To be brief, motion photography is about showing movement. Adding a slight blur of the action to your shot helps tell a story. This storytelling element makes the images a little less static and unexpected. Another reason why showing movement stands out is because it sets the mood.

A shutter speed of 1/250 sec should be fast enough to freeze people walking around, whereas 1/500 sec is better if your subject is moving a bit quicker. For faster objects such as cars and birds in flight, shutter speeds of 1/2000 sec, 1/4000 sec or quicker are preferred.

The key to capturing any kind of fast motion is to use a faster shutter speed. DSLRs and bridge cameras allow you to adjust the shutter speed manually. If you're using a point-and-shoot camera, you can select the Sports scene mode or turn on motion detection to help you capture action shots.

You create the blur with a slow shutter speed. The slower your shutter speed (sometimes called a long shutter speed), the more light gets to your camera sensor. Because your shutter is open longer, more visual information is captured, which can include the blur of motion.