Sunday, October 31, 2010

Photo Class Week 2-"Shutter Speed"

I hope everyone had a great week and a very Happy Halloween.  Today was a beautiful day here in South Jordan, UT so with camera in hand I was excited to do my assignments for this weeks class.   I especially loved this lesson.  We learned about shutter speed and how to photograph action.  For those of you that know me you all know that at least 85% of the photos I take are action due to the fact all my kids have been involved in sports and sports=action.  After this week I really wish I could rewind time and re-shoot all those swimming, football and baseball photos.  OHHH well, really nothing to lose sleep over-right!!!

ASSIGNMENT ONE:  Our first assignment was to take a "Frozen Action" photo with the shutter speed around 1/1000.  Here we have Lauren jumping on the trampoline.  She loves it when I take photos of her jumping and doing all the fancy tricks she knows how to do on the trampoline.  Usually my tramp photos are blurry, but today I was able to get crystal clear photos (thanks Brooke).  I took several and decided to post this one.

f/4 
1/1000
ISO 400

Well one thing I did this week after learning about action from Brooke was sit at the computer and go through many of  the action photos I have taken the last couple of years(yes there are millions).  I could see what I did wrong with each photos as I reviewed the aperture, shutter speed and ISO readings of each photo.  I was totally having a "light bulb went on moment" as I reviewed some photos.  However, I am proud to say  there was a few by sure luck that I had done correctly so I want to quickly share them with you.

Taken last spring.  You may want to click on the photo to enlarge, but I was able to capture Brandon batting and was able to cature Brandon, the bat and  the baseball in the photo.
f/2.5
1/800
ISO 100


Taken this summer.  Lauren playing in the sprinklers.  Loved how I was able to capture her flipping her hair as she came up out of the sprinklers. 
f/3.2
1/1000
ISO 100


ASSIGNMENT TWO:  Next assignment was to photograph something that "Implies Motion"  Here I had Brandon, Lauren and the dogs run towards me.  I set the shutter speed at 1/125, metered the camera and took  the photo.  I think the photo is a little washed out.  I forgot to adjust my ISO speed.  Brooke taking the ISO to 100 probably would have been a much better photo right? 

f/7.1
1/125
ISO 400

Same thing here.  I like the motion is shows other than I almost cut her head off.  So once again forgot all about lowering the ISO. 

f/7.1
1/250
ISO 400


This photo was one I took back in February of my daughter at the state swim meet finals.  I was very proud of this photo.  Trust me it's front and center in her scrapbook.  Brooke here I did have to really increase the ISO because the meet was inside and very dark.
f/2
1/250
ISO 800

ASSIGNMENT THREE:  Our last assignment for the week was to take a "Panning" shot.  WOW I need tons of practice here.  The photo shows our beagle "Shilo" running after a bone and a very high speed.  So how could I have made the dog a little more in focus and still blur the background.  The photo was taken at almost dusk like you suggested.

f/13
1/60
ISO 400

Thanks everyone for stopping by.  I am going to practice more this week on shutter speed and photographing action so beware.

8 comments:

Alice said...

Lynette, the photo of your daughter diving into the pool is great - I know it wasn't for this assignment, but the composition is beautiful and it captures a moment frozen in time! I think you also did a great job on your panning shot with your cute dog. I think that we all have learned that panning isn't that easy. The only improvement I could see for the baseball picture is making sure that his feet don't get cut off - the ball in mid-air with him in mid-swing is amazing. I wish we would have had digital when my kids were all playing sports.

Heather said...

These are so fun! I love that you chose to share some older shots as well. I've gone back through my pictures as well, and it's really interesting to see them and now know some things I could have done to seriously improve them. I love the first frozen action photo you took with her hair up in the air. And the panning shot, though a bit blurry, is really great as far as keeping your motion steady. I tend to go all over the place when I pan--up, down, sideways, diagonally--I just need a more steady hand, I suppose. I think most of the blur on the dog comes from the way he is moving--across the frame, but up and down at the same time. Great job!

Unknown said...

GREAT photos, my talented friend. At our next retreat you will have to teach a photo class. Everyone will LOVE it!

Ashley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ashley said...

Oh my word.....great photos! And that swim meet photo really is a nice still shot of her entering the water. And the baseball picture was such a great shot too. you're pictures really are awesome!

Laurie D. said...

Your action shots are great! I LOVE the swim meet photo as well. Panning is just plain hard!

Brooke Snow Photography said...

Lynette! These are great!

I'm so glad that you were so excited about shutter speed! Sounds like this will be an awesome tool for your very active family! Hooray!

Love the fun trampoline shot! One of the best tips I have for trampoline shooting, is to try to place your subject in the sky. This usually requires you to shoot from a lower angle--which with a ground trampoline probably puts you laying on the ground! But placing them in the sky and perhaps even not even having the trampoline in the picture can create some very exciting images!

Love your other frozen images ! The baseball shot has a lot of energy and the swimming shot? BEAUTIFUL. I'm glad its front and center in the scrapbook! Its amazing :)

Sprinkler shot? Also extremely energetic! LOVE IT!

Isn't so fantastic to know exactly how to get the shots you want?! Hooray for shutter speed and shooting manual!

Implied Motion: As for implying motion, you still have a fast enough shutter speed here, that we're not getting as dramatic of a motion effect, so instead we sort of get an inbetween frozen and implied. To get more implied motion , you'll want to start your shutter speed around 1/60 and then go even slower if you want more effect. For these shots, I think the stronger creative choice is to go for Frozen, since the clear background isn't as important to the image, or panning, where you could keep the subject more in focus and motion blur the back.

oh yes, and lowering the ISO would definitely give a lower aperture and slower shutter speed. That may have been helpful.

Panning! Your shot is great! I love your little dog caught in such a fun motion moment!

One misconception about panning: you won't have a totally sharp subject usually, but they will just be more sharp than the rest of the image. For the closest sharpness that you can get, you simply have to be sure to move at the same speed they are. We often over anticipate their speed and move a bit faster which makes them a bit more blurry than otherwise.

GREAT WORK!

Nicole Norris said...

Don't you just love those light turn on moments from taking this class! I love that I can use analyze a situation and know how to get the shot I want with my camera!!! I am so glad you are still enjoying the class! I can't wait to see next week's photos!

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