Project Photographing Movement

Shutter speeds:

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/1600sec at f3.5

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/640sec at f36.3

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/1320sec at f8.0

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/100sec at f14

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/50sec at f22

Nikon D90 at 18mm, ISO 200, 1/25sec at f22

Panning with different shutter speeds:

A series of panning shots were taken of our dog Monty chasing a ball. The shutter speed was decreased each time and gives a very different impression of speed across the series.

Shutter speed: 1/160 sec

Shutter speed: 1/80 sec

Shutter speed: 1/40 sec

Shutter speed: 1/20 sec

Shutter speed: 1/10 sec

Out of the 2 series of movement images my preference is for the panning shots. Out of those I prefer the one at 1/20 sec which conveys the impression of speed and still gives a fairly clear image of the subject.

 And a one off image of a pheasant in flight abstracted to a blur of movement and colour.

Nikon D90 with a 80-400mm lens at 400mm, ISO 200, 1/80sec at f5.6

Project Focus

Focus with a set aperture:

A scene was chosen which had depth. In this case I chose a line of champagne bottles with one odd one out! Three photos were taken from the same point each one focussed on a bottle at a different distance. The camera was set at it’s lowest f-stop number. The three images were then compared and the preferred photo noted.

‘Near’ Focus (Nikon D90 with 18-55mm, ISO 200, 1/13sec at f5.6)

‘Middle’ Focus (Nikon D90 with 18-55mm, ISO 200, 1/13sec at f5.6)

‘Far’ Focus (Nikon D90 with 18-55mm, ISO 200, 1/13sec at f5.6)

I spent a bit of time selecting the right scene for this exercise and in the end selected some champagne bottles lined up. The near and middle photos I am happy with as a clear distinction is seen between where the eye is drawn. However with the far photo I suspect I am limited by the lack of distance between the near and far bottles and also the f-stop of 5.6 which in this case was not low enough to give distinctive depth of field. My preference is for the middle image.

Focus with different apertures:

A scene was selected showing a row of dry stone wall from an angle. Each photo was framed identically focussed on a mid point on the wall. The first of the three photos was taken at f5.3, the second at f13.0 and the third at f36.0.

‘Wide Aperture’ Nikon D90 at 90mm, ISO 200, 1/500sec at f5.3

‘Mid Aperture’ Nikon D90 at 90mm, ISO 200, 1/50sec at f13

‘Narrow Aperture’ Nikon D90 at 90mm, ISO 200, 1/8sec at f36

As you can seen a wide aperture setting creates a smaller depth of field. To obtain a sharp image from the front to the back of the frame then a small aperture should be used from about f/11 upwards. In the above images a clear difference exists between the wide and narrow apertures but less so with the mid aperture.

Project Getting to know your camera

Focal length and the angle of view:

The object of this exercise was to choose a scene and take 3 photos at different focal lengths with the object of determining what the ‘standard’ focal length is. Standard means an angle of view similar to the way we see i.e using both eyes the object seen through one eye (directly at the scene) should appear the same size as through the other eye (through the viewfinder). Throughout this exercise I used a Nikon AF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 lens.

‘Standard” Focal length at 32mm (Nikon D90 with 18-200mm, ISO 200, 1/640sec at f5.0)

‘Wide-Angle’ Focal length at 18mm (Nikon D90 with 18-200mm, ISO 200, 1/640sec at f5.0)

‘Furthest Telephoto” Focal length at 200mm (Nikon D90 with 18-200mm, ISO 200, 1/250sec at f5.6)

Enrolled and ready to start!

I recently enrolled on OCA’s BA Photography course, with the intention of continuing on through the different levels and hopefully earning a degree in Photography! This is my first blog site and intended to be used as my course “learning log”. The first module I am enrolled on is The Art of Photography and my progress follows from here. I have already received an introductory email from my tutor Caroline Bloor with a deadline for my first assignment – now the pressure is on! It’s been over 30 years since I did any form of formal studying and I am anticipating an exciting journey into the depths of this fascinating area.