There are very few things better than shooting a camera at a slow shutter speed, having motion in the photo, and also having many of the details crystal clear. Most experienced photographers would think that you need a flash for that, but you really don’t. Like a Michelin Star meal, it starts with good ingredients and leans on good technique to create a masterpiece. Best of all, you don’t need the latest and greatest cameras to get these looks — though what Sony and Nikon do are great. But what helps are well-built and lightweight lenses like those from Tamron.
This article is presented in partnership with Tamron. We recommend you get the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 available for Sony E mount and Nikon Z mount for this. Through 5/26/24, there’s $200 off.
First off, have a creative vision in mind. You can find a lot of this on Instagram, VSCO, Behance, and several other apps out there. More recently, we’ve been drawing inspiration from books so that our work doesn’t look like everyone else’s. It’s easiest to do this with wide angles because of how shutter speeds work. You’re going to have to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/30th or slower to really make the magic happen.
Wait until the sun’s down — and for even better colors, consider locking the white balance to either the Daylight, Tungsten, or Flash setting. With the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 mounted to your camera, you’ll get some really incredible colors because of how Tamron coats its glass. Additionally, this lens weighs around 550 grams — which is lighter than a basketball. And trust me, it’s far more ergonomically friendly.
Set the lens to the widest angle—28mm in this case—and choose an area around the center of the frame to focus. Set the camera to the single-autofocus setting, as continuous will be useless in this situation.
Focus on an area and wait for a subject to move through the scene. Of course, you’ll have either your aperture stopped down or your ISO really low to get 1/30th of a second and a balanced exposure. Try to predict how the subject will move through the scene. Once you’ve got that down, you can have better foresight into how the image will render. Then, when you’ve got a creative vision in mind, shoot the frame.
For better results, we recommend using the LCD screen and holding the camera close to your body with your arms tucked in against your torso for extra stability. We also recommend that you stand comfortably where your breath isn’t strained and your muscles aren’t shaking vigorously. This shouldn’t feel like a workout — and with Tamron’s compact lenses, it really shouldn’t be the case. That’s where the good technique comes into play! If you need to use the viewfinder, go for it. When you’re shooting, control your breathing to a point of stability. For some folks, that means letting all the air out. But if you’re on heart medicine like I am, it means that you inflate your lungs.
Even without image stabilization in the lenses from Tamron, they’re light enough and versatile enough that you’ll be able to do this technique easily. We’ve done it several times. Not many weather-resistant and pro-grade lenses can do that. But this one makes images that lots of photographers will love — especially if you’re a night photographer.
Pick up the Tamron 28-75mm F/2.8 Di III VXD G2 today.