Playing with Special Effects

It's fun to try new and different things with your camera.  So, I decided to go shoot some pictures of the Balboa Boardwalk at twilight. I ended up taking the ferry across the channel to get better pictures of it.  Here's the shot that best captures that night.

Then it occurred to me to play around a little bit.  Using a long exposure while zooming out I got what I like to call the "warp speed" effect:

In case you were wondering, the white line in the sky is the moon. 

Within minutes, I was approached by people walking by wondering what I was doing.  Apparently, the camera mounted on a tripod did not provide a clue. I asked one of the inquisitors if she would mind helping me out with a little experiment.  Again I went with a long exposure but this time I popped the strobe every time she took a step or two.  The result is a ghostly one.  See for yourself:

The bottom line is: don't be afraid to try new things. You might end up with something really neat. This also good advice for life in general, by the way.