shutter speed

The purpose of this assignment is to consolidate understanding of Shutter Speed and how it affects motion (freezing or blurring). 

Instructions

• If possible, stay in a well-lit area. Outside will probably work best right now.

• Start with the lowest ISO possible, but adjust it if you find that your f-stop can't match the shutter speed. (Your camera light meter will probably flash to alert you that you're under-exposed or over-exposed.) You might want to stabilize your camera in some way to prevent camera shake.

• Don't crop your images, please upload them as you shot them. No correcting in post-production, you should aim to get a result in-camera that is as close as possible to your visualization.

SET 1

Blurring and Freezing movement

• Use a normal to moderate long lens (FF sensor: 50 - 135mm; Cropped Sensor ~35mm - 90mm)

• Set your shooting mode to Shutter Priority (S or Tv)

Find either a spinning object, running water, or ask a friend to spin or shake their hands. Unless the running water is outdoors I don't recommend trying this in your bathroom.

1. Focus on the spinning object. Set your shutter speed to 1/15s and allow the in-camera meter to set the aperture to match for the correct exposure. Take a picture

2. Double the shutter speed to 1/30s.

3. Double the shutter speed to 1/60s.

4. Double the shutter speed to 1/125s.

5. Double the shutter speed to 1/250s.

6. Double the shutter speed to 1/500s.

Below is a video explaining the process if it’s not clear.

1/15s (f18 ISO 320)

1/30s (f13 ISO 320)

1/60s (f10 ISO 320)

Looking at the images above it’s clear that 1/15s creates complete blur, to the extent that the only giveaway that the wheel is actually turning, is in the blurred writing on the rim. At 1/30 and 1/60 the difference is negligible and that could be that the wheel is moving in a slightly different speed, but we now see the first signs of spokes closer to the hub. At 1/250s there is only slight blur on the edges and at 1/500s it doesn’t even look as if the wheel is moving at all.

Learning Outcomes

At what speed is your spinning item completely frozen?

Submit

Please upload the following:

• 1 (one) image showing creative use of slow shutter speed.

• 1 (one) image showing creative use of fast shutter speed.

• If you opt to do the second set, please upload 1 (one) image where you’ve used panning.

SET 2

Panning

This is an optional part of the assignment.

This takes a lot of practice. The ability to pan is a good skill to have in your tool set though.

How to Pan