i need a little help

[sugargirl342]

Hey guys, my name is Meghan and I’m a photography student at college with a limited background in photography. I read a lot of what everyone says on the forums but never have really posted. I have an assignment for my class that I have to take a couple rolls of pictures in motion. I didn’t quite understand what the teacher was saying so I thought I would come to you all in hopes that you could help me. I’m not quite sure how to get the best pictures using a fast shutter speed, a slow shutter speed and not really sure how to do panning of a topic. If you could explain a little to me and the best way of capturing these it would help me. Like I said I have a very limited background so all the help I can get would be great so I can get the best pictures for my class

[pdrow]

Hello,
I am new to digital and way out of practice on film SLR. This site has 24 lessons that are geared to the digital rebel, but hopefully they will be helpful to you, too. You didn't saywhat you are shooting, but I am guessing film since you said a couple of rolls.

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/lessons_1-5.html

Good luck
pam

[Radtech1]

Okay Meghan, lets get going!

I think that the assignment is a good one in that it will help you to learn to get involved with the subject.

But first, a little bit about motion. There is, of course, a moving subject involved and the question is, "How can I best demonstrate the movement in relation to the environment. How can I show the movement?"

Perhaps the best way is with the panning shot. When you pan a shot, all that means, is that you keep the camera pointed at the moving subject before, during, and after the shot. This should be done with a reasonably long exposure, usually 1/60th of a second or longer (that is, 1/45th, 1/30th, 1/20th, and so on*). When you do this, the subject will remain pretty sharp, while the background is blurry. Furthermore, the blurry background is usually blurred horizontally.

Below are two examples of this. Coincidentally both were taken amusement parks, but they were 13,000 miles apart. The first picture was taken in the daytime in Placencia, California, and I used about 1/30th of a second. I was standing in line at the roller coaster, and would turn my head with my camera, while looking through the camera, as the roller coaster went past from my left to my right. Notice that what I was pointing the camera at - the dragons head - is pretty much sharp, and the rest of it is blurry. And, because of the direction of the blur, you can tell that the ride is moving down and to the right.

The second photograph was taken at night in Ladenburg, Germany, at 1/10th of a second. This was not a roller coaster, but rather, a ride that spins around a circle. Same idea, as I was taking the pictures I was turning my head with the camera, while looking through the camera, snapping away. In this case, the silhouettes of the people in the ride are sharp and everything else is blurry. Those orange streaks are in reality lightbulbs. But you can see how they are stretched out because I was pivoting my camera.

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAADrag.jpg

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAARide.jpg

A different approach to motion, which also involves a long shutter speed, but in this case you don't move the camera. In this approach, the background stays sharp while the subject becomes blurry. In the example of the train station, which had almost a one second exposure time, notice how the people are so blurry you can almost not recognize them. I did this on purpose to try to compare busy rushing people with the permanence of the building.

Another common shot is one of a waterfall. In this case my exposure time was about 1/4 of a second. Notice that the water is just sort of the smeary white, yet the rocks and branches are in focus and clear.

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAATrain.jpg

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAAWaterfall.jpg

A third way of handling motion is to have a very fast shutter speed of 1/500th of a second or shorter. When you do this, you will stop the action in its tracks. You have to be careful with this, however, because you don't want to lose the sense of motion. Imagine somebody driving past you in a car, going about 30 miles an hour. If you are to take that picture at 1/500th of a second you would freeze out any motion. The car would look like it is just parked in the street. Way boring would be that picture!

So in this fast shutter speed approach you need subjects that will appear dynamic (moving) even in a static picture. In the example of the surfer, we know based on experience that water does not just hang in midair in little droplets. Even though everything is sharp, we can sense the motion because we already know that this is a moving subject. (Unlike that car I described above, which, experience tells us, can just as likely be parked as it is moving.)

In the picture of the dogs, the motion is evident based on the position of the dog on the left. We know, based on experience that if a dog, or anything else, was just standing there but leaning like this it would fall over. We have all ran and turned sharply so we know based on experience, that this kind of leaning indicates something making a sharp turn while running. Even though nothing is blurry, the motion is still evident as it is encorporated in the position of the subject.

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAAWave.jpg

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAADogs.jpg

And just as a comparison here is one last shot which has no motion whatsoever. Although this is a magnificent shot, rich in color and texture, it is a shot that will earn you an F if you turned it in for this assignment.

http://home.ripway.com/2004-2/78486/Motion/AAACrouq.jpg

Good luck and I hope that that helps

Rad

*Notice how a BIGGER number, 1/60 is less time than, say 1/20. What up wit dat? Well, think of anything, a second, a pizza, anthing cut up into 60 pieces. Now it is clear that each piece of the 60 piece pizza will be SMALLER than the 20 piece pizza. Same as exposure time, as the numbers on the camera get bigger, from 2, 4, 8, 10, bla, bla, bla, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, and so on each fragment of the pizza, I mean second, gets smaller. So if someone is class says "My exposure time was set at 45" you now know that that is a LONG time compared to an exposure time set at 2000.

[aam1234]

Thank you Radtech1 very much.

[timmyquest]

Thank you Radtech1 very much.

My thoughts exactly. I think thats one of the best replies i've ever read :shock:

Meghan asked me for some help and i really couldnt think of anything so i pointed her here. She couldnt stop checking for replies so i'm sure when she gets a chance tomorrow she'll be thrilled to have this information at her disposal.

[aam1234]

Thank you Radtech1 very much.

My thoughts exactly. I think thats one of the best replies i've ever read :shock:



Agree, this is the most comprehensive reply I've read here.

[Radtech1]

Thank you Radtech1 very much.

My thoughts exactly. I think thats one of the best replies i've ever read :shock:



Agree, this is the most comprehensive reply I've read here.

Thank you very much. NOW WOULD YOU GUYS GO CRITIQUE MY "LAST DAYS OF SUMMER" POST. It is over in critique corner and I am very proud of it and expected more of a response! Also, tell Meghan that it is another good example (I hope!) of movement.

[aam1234]

Will do that now.

[sugargirl342]

Radtech1 you have helped so much. You explained it a lot better then my teacher did. i'm going to try some of these things you suggest tonight and see how it goes. Thanks again for the help!!
meghan