Panning (0.3b)

Requirement

10 - 12 photographs

Purpose

Explore the use of panning to convey motion

Technical learning

• Panning seeks to capture the moving object sharply, or at least sharper than its background
• This creates a perception of movement, which comes from the blurred background rather than the sharp, or sharper, subject.

Exercise instructions

Swing the camera, on or off a tripod, so that the moving subject stays at the same fixed point in the frame. Take several shots at different shutter speeds. 1/30, 1/60 should give a fairly sharp subject, whilst the background is streaked.

Images and Review

Location: Again the road underneath the Blackfriars Railway Bridge

Time: 8.15 am on a Friday in August

I started panning at a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/125 sec, just to ease my way into learning the technique. This helped establish the rhythm needed to get the desired effect. I then reduced the shutter speed in steps to investigate the effect.

Masked cyclist attacks traffic! - f/125, subject sharp enough, background 

Time to speed up the shutter to 1/100...

Cyclist moves up the line - f 1/100 - sharp subject, more blur in background

Then moving to 1/60...

Now you see me, now you don't - f 1/60 - motion blur of background little change from previous image (van was crawling forward here, whereas in first 2 images the vehicles were waiting for the traffic lights to change)

The Mad Max goes to the office - who said commuting is dull? -f 1/60 - nearside van is less sharp because it is moving opposite to the pan and is closer to the camera

Synchronised cycling? - f 1/60 - as with the previous image, the nearside cyclist is very blurred since it was moving against the pan and is closer to the camera

Let's try 1/30...

The Boris Bike on city streets - f 1/30

An another one...f 1/30 - classic pan effect. Blurred pedestrian walking out of the frame, bottom left, is a distraction (which I should crop out)

No offense, whoever you are, but the older you get the stiffer you get - f 1/30 - another classic pan effect: improvement on the previous image because the subject is closer to the rear edge of the frame, giving a greater sense of implied forward movement

Yellow peril - f 1/30 - Achieves an abstract view of speed, largely due to the coincidental crossing cycle

Finally, can I make it work at 1/20?

One of the few who used hand signals before pulling out - f 1/20 - Subject is sharp in parts: the blurred spokes add to the sense of motion

When road users streak - f 1/20 - Another abstract view of speed, more evocative than its predecessor

My favourites from each of 1/60, 1/30 and 1/20 are:

• 1/60 - 'Mad Max', conveys the tension that the cyclists must fight to survive on London's roads (but wish I caught marginally more of him at the left hand edge)
• 1/30 - 'Synchronised cycling', has a contrast between the solid form of one cyclist and the ghost like quality of the other
• 1/20 - 'Road Users Streak', communicates a strong impression of speed

Further learning points

• The key skill in panning is to sweep the camera parallel to the moving subject and track its movement by keeping the subject in the same position in the viewfinder - takes a bit of practice!
• The presence of other vehicles and pedestrians at different distances and moving at varying speeds adds interest, although their impact is hard to control
• Panning as a technique to convey motion has an advantage over shooting with a fixed camera at a set shutter speed. It captures the detail of the subject, whilst still communicating a sense of movement. On the other hand, the fixed camera has to freeze the scene to render the moving subject sharp. This drains the sense of movement from the image, unless other clues prompt the mind to perceive motion (e.g. freeze frame of athletes in a race)

Recording motion with a fixed camera (0.3a)

Requirement

10 - 12 photographs

Purpose

To show how to adjust shutter speed to capture motion, either to freeze action or to give varying levels of motion blur

Technical learning

• A fast moving object needs a fast shutter speed to render it sharply
• If not, part or all of the subject will be blurred
• Nevertheless, motion blur in an image can be very effective in giving an impression of speed

Exercise instructions

Use a tripod. Set camera to shutter priority. Pick an object that moves across your view several times or continuously, e.g. water following across rocks, cyclist, cars. Shoot against a plain, simple background. Take a series of exposures from fastest shutter speed of your lens to a slow speed (e.g. 1/2 sec). Note the shutter speed of each image.

