Exercise: Panning with different shutter speeds

Rather than keep the camera static, this exercise required the photographer to follow the moving subject.  The object was to show how panning can freeze the moving subject whilst achieving a background blur.  I chose the same setting as the previous exercise, but this time I tried to capture  the moving wheels of a bicycle. I have only got the one zoom lens at the moment, I began with an aperture of f4 (the widest aperture) and the fastest shutter speed of 8000.   Throughout the exercise, I adjusted the aperture to compensate for the slower shutter speed, and exposure to more light.

Photographs 1, 2 and 3, show the image as sharply frozen. Arguably, there is the tiniest fraction of blurring or softening of the background in photographs 4 and 5.   I think the image takes on more noticeable motion in photographs 6 and 7.  My favourite however, is photograph 8, at 20 seconds. This captures the speed at which my son was riding his bike and I think there is harmony in this image - the subject is momentarily frozen, and when I look at this, I can feel the breeze through the wheel spokes of the bike.

Photograph 1    f4 1/8000 ISO 400

 Photograph 2  f4 1/3200 ISO 400

Photograph 3 f5 1/1000 ISO 400

Photograph 4 f5 1/640 ISO 400

 Photograph 5 f5 1/400 ISO 400

 Photograph 6 f13 1/100 ISO 400

Photograph 7 f16 1/60 ISO 400

Photograph 8 f16 1/20 ISO 400

 Photograph 9 f16 1/8 ISO 400

 Photograph 10 f 22  1/4 ISO 400

Photograph 11 f22 0.4 ISO 400

I like the artistic appearance of photographs 9 and 10, and photograph 11 at shutter speed of 0.4 looses the subject completely

Exercise: Photographing movement - shutter speeds - manual

The aim of the this exercise was to highlight the differences in shutter speed when capturing movement.  You can freeze an image with a fast shutter speed or use a low speed to achieve a motion blur which may give an added impression of movement. (As demonstrated below, in the latter shots).

The exercise called for 10 - 12 photographs to be taken, ranging from the highest shutter speed to the lowest.  When I did this exercise, I had to manage the failing light outside, so I kept my aperture wide at F4, and had to raise the ISO to 6400.  My images were therefore grainy. My camera's highest shutter speed is 1/8000 but I started at 1/1600 because of the failing light.   I the  found this a useful, exercise, as  it helped to consolidate my knowledge so far about the three elements which affect the digital film (Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO).

Photograph 1: f4 1/1600 ISO 6400 freezes motion

Photograph 2 f4 1/160 ISO 6400

Photograph 3 f4 1/100 ISO 6400

Photograph 4 f4 1/50 ISO6400

Photograph 5 f4 1/30 ISO 6400

Photograph 6 f4 1/15 ISO 6400

Photograph 7 f4 1/10 ISO 4000

Photograph 8 f4 1/8 ISO 4000

photograph 9 f4 1/6 ISO 4000

photograph 10 f4 1/5 ISO 4000

The first photograph, shows how a fast shutter speed (1/1600) freezes motion.   There was a noticeable difference in the blurring of motion around 1/125.. but more noticeably with the shutter speed at 1/100.   I particularly like the artistic blur of the the last two photographs.. and because I had dropped the shutter speeds considerably, I was able to lower the ISO to 4000.  My son actually looks like he is moving across the screen. I found the fast shutter froze the action but it did not give me the sense of any movement, I much prefer the blur of motion which the lower shutter speeds captures.

I will repeat this exercise, with more available daylight and see if I can achieve more clarity with a lower ISO.

Exercise: Focus at different apertures

Three elements affect how an image is made: Aperture/Shutter Speed/ISO (to be discussed in depth @ [xx])

The object of this exercise is to show how focusing at different apertures effects the sharpness of the subject matter and to illustrate the depth of field achieved. Using manual settings I took three photographs, one at the widest aperture, one at the mid-point and one at the smallest aperture. As recommended, I choose to shoot something on an angle, and decided on a row of cans. (inspired by Andy Warhol’s Campbell's Soup).

[f4 1/60 ISO 1250]

Here the sharpest point of focus is on the second tin from the back, the third and fourth cans beginning to be out of focus.  – This image exhibits depth of field.

[f9 1/40 ISO 1250]

I chose an aperture of f9 for the second image being the mid point in my lens range. Here the range of sharpness of image is spreading slightly from the second can to include some of the rear can. The front can, remains out of focus, and there is still a certain amount of depth of field

[f22 1/4 ISO 1250]

In the final shot, I used the smallest aperture f22. When the image is enlarged, you can see that most of the cans appear in focus and are sharper.

In conclusion this exercise demonstrates how, when using the widest aperture, a shallow depth of field is achieved, along with a smaller area of sharp focus. In contrast, the smallest aperture captures more of the image and increases the clarity and sharpness.