Motion Assigment for my Course

[Cindie Lou]

I'm taking an on-line photography course and the "homework" is to experiment with shutter speed and motion. This is my first attempt. I haven't taken many shots out of "Auto". I was having trouble finding the balance between slower shutter speed and exposure. The blurred water effect was okay but most of the shots were overexposed like this one. I'm just learning Lightroom so my PP knowledge is also limited. I'm such a Newbie...lol

[mseigafuse]

It's OK to be a newbie, we were all newbies once too

I looked at your EXIF on Flickr and it appears this picture was taken mid afternoon. To avoid overexposing shots like this and still leave the shutter open long enough to get some nice silky water you either need some very heavy filters... or even more simply go early or late in the day when the sun isn't so bright. Did you use a tripod to take this? For longer exposures a tripod or a solid surface to lay the camera on are a must, you could also check to see if your camera has a mirror lockup feature. It is hard to tell for sure, but there may be some focus or camera shake issues in this shot too.

I suggest you go back if you can but go around sunrise or sunset when there is less light, and don't forget your tripod

Keep shooting

Mike

[Cindie Lou]

Thanks Mike for all the great advice. To answer your questions: Yes it was mid to late afternoon; no I wasn't using my tripodd, I was sitting on the egde of a rocky hill;I don't know if my camera has a mirror lockup feature, but I will look into that. There are other shots of that falls on Flikr. I was able to use the tripod with the shots from the other view of the falls, a few of those are better. My next atemp is shooting my son mountain biking...hope to find a place for a tripod.
All suggestions are helpful...thank you very much.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Cindie Lou

Thanks Mike for all the great advice. To answer your questions: Yes it was mid to late afternoon; no I wasn't using my tripodd, I was sitting on the egde of a rocky hill;I don't know if my camera has a mirror lockup feature, but I will look into that. There are other shots of that falls on Flikr. I was able to use the tripod with the shots from the other view of the falls, a few of those are better. My next atemp is shooting my son mountain biking...hope to find a place for a tripod.
All suggestions are helpful...thank you very much.

If you are planning on shooting your son on a mountain bike and you want the sense of motion in your image, here's what I suggest. Position yourself so that you are perpendicular to your son's movement / direction on the bike. You will be panning him as he rides by in front of you. Set your camera to shutter priority (should be S on the dial) and set the shutter to around 1/30th second. The camera will automatically set the aperture based on what the meter requires. You don't want to use a tripod or to set your shutter faster than that as you want to get the sense of motion. You want to take a nice smooth pan of him as he comes into your field of view, and depress the shutter as you are panning. You may have to do this several times to get it right..it does take a little practice. The key is a smooth level movement with your camera as you are panning. Try this, and let us know how you make out

Vince

[Cindie Lou]

Well not only have I learned when to shoot but now I think I understand a little more about when to use my tripod.My camera has Mirror Lock-up feature...so I will try that next time I get to the waterfalls. I tried setting my camera on the settings you suggested Vince......the shutter at 1/30th of a second was not open very long.The panning will be very quick...I see how I will have to practice. I'm just starting to understand shutter speed...exposure and ISO. Should I increase the ISO depending on the light conditions? I'm going to try later today and it's quite cloudy. My last question. I have two options for a background...a farmer's field or a forest...which would you suggest?

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Cindie Lou

Well not only have I learned when to shoot but now I think I understand a little more about when to use my tripod.My camera has Mirror Lock-up feature...so I will try that next time I get to the waterfalls. I tried setting my camera on the settings you suggested Vince......the shutter at 1/30th of a second was not open very long.The panning will be very quick...I see how I will have to practice. I'm just starting to understand shutter speed...exposure and ISO. Should I increase the ISO depending on the light conditions? I'm going to try later today and it's quite cloudy. My last question. I have two options for a background...a farmer's field or a forest...which would you suggest?

Cindie, you can set the shutter to a slower speed, but I would try to keep it at options between 1/15th - 1/40th. You'll have to try several, but you'll probably be happy with the results from one of those settings. As far as ISO, I would say set it to Auto ISO, and let the camera decide based upon the lighting conditions. If you want to adjust manually and if it's reasonably bright out, ISO 100 or 200 should be fine. As far as your backgrounds go either should work. However, a bright open field or a dark tree filled background can both throw off your exposure. You may want to set your meter on Center Weighted, and off Matrix. Make sure you set your zoom on the lens to capture all of the subject, and some of the background. Here are a few examples of how the shutter controls motion:
Image 1 - panned using a slow shutter. Image 2 - stopping action of blades in flight using a fast shutter.

[Cindie Lou]

Well my son wasn't able to help me out today but I went out and tried the technique with moving vehicles. I'm not sure it belongs here but I'll post it because it's part of this thread and if it needs to go to another topic I can move it over.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Cindie Lou

Well my son wasn't able to help me out today but I went out and tried the technique with moving vehicles. I'm not sure it belongs here but I'll post it because it's part of this thread and if it needs to go to another topic I can move it over.

I'd say you did it, Cindie!

[LeeR]

Well, your first post is truly horrible; nearly as bad as the first photograph I ever printed. That was in film days and I didn't understand the problems dust could cause on a negative. Like yours, mine was a shot of a waterfall, well, more like a small rapids. I was so proud of that print until someone pointed out that the dust that had seemed so insignificant on the film had been enlarged along with the rest of the image, making it look like it had been taken in a freak snowstorm. What was shocking was that I hadn't even noticed until some one pointed it out. That being said, this is as good a place to start as any and your second post shows dramatic improvement.

BTW, I am a huge Ernst Haas fan. I got to hear him speak in Atlanta several years ago and his book "Creation" was the holy grail when I was studying photography. Think you may channel a bit of his magic as you develop your 'movement' skills?

[Cindie Lou]

Thanks Vince for all your advice. I took about 200 shots and spent an hour just sitting on a bench as the cars went by. I'm sure a few people were wondering what I doing taking their picture. I was so surprised and excited when this one came up. I have posted it on Flikr for my assignment. I think I'll be ready when my son is whizzing by me...I'm sure he won't mind riding for a couple of hours while I get the "perfect"shot. I'm so glad I found this forum to get advice before I venture out and take 200 shots done completely wrong.