Images and review

Location: Road under Blackfriars Railway Bridge, London

Time: 7.30am, a Friday in early August

Aim: Capture the movement of cyclists passing under the bridge, most of whom presumably are on their way to work

What are you looking at?

1/400 - subject is crisply sharp, looks towards the camera

Just another work day

1/125 - cyclist is slightly past sharpAdd caption

Cyclist and pedestrian converge

1/100 - faster moving of 2 subjects is now blurred, whilst the other is still sharp

2 cyclists overtake a stroller

1/80 - Cyclists become more unsharp, walker is still in focus

Van and bike close on a glum looking walker

1/60 - Car and cyclist are significantly blurred, pedestrian is still sharp

A ghost on, rather than in, the machine

1/30 - cyclist is heavily blurred

Even walkers are started to melt down

1/15 - cyclist almost unrecognisable, pedestrians are becoming blurred

Cycling in the abstract

1/10 - cyclist detail breaks down further

Is that someone in the fog?

1 sec - walker just about visible within the streak created by a passing white van

The Roadrunner overtakes the bus ... meep, meep!

1.6 secs - only a bus at its stop remains identifiable

Total abstract

2 secs - anything that moves just leaves a formless trail

Further learning

• 2 main factors affect the crispness of a moving object. These are: (a) its speed across (or towards) the frame and (b) its distance from the camera. The greater speed, or the closer the subject is to the camera, the faster the shutter speed required to freeze motion, or achieve a desired amount of motion blur
• The sharply rendered moving subject often gives a weak impression of movement. This can be partially offset by the presence of other clues of speed. Such clues include: placement of significant space in front of subject (prompting the perception of motion into the available space), capturing the frozen step in an evidently vigorous movement (e.g. a mid air leap by a dancer), using a setting strongly connected with movement (e.g. athletes competing in a race)
• Use of a plain background helps to focus attention on the subject and therefore on its motion, whereas a busy backdrop distracts attention from the subject and consequently weakens the impression of its motion

Focus with different apertures (0.2b)

Requirement

3 photographs

Purpose

Explore how depth of field changes with aperture

Technical learning

• Wide aperture reduces depth of field, whilst a narrow one increases the range of sharpness in the image
• Each stop of halves or doubles the size of the aperture: f1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32
• For the same level of exposure shutter speed adjusts in inverse proportion to the change in aperture

Exercise instructions

Find a row of similar objects to shoot at an angle (e.g. railings, parked cars, terraced houses). Stand at an angle to the row of objects. Set up camera on tripod (for identical framing). Set the camera to aperture mode. Focus at a middle point and note down. Shot 1 - Set the lens to its widest aperture. Shot 2 - Set the lens stopped down to the mid-point of its range. Shot 3 - Set the lens to its smallest aperture.

Images and review

Using the 3 bottles of Fairy Liquid again for this exercise...

Nikon, 50 mm at f1.4, 5.6 and 16

f1.4

f 5.6

f 16

Review of photographs against purpose of exercise.

• Depth of field moves from narrow to broad as aperture becomes smaller
• I have marked the range of sharpness in the first (f1.4) and thrid (16) shots

f 1.4

f 16

Focus with fixed aperture (0.2a)

Requirement

3 photographs

Purpose

To show how:

• Sharpness draws attention to the subject of an image
• Out-of-focus surroundings separate subject (in focus) from background

Technical learning

Wide aperture creates a narrow depth of field

Exercise instructions

Find a scene which has depth. Set lens to widest aperture. Shot 1 - Focus on a near part of row. Shot 2 - Focus on the middle of row. Shot 3 - Focus on the end of the row.

Images and review

I bought bottles of 'citrus' 3 Fairy and lined them up for a still life on the kitchen table. I composed tightly to isolate the subject and used a plain beige coloured chair to provide the small amount of visible background.

Front

Middle

Far

Nikon, 50mm, f1.4

Which do I prefer?

• On message, no preference: each has something equally valid to say as the others. One interpretation. The first image focuses on the nearest bottle, the leader who stands at the head of the pack. The second highlights the middle, the leader who embedded in the team. The third emphasises the farthest bottle, the leader who herds the flock.
• On design, no preference as well. The first image is harmonious. It fits the eye's usual expectation that the sharpest part of the image stands in the foreground. The second and third images challenge that expectation, so creating some tension. That tension increases interest, holding the eye on the image for longer. However, the differences in graphical impact between the three are slight.

