effect"

This technique is one you see used regularly in high end magazines. I call it the NG effect because the editors of that magazine were first to really embrace it for its inherent artistic value. In the mid to late nineties it seemed you could not open an NG magazine without seeing this technique used at least once. It goes by many names and incarnates; slow flash fill, rear flash sync, panning, and filled slow shutter to name a few, and there are as many variations to those lables as there are brands of jeeps used on the Skardu to Baltoro yak trail.

Once I read how to do it, it was actually very simple to apply the principles in the field and get the results. You will still need a creative flair to know when to apply it, and you will need to have a great eye for light

When you want to get a blurred feeling of movement, but include some static and lit up background, start by finding subject matter that is within a shadow. Set your camera to AP (aperture priority), and wind down the F stop until you get a shutter reading between 1-3 seconds. Set your flash to Auto, in effect its just like taking a normal evening shot using a flash EXCEPT: you are instructing the camera to keep the shutter open long enougth to pull in the light on the edges of the image, and any movement that takes place during the time the shutter remains open. This of course is a 2 edged sword - if the priority of your image is sufficiently lit, it will re-expose itself after the flash has fired and ruin the essence of the photo. The trick then is to find subject matter that will expose only to the film while the flash fires, leaving the lighter lit areas to streak or run during the longer exposure.

To get the running pan effect, aim and shoot, and while the shutter has stayed open gently pan with your moving feature till you hear the shutter click closed. That’s all you have to do - this will allow you to freeze the central part of the image while getting a blurred outside edge (aim straight for the center of your feature).

This is the best way to start learning this technique and once you can achieve images in this manner, then look to move on to more complex shooting and light environments.

Next Up:
>>Nighttime photos