Panning With Different Shutter Speeds

I used the same blue swing as my subject for this exercise as I did for the last. This time I took my camera off the tripod, and due to the swing's frame being in the way I had to move closer so I had room to freely pan the camera left and right. I used the camera's auto-focus, but with hindsight I think I should have held the swing at the point I wanted to shoot it, focused, then switched to manual focus to stop the camera 'hunting' and capturing focus in the wrong places.

 18mm, f/3.5, 1/1000, ISO 200

  18mm, f/4.5, 1/500, ISO 200

  18mm, f/13, 1/50, ISO 200

 18mm, f/20, 1/25, ISO 200

As I'm typing this up I've realised that (in small print!) the exercise brief calls for 10-12 photographs for these shutter speed exercises. This is a mistake on my part as although I took a lot of photos due to using burst mode on my camera, I didn't change the shutter speed at small enough intervals. With that being said, I have taken images across the shutter range, and have gained the experience for which this exercise was intended.

I really enjoy the effect afforded by using the panning technique, I think at the appropriate shutter speed it is really capable of conveying a sense of motion and speed. In the first two images above the swing is still frozen in mid-air. This results in a very static picture without any 'storytelling'. Also, the backdrop is not blurry and is therefore distracting. The last two images are much closer to what I wanted to achieve. There is a real sense of motion, with the fourth image appearing 'fastest', and the background less discernible. I think in this series I like the third image the best, as it shows enough motion to be interesting and to put the concept across to the viewer, but the 'speed' effect of the image is gentle enough to be suitable for a piece of children's play equipment. The background is sufficiently blurry to not be a distraction, but it is also clear enough to place the swing in context with its environment.

Shutter Speeds

At Telford town park, I found a bright coloured and uniquely shaped swing that I thought would make a suitable subject for the exercise on shutter speeds. I set my camera on a tripod, and kept my kit lens at a fixed focal length of 18mm for all the images. I used the shutter priority setting on my camera in order to choose the shutter speeds I wanted whilst allowing the camera to make adjustments in other areas to maintain a constant exposure.

18mm, f/4, 1/1250, ISO 400

18mm, f/5, 1/800, ISO 400 

 18mm, f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 400

 18mm, f/14, 1/100, ISO 400

 18mm, f/22, 1/40, ISO 400

18mm, f/22, 1/20, ISO 200

 18mm, f/22, 1/8, ISO 200

I can see when comparing the images that the slowest shutter speed where the swing is completely frozen is the third image at a shutter speed of 1/400. On the fourth image there is noticeable blurring, but not enough to properly convey motion. The fifth image is more blurred but still isn't giving the impression of motion. In the sixth image you can clearly see the swing is in motion, and probably depicts the most 'realistic' speed of all the images. The final image is more abstract and I think is possibly conveying too much motion considering that the swing wasn't moving very quickly.

Capturing motion is one of the fields in photography I have the least experience in (except for running water), perhaps I think because a suitable moving subject is more difficult to come by than a stationary one. I would have liked to experiment with even slower shutter speeds to create even more abstract images, but 1/8s was the slowest I could go without overexposing the image. If the location was closer to home I would have gone back when the light was starting to fade which means I could have gotten a slower shutter speed, but for convenience I think I'll look at the possibility of purchasing a neutral density filter which would block some of the light entering the lens thus allowing me a slower shutter speed.

Focus at Different Apertures

After a planned trip to Telford shopping centre, I visited the town park where I hoped to gather images suitable for these introductory exercises. I found this wooden fencing which I thought would be ideal for showing the depth of field at different apertures, and the small details in the wood would help me to discern fine sharpness more easily. I mounted my camera on a tripod, and used my kit lens to take the following shots at different apertures. I chose a focal length that was suitable for the framing I wanted to achieve, and used aperture priority mode to allow my camera to adjust the shutter speed as necessary to maintain the same exposure for all three photographs.

38mm, f/4.8, 1/640, ISO 200

38mm, f/11, 1/125, ISO 200

38mm, f/32, 1/15, ISO 200

The wooden post on the far left and the greenery on the far right are excellent indicators of sharpness in these pictures. In the first image both objects are clearly out of focus, but in the last image everything in the frame is mostly sharp (although I know from previous experience that defraction can be an issue at very narrow apertures, this is something I'll research in more depth and bolster my knowledge on). When the prints are processed I'll more clearly be able to discern where the sharpness boundaries lie.

Focus with a Set Aperture

For experimenting with a set aperture and different focus points, I mounted my camera on a tripod and employed my Sigma 70-300mm telephoto lens, which has a macro function in the 200-300mm range. I knew that by combining a wide aperture with a long lens and the ability to focus closer to the subject with the macro function, I would be able to achieve very shallow depth of field. The camera was struggling to auto-focus on the near-most edge of the front coin in the first image, so I adjusted the focus manually. I was able to successfully auto-focus pictures two and three.

240mm, f/5.3, 1/15, ISO 800 

240mm, f/5.3, 1/15, ISO 800 

240mm, f/5.3, 1/15, ISO 800 

In terms of preference, I think in this particular case it is hard to judge and each image fulfills a different role. The first image draws the viewer's eye directly to the front of the stack of coins, and even though the rest is in focus, you can still see enough to put the in-focus coin in context. The second image brings the eye directly into the middle of the pile of coins, and here you can also see more denominations where perhaps the additional colours and textures provide more interest. The third image leads you straight to the back, and you are now able to make out the word 'Euro' on one of the notes which gives the viewer more information about which particular currency they are looking at. On reflection I think I like the middle image the best, simply due to the extra textural interest.

Focal Length and Angle of View

For this exercise I took my camera to Willenhall town park. I wanted to capture images that not only showcased the topic at hand, but were good images in themselves. The time of year provided some bonuses and challenges in pretty much equal measure, so I had to spent quite a lot of time working the shot, trying different angles and subjects to produce images I was happy with. Today there is a blanket of dull grey cloud across the sky, which meant that I wanted to avoid including the sky in the pictures at all costs. The cloudy day also resulted in less available light for the camera, and as my images are quite shady, it required an ISO of 800 and wide apertures in order to keep my shutter speed to a reasonable number for handheld.  Although a challenge when photographing the outdoors, I found that from a learning standpoint the overcast day really pushed me to be creative and to find solutions. On the plus side, even at midday I had nice even light to work with as it diffused through the cloud cover, and many of the trees are now showing their autumn colours which I wanted to capture in my images. I took several series' of images and eventually chose the scene below. I enjoy the leading line of the path taking the viewers eye from the front to the back of the image, and the colourful avenue of trees obscures the dull sky and provides interest and contrast to the grey tarmac.

For this exercise I used my kit lens which has a focal range of 18-55mm. I thought this would provide the necessary focal lengths needed for the job at hand. When my prints have been developed I'll revisit the same place and see which image most closely resembles my actual view.

 18mm, f/3.5, 1/200, ISO 800

 31mm, f/4.5, 1/200, ISO 800  

55mm, f/5.6, 1/100, ISO 800