Getting to Know My Camera (0.1)

Odd though it may seem, the Canon Ixus 300, a compact and the simpler of my 2 cameras, that I need to know more about now.

Bought to capture opportunities to take pictures 'on the hoof', I need to understand better what it can and cannot do for features which I may need for TAoP.

So, here are the results of reading the user's manual:

Image Quality
Highest quality is 10m pixels (3648 x 2736) producing a JPEG file of approx. 2.5 MB. Canon claims this will print satisfactorily up to A2 (Hmm, make that A3).

See Func.Set/ Image Quality and Recording Pixels

Frame aspect ratio

For all bar one setting, the aspect ratio is 4 x 3. The exception is a 'widescreen' view at approx 11 x 6 (highest quality produces an image of c. 7.5m pixels)

See also Func.Set/ Image Quality and Recording Pixels

Exposure Mode

(P) Programme, (A) Aperture priority and (Tv) Shutter priority modes (plus various scene related pre-sets, e.g. portrait, beach, etc). Aperture ranges from f 2.0 to f 8.0 on wide angle, reducing to f 5.3 to f 8.0 on maximum telephoto. Shutter control runs from 1/1250 to 15 secs.

Select Shooting Mode at middle top of camera (set to Camera Symbol). Then access through Func.Set/ Shooting Mode/ A or TV

White Balance

Settings:

• Auto - auto adjustment
• Daylight - Fine weather, outdoor
• Cloudy - Cloudy, shady, twilight
• Tungsten - Tungsten, bulb-type fluorescent
• Fluorescent - Warm and cool white fluorescent
• Fluorescent H - Daylight fluorescent
• Custom - manual (by reference to a test white card)

See Func.Set/ AWB

Filters

(Sort of!). Options are:

• Vivid - increases contrast and saturation for 'vivid' impression
• Neutral - reduces contrast and saturation to 'neutral'
• Sepia - sepia toning
• B&W - monochrome
• Positive Film - combines Vivid Reds, Greens, Blues to produce intense colours to emulate film
• Lighter Skin Tone - as stated
• Darker Skin Tone - as stated
• Vivid Red - intensifies red (imitates red filter)
• Vivid Green - intensifies red (imitates green filter)
• Vivid Blue - intensifies blue (imitates polarising filter)
• Custom - adjust contrast, sharpness and saturation

See Func.Set/ My Colors

Continuous Shooting

Maximum rate is 8.4 images per second. However, file size is fixed automatically to 1824 x 1368 pixels, whilst focus, exposure and white balance are set with the first shot. Focus and expsoure will adjust if Servo AF is engaged.

No information on the maximum length of continuous shooting (Guess: the speed slows increasingly with duration)

Select Shooting Mode at middle top of camera (set to Camera Symbol). Then access through Func.Set/ Shooting Mode/ High Speed Burst Select Menu/ Servo AF/ Toggle On

Metering method

3 metering methods:

• 'Evaluative' - auto adjusts exposure to match conditions within a 'standard range' (eye symbol inside square brackets)
• 'Centre Weighted Average' - averages the light across the entire frame but applies higher weight to the centre (square brackets)
• 'Spot' - only meters within the square in the middle of the viewfinder (dot in square brackets)

See Func.Set/ Light Metering

Bracketing Exposure

Adjustment under/over metered exposure by 2 stops at increments of 1/3.

5on Func.Set, then move dial clockwise (+) or counter-clockwise (-)

Auto Exposure Lock

Enables locking of exposure.

5on Func.Set whilst pressing shutter button halfway. AEL appears in viewfinder, compose and shoot. Unlock by releasing shutter button and pressing 5on Func.Set again.

Slow Synchro Flash

Lengths exposure time so as to brighten background when using flash. Use tripod.

