| | | | Blur can be a very useful composition element, it can separate the foreground from the background, it can indicate speed, movement, urgency, danger, action, motion, and it can add a valuable level of communication to an image. There are several types of Blur in the Photographers toolbox: | | | | | | Optical Blur | | | | | | | | Where part of the image is sharply 'in focus', and the background and foreground are 'out of focus'. | | 
Optical blur, or shallow depth of field. | | | | Optical blur is also known as 'shallow depth of field', and is very useful to separate the important part of the photograph from a distracting or cluttered background. | | | | Optical blur can give the photograph a 3D look, and allow the designer room to include text over part of an image if they desire. | | |
| Motion Blur | | | | | | | | While uncontrolled motion blur usually looks awful, carefully controlled it can be a very powerful tool to demonstrate action and drama. | |  Panning Blur, focus is kept on the paddlers. | | | | | Where something in the image is moving relative to the camera, and either the object, or the background is blurred by using a long shutter speed (exposure). | | | | | | Usually the exposure dosn't have to be very long at all for a significant amount of blur. | | | | |
| 'Flash and Blur' | | | | | | | | A form of Motion Blur, 'Flash and Blur' is a way of selecting out the important part of the photograph, and Motion Blurring everything else. In this image a flash was placed in the dashboard area, to highlight the truck driver, while still communicating a sense of urgency. | | 
Flash and blur. |
|
