You may be wondering: what is that? No, it's not about looking for the broom and performing a sweep while doing the San Vito dance. Although it is called sweep, no, it is not with the broom. And, once this is clarified, you will ask again: so what is it? Well, it is to follow with your camera an object or subject in motion to get a photo in which the background is moved while the object or the person who moves appears sharp. Almost certainly you have understood but, as a picture is worth a thousand words, here is an example:
WHAT CAN YOU DO A SWEEP?
To any element that moves. From a motorcycle to a cat, going through a swing or a tennis ball, well, a snail moves and it won't help you much, hehe. A turtle either, so I better specify and tell you that you can do it with something that moves more or less quickly. You have to keep in mind that the less mobile elements you have, you will get a sharper result. It does not mean that it is more or less correct, that will depend on the result you want to obtain. If you include, for example, people, when using slow speeds, you will also capture their movement, which does not mean that the image is not worth it. I give you two examples to see the difference and see that both situations can offer interesting results. As advice I will tell you to try to run away from cars because it is the most used resource, and you want to take different photos, right? Of course, they can help you to practice, for that they are very helpful .BACKGROUND
The type of background that you should look for will also depend on the effect you wish to achieve, the smoother the bottom, the less stelae you will achieve in the sweep, and the more elements, then more stelae. The artist is you, I show you the options, you choose the colors of the palette . As before, as best seen it is with an example. Yes, I use a car again, but it is that on the web it is the most predominant! That's why I encouraged you before to put a touch of originalityWHERE TO PUT YOU
Where you don't get hit . Jokes aside, you will have to place yourself in a place where you can follow the movement of the element in parallel. Imagine a trail of bread crumbs on the ground, think about the movement you make with the broom, well something similar happens here, the crumbs would be the path that your object or subject to portray travel and the broom would be you with your camera ( but without touching, hehe). For you to understand better I have made a small scheme. I hope the image helps you clarify my words.MATERIAL
You will need a camera that allows you to make manual adjustments. With a compact it will be much more complicated, the only way would be to make the shutter open longer, compensating the exposure or shooting in a dark place. In this way the camera automatically understands that it must expose more time to capture more light. The ideal thing to do a scan is with a telephoto lens, which does not mean that you cannot do it with another type of lens, but that it will make things easier for you. A tripod will help you, it is not essential but it can lend you a hand when it comes to following your mobile element and it will give you stability. You will have to block the vertical movement and free the horizontal (unless you play Newton and pretend to photograph the Law of gravity, in that case you will have to do it the other way around ).SHUTTER SPEED
You will not be able to do this technique automatically because you will hardly get a worthwhile result. Use manual mode or speed priority mode. Set an average speed between 1/20 and 1/60. With very fast speeds you would only freeze the whole scene and if you use very slow speeds, you will achieve the opposite, everything will be moving. Anyway this is very arbitrary. It will depend on your camera, where you are placed, the light there is ... These are some parameters to start practicing and, from there, readjust depending on the conditions you have and the result you expect. Keep in mind that the faster it moves, you can use faster speeds and the slower it goes, the slower the shutter speed on your camera will be. And also think that the longer the exposure time, the more complicated it will be to make your protagonist clear. But you know, it's all a matter of practice!ILLUMINATION
You will work with slow speeds, which means that the diaphragm will be more open time and will capture more light. This means that if it is a very sunny day, it is most likely that your image is overexposed, that is, burned or with too much light. You can fix this in two ways, the first one using a large depth of field (number "f" of your camera). The background will be less unfocused, but in a sweep it is not something serious. The other option is that if you can choose when, take advantage of a cloudy day or avoid the central hours of the day, where the sun hits harder. You can also do them at night, here is a good example of this: Night sweepAND NOW THAT?
You will be thinking that I have told you a lot of things and I have not yet told you how to take the picture really, right? Well, you're right, you know the previous one, when, where and the settings, now you should know that when you have identified your mobile element, you have to focus it, shoot and follow the movement path with your camera, you should not stop until you have the sure that your camera's diaphragm is closed, which will be when you hear the second click .EXTRA TIPS
I know that it is enough to concentrate your attention on doing the sweeping and doing it well or the best possible, but if you also manage to make a good composition , your image will win and much. It is not necessary to place your object in the center of the image, as it is most likely to lose interest. Remember, for example, the laws of three thirds and the look. You can review them here.