Skill Development - Shutter Speed Shots

Skill Development - Shutter Speed

A shutter within a camera lets light in. Its exposure time determines and controls the length of time that the light travels through the lens aperture to the film. The film is coated with silver nitrate to increase light sensitivity. Shutter speeds control the amount of movement and sharpness in an image as well as allowing the photographer to create effects like motion blur. The modes for shutter speeds are 'Bulb' and 'Time' - these are designed to take images for long exposures like long-distance images e.g. the moon. Bulb can determine how long the shutter is open for as it can be pressed manually and can be longer than the slowest shutter speed in the range. With Time, the shutter speed is pressed to start the camera's exposure to light and then another one ends it. I used the shutter speed priority mode 'TV' on the dial within the exercise.
I also used the shutter speed dial to set the shutter speed that I wanted for different images. The camera that I used ranged from 1/4000sec to 30secs. Turning the shutter speed dial altered the aperture setting so that an effective affect could be produced. The LCD panel tells the photographer which shutter speed the camera has been altered to when turning the dial. Generally, in daylight conditions shutter speed aims to be 1/125sec or 1/250 sec. In most cases, 1/400sec will usually be satisfactory. Also, short shutter speeds let less light in and are used to free-frame and catch quick shots. Opposing this, long shutter speeds lets in more light and can allow pictures to be taken in the dark. Long shutter speeds can also create motion blur. Shutter speeds are important for moving subjects because if a slow one is used then the image may become out-of-focus.
1/60sec is a vital shutter speed 'magic number' as this setting is the slowest a photographer can get the shutter speed without motion blur when performing hand-held shots. The photographer would need a tripod if they want to go under 1/60 sec.
Images that contain water needs very high shutter speeds and images containing fireworks or sparklers will need slow shutter speeds. Some cameras allow shutter speeds to be really high, reaching 1/8000sec. A high/fast shutter speed, like 1/4000sec, can capture water because it captures a specific moment in time when the water is moving as it freezes the motion. A  short/low shutter speed is used because it can create a motion-blurred background yet capture a specific, in-focus subject which makes the image have an affect of speed and draws the attention in on the subject.

When I was carrying out the skill development exercise, I used shutter speeds of 1/250sec to 1/125sec to capture my subject walking. Also, I used 1/250sec to 1/500sec to capture her running. I also used a short shutter speed to capture free-frame shots when the subject was jumping in the air. In addition to this, I used extremely long shutter speeds when in the dark, using a torch to capture the light movement. I made sure that the shutter speed was correct throughout this exercise and this meant that I didn't get any underexposed images that didn't contain the right lighting for the shutter speed's exposure. This meant that I didn't have to increase the ISO speed of the camera or that I had to retake images etc - This is a skill that I mastered.

Freeze-frame shot - 1/225

The first several free-frames that I shot contained the same problem - poor framing. Due to her leg being cut off, I learnt that I was too close to the subject. Also, I think this shot should have been portrait instead of landscape. However, this image is in-focus and is successfully freeze-framed despite the poor framing. To overcome the problems I need to gain a larger distance between myself and the subject or use a tripod to directly aim the camera. My targets for next time is to get closer to the subject, use continuous shot mode/take lots of shots and to review images whilst taking them. To improve of these images further, I could have chosen a more suitable background as this isn't really attractive, therefore features within the image has to be thought of as well as the action shots.
However, there were some images that I happened to capture correctly. This is the most successful freeze-frame shot that I captured. There is also motion blur featuring on her foot which gives a sense of the subjects speed and movement. To problem with this is that I would have liked the subject a little closer to the camera so I could have either zoomed in or moved closer to the subject when taking the shots - my targets for freeze-frames will be to accurately judging the distance needed between myself and the subject as well as trying to achieve good framing.

Running shot - 1/250sec to 1/500sec

The problems with the running shots are that they all seem to be out of focus as I feel like I haven't accurately used the focus lens to alter the focus within the images here. However, this may be a cause of too much motion blur in which case I need to alter shutter speed settings - making my target: to be careful and take time when selecting the shutter speed setting. The quality of these images aren't high-quality, although they do portray that the subject is moving fast as it reflects the fast-paced subject due to the motion blur. To overcome the focus issues, I should have put my camera into automatic focus mode instead of manually getting the images into focus. My target is to make sure I use this mode when taking images as well as taking my time when shooting the image so that I adjust the focal ring to the right setting.

Walking image - Ranged from 1/250sec to 1/125sec

Running shot - 1/250sec to 1/500sec

The walking image (to the left) is poor quality and I need to meet the targets I have met so that the focus of this image is adjusted so that it is correct. Focal blur in this image ruins it and denies the effect that motion blur gives as it is mixed with focal blur.

The slowest shutter speeds that I carried out were in a dark room, using a torch. The torch was the subject of this experiment and I have successfully achieved several images that are high-quality, like the one on the right. This image was made by the subject shining the torch in a dark room and making various patterns with the light. The light was then captured when the shutter speed was long and gave an excellent effect.

Slow shutter speed was used - around 1/30sec

As this was carried out in a dark room, it was hard to control the focus of the camera, therefore automatic focus mode can be carried out again to improve the quality of the image. However, I have experimented with the sensitivity of the light i.e. the ISO settings, which is demonstrated in this image because the light is effectively being shown on the image as it has captured and contains white and red light.
My overall targets for shutter speed skill development is that I need to take more fast shutter speed work as mainly all of the photographs I took consisted of shorter shutter speeds. Also, when taking the images I need to consider different factors. I need to: judge the distance between myself and the subject more efficiently (either get closer or move away), review my images when I take them to see possible errors I am making straight away and I need to make sure that automatic focus is on when carrying out running and walking shots; however manual focus can also be experimented with. Finally, I could experiment with different weather types, like rain instead of the weather being sunny, as the raindrops may be captured by fast shutter speed shots.

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