Create the illusion of motion with Adobe Photoshop

Photographers have been using zoom lenses along with s-l-o-w shutter speeds and “zooming during exposure” to create a sense of motion in slow subjects since the first zoom lens was introduced. Now, they needn’t bother: you can get similar effects (but with more control over the final result) by doing it digitally. Even better: When you get the effect in Photoshop, it’s repeatable.

Take the image below. It’s kinda static, and if you look closely at the corners, you may notice that it’s got some softness. That’s because I put Adorama’s $39.95 Pro-Optic Semi-Fisheye lens adapter in front of the kit zoom lens that came with my Digital SLR. Putting auxiliary optics on an inexpensive zoom lens isn’t going to give you the sharpest corners, but it’s going to produce a great image–it just needs a bit of massaging.

Now watch how, in four steps, I useAdobe Photoshop to hide the soft corners and add the illusion of speed.

Step 1:
I started with some typical overall enhancements, such as using Levels (Image>Adjustments>Levels) to improve depth and contrast, and then Curves (Image>Adjustments>Curves) to brighten the photograph it a bit. Finally, nik Multimedia Sharpener Pro 2.0 plug-in was used to extract the maximum image sharpness from the digital file.

Step 2:
When the image looked at good as I could make it, I added a duplicate layer. (Layer>Duplicate Layer)

Step 3:
Choosing the Radial Blur tool from the Filter menu (Filter>Blur>Radial Blur), I checked the Zoom option and placed the originating point where I wanted the effect to start. In this case, it was the middle of the windshield, but you can put it anywhere you want. Use the percentage slider to set the length of the zoom blur and experiment with different settings until you find one you like.

Step 4:
Next comes the fun part. Using the Eraser tool from Photoshop’s toolbox, erase the areas you want to be clear on the new layer and let the original image show through the bottom layer.

Here are a few tips:

• While erasing (only), lower the opacity in the Layer’s palette so you can see through to the layer below.
• Don’t set the Eraser at a100% opacity.
• Use something less and use a soft-edged brush, so you can control how much is zoom and how much is picture.

You can leave the image with the layers intact and save it as a TIFF or Photoshop file, or use the Flatten Image (Layer>Flatten Image) command to combine layers and save in the file format of your choice. When you’re finished, you’ll have added motion to a still image and created an image that will be as much fun to look at as it was to create.

…and here’s the final result!

Joe Farace is the author of more than 1300 magazine articles and 24 books. You can visit his websites at www.joefarace.com and www.joefaraceshootscars.com.