Zoom burst is a photographic technique, attainable with
zoom lens
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (see prime lens).
A true zoom lens, also called a parfocal lens, is one t ...
es with a manual zoom ring.
Using the technique involves zooming while the
shutter is open with a relatively slow
shutter speed
In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time that the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light (that is, when the camera's shutter is open) when taking a photograph.
The amount of light that rea ...
, generally below 1/60 of a second. For this reason low light or small
aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An ...
s are required. It is also possible to achieve a similar effect with either computer software like
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in rast ...
(after the photo has been shot) or a
photographic filter
In photography and cinematography, a filter is a camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted into the optical path. The filter can be of a square or oblong shape and mounted in a holder accessory, or, more commonly, a ...
. In these cases the shutter speed can be as fast as necessary.
Photographs taken with this technique are characterized by blurred streaks emanating from the center of the photograph. The effect is nearly identical to a motion blur image in which the camera is traveling towards the subject. For this reason the zoom burst is typically used to create an impression of motion towards the subject.
[
Cellar - Zoom Effekt.jpg, Long basement corridor, Exposure time of 1.3 sec on a 34 mm 18-55 lens
Achristoffersen carnival 2007.jpg, Costumed person during martinique carnival, Exposure time: 1/20 sec
Seattle Starburst (19455404716).jpg, Nightly skyscraper, Exposure time: 6 sec
File:Zoom-eff.jpg, The Zoom Burst effect leads to a decrease in image contrast if the exposure is not compensated. Exposure time: 3 sec
]
References
Reading list
* Bryan Peterson, ''Understanding Exposure'', 1990,
* Bryan Peterson, ''Understanding Exposure'', 2004,
{{Photographic techniques
Photographic techniques