Capturing Motion

I've wanted to try some of these techniques out for a while and I finally got around to it! Overall this weekend has been a good one for photography - I got to take these motion-capturing photos, plus have had two great portrait sessions.

Anyway, I guess that the motion capture worked for me - I still get a bit dizzy looking at the photos ...

Panning

This is where you set a slower shutter speed and then try to move your camera in synch with your subject and take the photo at the same time. The goal is to have a sharp-ish subject with everything else blurring with the motion.



EXIF Data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ): F14.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 17.0mm

Out of about 20 or 30 pictures I took, only a couple came out like this, with the subject in focus. Here's another example of panning:



EXIF Data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ): F14.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 17.0mm

Synching with the Subject

The other option is that you move with the subject at the same time/rate by being on whatever is moving. While I wanted to try this, I was hesitant because I tend to get nauseous just thinking about spinning in circles, but I liked the results! No growth without sacrifice! And I managed NOT to get sick, which is an added bonus.

Here we're on a merry-go-round kind of thing; I had Christy push us for a second. I got a few shots and then had to rest for a bit while my head stopped spinning ...



EXIF Data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ): F14.0
ISO Speed    100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 17.0mm

In this next shot, we were on the basket swing the girls are on above. Clara was the willing victim this time, pushing us.



EXIF Data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/30
Av( Aperture Value ): F14.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 17.0mm

Stopping Motion

The next option is to use a higher shutter speed to stop motion. In the following examples I also used the high-speed rapid-fire feature of my camera. All you have to do is hold the shutter button down and it continues taking photos at a high rate. The only issue with the below photos is focal point - Clara is jumping off of the swing, traveling forward as she comes off and to her landing. However, the camera is firing rapidly enough that the focal point does not change, so by the time she gets to her landing, she's a bit out of focus.















EXIF Data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/500
Av( Aperture Value ): F6.3
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 26.0mm

Anyway, a fun time with the kids and learning something new at the same time!

Long Shutter Speeds

Today I wanted to put up a couple examples of longer shutter speeds. A longer shutter speeds necessitates stabilizing the camera in some form or fashion. For the first picture of the river, it was sitting on the railing of the bridge over the river; I used a tripod for the other two. Another tip - don't push the shutter button, but either use a trigger of some sort or the delay timer, plus use mirror lock up. All of these things together will help get sharper pictures when using longer shutter speeds.

Anyway, all of the below pictures are from our trip to the thermal hot springs in Papallacta, Ecuador. Can't wait to get back there! All photos are as they were from the camera, no additional post-processing on them.

This first example the shutter speed is 1/8s:

Here's the rest of the EXIF data on this first shot:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1/8s
Av( Aperture Value ): F32.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 20.0mm

For this shot of the river, rather than freeze the motion of the river, I wanted it to blur together. The slower shutter speed allows the water flow to smooth out and appear cotton-like, rather than capturing every splash.


This next shot is with a shutter speed of 1.3s:

And the EXIF data from this one:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 1.3s
Av( Aperture Value ): F20.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Canon EF70-200mm f/4L USM
Focal Length: 154.0mm

For this detail of the tree, I used my telephoto zoom lens to get in close for some details. It was a spot that was under a fair amount of shade, hence a long shutter speed to get the above exposure.

Even though I have a small aperture (F20), the background is still blurry; this is one of the characteristics of a telephoto lens. It tends to have more bokeh, even at smaller apertures. If I had the same shot with my wide angle at a F20, that three behind there would likely be pretty in focus. Contrast this photo with the last one below ...



This last one is with a shutter speed of 25s:

EXIF data:
Tv( Shutter Speed ): 25s
Av( Aperture Value ): F8.0
ISO Speed: 100
Lens: Tamron 17-50mm
Focal Length: 17.0mm

This last one is the classic night shot, in this case of one of the thermal pools right in front of our cabin.

Contrast the depth of field with the second picture - this is a much wider aperture and should yield a much shallower depth of field. However, the picture is fairly sharp from front to back. This is one of the characteristics of a wide-angle lens - you get more depth of field for your F-Stop. In this particular example you get some additional softness because of the steam rising off of the water.

Another 10 in 10

One of my goals has been to try and use all of my lenses more often and one way to do it is to try and take 10 photos within a 10 meter radius. In this case, I have been wanting to use my "nifty fifty" lens (Canon EF 50mm fixed focal length) a bit more. Since it is my fastest lens at F1.8, I figured I would open it all the way up and see what I could do with it.

At an f-stop of 1.8, the depth of field is very shallow - there is only a very shallow portion of the image that is in focus.



In the image above, the background becomes a colorful blend that is hard to distinguish what exactly it is. At the same time, the buds on this flower are fairly well in focus, but not all of them.



In this photo, you can get a better idea of the shallow depth of field - her head is turned slightly, but that throws the eye further from the focal point out of focus.



The above photo is of a painting, taken at a slight angle and not straight on. As a result, only a portion of the painting is in focus.

And now for the rest of the photos, all with the same F1.8: