Project 3: Motion

Shutter Priority  For your third project we will be shooting in Shutter Priority.  In this mode you control the shutter speed, and the ISO the camera selects an aperture to give you proper exposure.

Shutter Speed  When you push the shutter button down to take a photo, the shutter, located behind the lens, opens for a specific length of time – the shutter speed.  Shutter speeds are expressed as fractions of a second.

Shutter Speed  Your camera can shoot a shutter speeds as fast as 1/4000 of a second to as slow as 30 full seconds.  The shutter speed you select will have a very radical effect on your photo.  Fast shutter speeds freeze motion and slow shutter speeds blur motion.  Fast shutter speeds = not a lot of light into the camera.

Adjusting the Shutter Speed  Place the camera in T/V mode.  Turn the wheel on top of the camera to adjust the shutter speed.

Adjusting the Shutter Speed  When shooting with a faster shutter speed, you will generally need a higher ISO because the fast shutter speed will limit the amount of light coming into the camera. If the ISO is higher, its more sensitive to light therefore it exposes faster.  When using slow shutter speeds, the ISO will generally need to be lower. Slow shutter speeds allow a lot of light into the camera, so a lower ISO is less sensitive to light and needs the longer exposure to become exposed properly.

Listening to the camera.  You need to pay attention to the camera while shooting.  If the F-stop number is flashing at you on the back screen or inside the viewfinder that means your picture wont turn out exposed properly.  If its flashing a high f-stop number, that means you need to speed up your shutter speed, decrease your ISO or take away some of the light on your photo  If its flashing a Low F-stop number, that means you need to slow down your shutter speed, increase you ISO or find some additional light.

Shutter Speed  When shooting a slow shutter speed, the idea is to get the part of your image that is moving to blur, while allowing the static parts of the photo to remain in focus.  When using a slow shutter speed, the slowest you can go while holding your camera in your hand is 1/30.  If you go any slower than that the camera needs to be placed on something sturdy i.e. tripod, table, chair, ground..anything that wont move.

Your Project  Shoot anything that is moving.  15 DIFFERENT frozen motion photos  15 DIFFERENT motion blur photos  5 DIFFERENT panning photos  5 DIFFERENT light painting photos  You will need a minimum of 40 DIFFERENT photos from the above categories. Make sure you have successful examples from each.

Examples of Frozen Motion

Examples of Motion Blur

Shutter Speed Techniques  Panning  When you are panning, you are tracking a moving object with your camera while taking a photo  Use a slower shutter speed than you think will freeze the movement. Too fast and it wont work  As you follow the motion, shoot your images.  With the camera moving at the same rate of speed as the subject, your subject should be sharp, while the background that wasn’t moving is now blurry.

Examples of Panning

Light Painting  Light painting is a slow shutter speed technique where the shutter is open for a long period of time (10-30 seco0nds) while the camera is on a tripod.  During the exposure you will walk in front of the camera with a light source (flashlight, ect) illuminating different parts of your photo  Try different colors of lights to illuminate the scene.

Your Project…again  Shoot anything that is moving.  15 DIFFERENT frozen motion photos  15 DIFFERENT motion blur photos  5 DIFFERENT panning photos  5 DIFFERENT light painting photos  You will need a minimum of 40 DIFFERENT photos from the above categories. Make sure you have successful examples from each.

Camera Settings  Drive Mode  This allows the camera to shoot multiple frames without lifting your finger off the shutter button

Camera Settings  Focus mode  To allow the auto focus to track moveme nt change the auto focus mode to AI servo.

Tips for Success  Use a tripod or other camera support for a shutter speed less than 1/30.  Keep your photos simple, look and the background, if it isn't adding anything to the photo find some way to eliminate it.  Try the same photo with multiple shutter speeds to find the one that works best for what you want your photo to look like.  Have fun