4on Func.Set to activate Flash, then select Slow Synchro

Profile

Personal data

Age - 56 years

Student number - 504155

Courses - Landscape (started Apr 10, suspended Oct 10), Art of Photography (started Jun 10, suspended Oct 10, restarted Aug 11)

Email address - gollan.ja@googlemail.com

Background and expectations

Background
I finished full time work in May 2010 and returned to the UK after living in Europe for 2 years. I wanted to change my lifestyle, by doing more of what I enjoy as well as by pacing myself better through middle age. I saw this change as moving to part-time work by reusing business skills in new and interesting ways, spending more time with family young and old and taking a photography degree at the OCA.

Yet life is rarely lived as planned. As if to prove this, having signed but for 2 OCA programmes in the spring of 2010, I had to suspend them within a few months when my grand design hit some bumps in the road. However, I am now getting back on track with the OCA programme. I have just (Aug 11) restarted my Art of Photography module and plan to reactivate the Landscape course in the autumn.

Previous experience
I took up photography as a hobby about 6 years ago to improve my work: life balance. Creating images that satisfied me - and being disappointed more often than not - led me to ask: what must I do to get the results that I want? I turned for answers to self-help books and occasionally to training courses:
• An excellent 5 day Photoshop course at London College of Arts & Communication (beginner to intermediate user)
• Portraits: a 3 x 1 day basic course in Portrait photography at Citi Lit in London and 2 x 1 day sessions with a professional photographer (David Townend) - http://www.davidtownend.co.uk
• Landscape: 1 outstanding day with Martin Henson http://www.digital-monochrome.co.uk/

Not surprisingly, my development as a photographer has been haphazard. Looking back, I travelled without real purpose, still less when I set a direction, I journeyed without maps. I chose paths that promised excitement and turned off them when new avenues seemed more interesting. So, as a result, I moved from sports photography, to family portraits, to landscapes, back to portraits, back to landscapes. Adding to this chaotic approach, work and other commitments squeezed the time and energy available to devote to learning and practice. Too often I postponed taking photographs to next weekend, or tried to push into two stolen hours what needed in a day.

Expectations
I am now have the time to correct these two shortcomings. I am looking to the OCA programme to provide me with the structure, resources and discipline to develop as a photographer. Whilst I like the idea of doing a degree in the subject, I want to make sure that the OCA programme is right for me.

Other information

My 'serious' equipment is as follows:
• Camera bodies: Nikon D 700, D 200
• Lenses: Nikkor 24mm – 70 mm, Sigma 24mm – 135mm 2.8 to 4.5, Sigma 70mm – 200 mm 2.8, Nikkor 50 mm 1.4, Sigma Fisheye
• Tripod
• Cable release
• Polarising filter
• Graduated Neutral Density Filter
• Neutral Density Filter
• Photoshop CS 3 and Nik’s Software Suite


My 'fun' camera is a Canon Ixus 300 HS. Bought with the aid of having a light, small and serviceable camera to capture images on the hoof between one activity and the next, it gets used more frequently than intended.

Focal length and angle of view (0.1)

Requirement
1-3 photographs


Purpose
To establish by experiment the standard focal length of any camera, i.e. where the image in the viewfinder and what the naked eye sees are the same


Technical learning
The standard focal length of a lens produces an image which is of the same size as normal human vision. It varies by type of camera, i.e. it depends on the size of its sensor (digital) or film.


Exercise instructions
Point the camera at any scene. Shot 1 - with both eyes open, one looking through the viewfinder, the other directly at the scene. Set the focal length of the lens so that the size of the scene in the viewfinder is the same as what the other eye sees. Note the focal length. Shot 2 - use a wide angle lens on its shortest focal length to shoot the same scene from exactly the same spot. Shot 3 - repeat using a telephoto lens on its maximum focal length.


Images and Review 
The first signs of autumn - the single leaf of the cherry blossom tree turns red

Standard view - 62mm

Wide angle view 24mm

Telephoto - 135 mm

When holding prints of these 3 photographs against the scene, the relative distances of each to the eye so that the image and the real scene look the same size are:

• Standard view - about 2 feet (1 full arm length)
• Wide angle view - right in front of the eye (even then it is marginally smaller than real life)
• Telephoto - about 4 feet, give or take 6 inches