I found that setting the aperture lower than f/8 would not allow me to have the entire scene in focus and therefore the fastest shutter speed I could use was 1/160s or the photograph would have been too dark. The slowest shutter speed at which the subject was still sharp was 1/100s. I also found that the slowest shutter speed I could use was 1/25s with an aperture of f/20 otherwise the image would have become over exposed. I wanted to experiment further so applied an N.D. (natural density) filter to my lens. This filter halves the amount of light that can enter the lens meaning the camera can be set at a much slower shutter speed.
1. shutter speed 1/160sec, aperture f/8
2. shutter speed 1/100sec, aperture f/10
3. shutter speed 1/40sec, aperture f/14
4. shutter speed 1/25sec, aperture f/20Applied ND filter
5. shutter speed 1/6sec, aperture f/14
6. shutter speed 1/3sec, aperture f/18Panning with different shutter speeds
At first I wasn’t too sure how to go about starting the project as I had never tried this technique before. To begin with, I thought I’d need a relatively slow shutter speed in order for the background to be blurred, I soon learnt that much better results could be obtained with a faster shutter speed. I found this project quite difficult as the speed of the subject rolling past wasn’t constant every single time.
The fifth image below is my favorite of the photographs I managed to capture. This picture was taken with an aperture of f/6.3 and a shutter speed of 1/20sec. The subject is sharp, the background is blurred and the different speed of Ed’s leg can even be seen due to the foot also being blurred.
1. shutter speed 1/3sec, aperture f/18
2. shutter speed 1/2sec, aperture f/22
3. shutter speed 1/5sec, aperture f/14
4. shutter speed 1/13sec, aperture f/7.1
5. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3
6. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3
At first I wasn’t too sure how to go about starting the project as I had never tried this technique before. To begin with, I thought I’d need a relatively slow shutter speed in order for the background to be blurred, I soon learnt that much better results could be obtained with a faster shutter speed. I found this project quite difficult as the speed of the subject rolling past wasn’t constant every single time.
The fifth image below is my favorite of the photographs I managed to capture. This picture was taken with an aperture of f/6.3 and a shutter speed of 1/20sec. The subject is sharp, the background is blurred and the different speed of Ed’s leg can even be seen due to the foot also being blurred.
1. shutter speed 1/3sec, aperture f/18
2. shutter speed 1/2sec, aperture f/22
3. shutter speed 1/5sec, aperture f/14
4. shutter speed 1/13sec, aperture f/7.1
5. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3
6. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3Comparison of Techniques
Out of the two series of photographs I took whilst experimenting with shutter speeds, the two images below are my favourate.
The first image was taken with my camera mounted on a tripod in a static position. The blur of the subject shows that he is moving, a faster shutter speed would have captured a sharp image and therefore given the impression that Ed was stood still. The photo could have been better however had the subject been moving a leg at a different speed to furthermore show his movement.
1. shutter speed 1/40sec, aperture f/14
To capture the second image I removed the camera from the tripod and followed the movement of the subject by panning. I believe I’ve managed to capture a good example of the technique. The subject has been captured very sharply and it is clear that he is moving due to the blur of the background. His foot is also blurred showing that it is moving at a different speed, elaborating the sense of movement. For those reasons this is my favourate image out of the two series of photographs.
2. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3
The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the subject will appear; although, if it is too fast the sense of movement will not be as visible. If the shutter speed is too slow the entire scene will appear blurred.
The first image was taken with my camera mounted on a tripod in a static position. The blur of the subject shows that he is moving, a faster shutter speed would have captured a sharp image and therefore given the impression that Ed was stood still. The photo could have been better however had the subject been moving a leg at a different speed to furthermore show his movement.
1. shutter speed 1/40sec, aperture f/14To capture the second image I removed the camera from the tripod and followed the movement of the subject by panning. I believe I’ve managed to capture a good example of the technique. The subject has been captured very sharply and it is clear that he is moving due to the blur of the background. His foot is also blurred showing that it is moving at a different speed, elaborating the sense of movement. For those reasons this is my favourate image out of the two series of photographs.
2. shutter speed 1/20sec, aperture f/6.3The faster the shutter speed, the sharper the subject will appear; although, if it is too fast the sense of movement will not be as visible. If the shutter speed is too slow the entire scene will appear blurred.
