The purpose of this assignment is to consolidate understanding of Shutter Speed and how it affects motion (freezing or blurring).
1/15 (f8 ISO200)
1/30 (f5 ISO 200)
1/60 (F3.5 ISO 200)
1/125 (f 2.5 ISO 200)
1/250 (f1.4 ISO 200)
1/500 (f 1.4 ISO 200)
Analysis: The changes are quite subtle in this series. I begin to see a slight sign of stop action between 1/15 and 1/30. At 1/500 the water is ice-like but I must say that the difference between 1/250 and 1/500 are quite difficult to see at this resolution.
1B-Demonstration of how shutter speed captures motion of a spinning top.
(Gallery) Click to move from image to image.
I positioned a spinning top on a unit that turns the top electronically at a controlled single speed. I turned on the unit and took a series of images. at the following shutter speeds: 1/15; 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000. At 1/60 it is possible to see the first signs of the stopping of action. By 1/2000 the action was completely stopped by the shutter speed and that image was comparable (with the exception of the my lighting) to the image of the top at rest.
Set 2-Panning
1/30 (f11 ISO400) Panning in Harvard Square.
Reflection: It took just about an hour of trial an error to get a good shot. It took time find the right spot and then to get into the routine of anticipating action and scene. Finally the challenge was to pan at just the right speed—not too slow—not too fast. I lost many shots to moments of getting so excited by something happening that I panned too quickly and then blurring the whole shot. I also lost several shots to action coming too close. In the end I had about 4 images that were ok. I love the way the background (including the walk signal) blurs behind the sharply focused biker in this one.