Toecabulary is the comprehensive glossary of photography terminology and techniques. Every week, you get to learn a new term defined and depicted in stunning photographs and videos. Click here if you wish to refer to this Dictionary of Photography in its entirety, or, click here to read all our weekly Toecabulary posts that discuss various concepts of photography in great detail.

When making images goes past just clicking a scene as it is to making a scene more interesting and creative, you are relishing photography as more than just a process of documenting a moment unraveling before your life just way it is.
So this week’s Toecabulary discusses ‘zoom burst’, a technique that makes an image fun and even fantastic, because it renders a breathtaking, stunning sense of blurred streaks emerging continuously from the centre of a frame, usually where the subject is placed.
One doesn’t need fancy photography equipment to make a zoom burst (or zoom blur) image. A DSLR or a mirrorless camera with a zoom lens will suffice. When you use shutter priority mode, with slow shutter speed, starting from a long focal length to a short focal length rather than the other way round, you make a zoom burst image.

It works best when your lens has image stabilization turned on. If not, you can use a tripod or a bean bag.
Place your subject at the middle/center of the frame for the best result.
Have fun with the zoom burst technique the next time you are making images. Good light to you!
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