7 Ways To Use Motion Photography in Your Designs

Photographs are inherently motionless. Many photos, like still life, involve no movement at all.

On the other hand, some photos can emphasize movement. Motion photography can be achieved by using a slow shutter speed to blur moving objects (like a car), or a fast shutter speed that essentially freezes the action to remain sharp and in focus.

Whether photographs involve people, moving objects, or elements of nature, they can be useful for designers.

As you’re choosing photos to incorporate in your own designs, consider the ways that you can use motion photography.

All of the photographs showcased in this article are available with a Vecteezy Pro subscription. The photos are linked to the download pages, so if you see something that you like, click on the photo and you’ll be led to the download page.

1. To Emphasize Action

Photos convey action by capturing energy. A well-executed action photo can make a lasting impression on the viewer: There’s something very memorable about freezing the most exciting part of a movement.

As an example, the photo below shows a soccer player in mid-air kicking the ball. Even though the photo shows only a split second of that action, the image emphasizes the action that is taking place.

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You can use photos within your designs to draw attention to certain types of action.

These types of images can help to motivate your viewers to take action themselves.

soccer player in a bicycle kick by stefanschurr

2. To Create Emotion

Movement can also involve emotion. Still subjects rarely showcase the same type of emotion that can be accomplished with a subject that has some movement.

The photo below of a mother and daughter hugging gives off much more emotion than a posed photo of a mother and daughter sitting or standing next to each other.

When you want to create emotion with your designs, consider motion photos that might help you to accomplish that.

portrait of happy mother and baby girl hugging in park by centralitalliance

3. To Demonstrate Power

Although you may not see the movement in the photo, you can still feel what is happening. In some cases, that motion gives off a sense of power.

In the photo below, the man goes through a grueling exercise with ropes. Even though the photo captures a split second and the motion isn’t actually visible, it still demonstrates the power being used.

Photos of people aren’t the only option for demonstrating power. You could also use a nature photo during a storm or a moving animal to accomplish a similar feeling of power.

Man training with battle ropes by info759640

4. To Imply Speed

Photos may not be able to show how fast an object is moving, but motion gives a sense of speed.

The photo below uses blurring to imply that the bike is moving very fast. Some photos, like this one, may blur the background to show speed, and others may blur the primary subject of the photo (for example, a photo of a blurred race car).

If you want to imply speed in one of your designs, consider using a photo that incorporates motion in this way.

Fast ride by biletskiy evgeniy

5. To Create a Surreal Feeling

When used with landscape and nature photos, motion can help to create a surreal feeling with long exposure photography. It could be star trails (like the photo below), moving clouds that are blurred, or blurred rushing water.

This type of motion isn’t common in most landscape and nature photos and it’s not how the human eye sees the scene, so the result can be a photo that feels surreal.

These types of photos can be used to develop certain moods or feelings with your design.

Star trails at the lake by constantincornel

6. To Break From the Norm

Sometimes, the motivation for using a photo that shows motion may be simply to do something different. Motion photography can be unique and it may help your design to stand out and be memorable.

Very common subjects can look different and more interesting when motion is involved.

Long exposure photo of subway by dahm8187695

7. For Fun

Photos that capture motion can be fun and add some life to a design. The photo below of a woman dancing is a good example, but there are plenty of other ways that this could be used.

Photos of people having fun will often involve movement or motion of some kind.

the dancer by ayakovlev

Hopefully, the examples above have given you some ideas that you can use in your own creative work. Below, you’ll find some other examples of motion photography. And if you’re interested in even more, be sure to check out the collection of motion photos that have been curated by the Vecteezy team.