A Practice in Motion

As part of a street photography course I’m taking, each class pushes us out into the city to practice a specific idea. This week was about movement. It's less about freezing a moment, and more about deciding how it should move.

There are a few ways to approach it.

In the first image, I moved with the subject. A slower shutter speed, around 1/13th to 1/15th of a second, tracking the car as it passed. The goal is to hold the subject steady while everything else falls away. It’s not perfectly sharp, and I like that. It feels more honest to the motion.

In the second, I stayed still. The world moved instead. Using that same slower shutter, a passing fire truck became a frame, and for a split second, there was a person held in place between the blur. Same principle, different intent.

There’s also a third approach, leaning further into abstraction. Slowing things down even more, to something like 1/8th or even 1/4 of a second, and moving the camera itself. Lines stretch, shapes bend, and the image becomes less about documentation and more about interpretation.

None of it comes easy. I deleted a lot more than I kept. Timing, speed, distance... it all has to line up just enough. But when it does, you get something closer to how the moment felt, not just how it looked. And honestly, that’s the fun of it. It's about trying new things, practicing, and seeing what sticks.