Assignment:   Learn how to show motion with a camera, Produce a Poster with samples of your results

Goals:             Take pictures with a digital camera learning how to use the shutter and flash to show motion.

Tools:              Digital camera

"Motion...because life does not wait for your pictures"...Natalie Roan - '07-08

Websites to review:

Treatment of Motion Discussion Thread on DPR

Follow up computer assignment will be a "Motion Poster":

• After shooting this assignment, you will insert 3-5 pictures of your best pictures, one large, like a 5x7, showing motion. Use a Word Art Box to label the page: "Motion" or something clever indicating a sense of motion. The pictures should have a 1pt line around them...and do not all have to be at the same angle, i.e.. one or more can be skewed. This is very similar to the portrait poster. If your pictures need tweaking (leveling, etc.) do this in Photoshop BEFORE you insert the photo into Word. See samples below. UPDATE: This project can be completed in Picasa.

Instruction for shooting assignment to shoot pictures that show motion:

This is HIGHLY experimental. Remember, exposure is like filling a water bucket. If you open the faucet (aperture), it takes less time to fill (shutter speed).

• Panning
• Set camera to M (Manual), dial in a slower shutter, like maybe 1/15. To change the Aperture, press the AV/+- button near the shutter. With out this button pressed, the control wheel controls the shutter. When in M, you have control over BOTH the Shutter and the Aperture. Press the shutter while you follow a subject. Try different shutter speeds and practice firing the camera at different times trying to get the action coming rather than going. Make Auto ISO is NOT on. Use Manual Focus...prefocus on the ground.
• Spin and Zoom Art
  • Set camera to Tv or Av, force a slower shutter, like maybe 1/30. Press the shutter while you follow spin on an object. Try different shutter speeds and practice spinning the camera at different speeds. You can also try zooming in and out, with or with out pauses, during the long exposure.
• Slow Flash Sync – couple of different ways
• Shooting Mode Dial to “Night Portrait Mode”. This will allow for flash AND a slow shutter. Hold steady (or use a tripod) as the shutter will be open for a long time.
• Or, use Tv to dial in a specific slow shutter. Turn the flash on. Try different shutter speeds to vary the amount of effect and blurring.
• Ghost Images
• Set camera to Av, dial in a smallest Aperture, like maybe f22 (be sure you are on the lowest ISO). This will force the longest shutter possible. Put the camera on a stable surface, set the camera to self timer, run and get in the picture...stay there for HALF of the exposure...and then get out.

Shoot for your other up coming projects...

• Photo Montages: Think of images that can be combined, stacked, or might make for interesting special effects or results when combined with another subject.
• You can also shoot other pictures that might be used in a CD Cover, Photo Calendar and a PowerPoint Photo Presentation later in the last 6 weeks.
• We’ll go shoot again and you can get other images on your own…but for this class shooting, stay with the group.

Tips and reminders:

• Format your memory card when you first get your camera so you do not end up with somebody else's pictures.
• Shoot in 4 ** (FUNC…last option on bottom left, hit set to toggle from Resolution & Compression) for class pictures. When shooting for PDP work, shoot in Fine L (large) or 6***.
• Switch to MF (manual focus) and set the focus to how far away your subject is.
• Change your ISO from low (200) to high (400 or even 800) to vary the results.
• NAME your images when you copy them to your computer using the top option of the Wizard. Be sure to click "delete after transfer" on the last page of the wizard.

Sample:

by Clete P, a 2004-05 Senior...took 1st place at the State Fair.

Other times to use a slow shutter, such as with panning:

• Somebody running

• playing putt putt

• Waterfall or water fountains behind a person as a portrait

• Bike, Car, horse and dog races

• Kids on trampolines

• Somebody swinging

• Dances, school...or like at a wedding.

Challenges with Showing Motion when Shooting in Automatic Mode:

Generally, when you turn on your flash and you are in AUTO, P or A modes, the shutter speed will automatically go to the default flash sync speed of 1/60th, aka the minimum handheld shutter speed. This shutter speed, combined with the flash burst of light at 1/5,000 of a second pretty much stops ALL action...assuming your subject isn't too far away for the flash to reach it.

So, to show motion AND use your flash, you need to turn to Tv/T (Tv on Canon and Pentax, or T on Nikon) and set manually set your shutter speed to 1/15th. Then, force your flash to go off. Now you can experiment to get wonderful pictures using the slow shutter to show some motion while the flash fires to freeze part of the motion.

Advanced camera tip: If your camera has "Rear Curtain Flash Sync"  mode (or Slow Curtain), use this to make sure the "frozen" portion is at the END of the exposure, rather than at the beginning.

Showing motion outdoors in bright sun:

The problem with trying to show motion is that because of the bright sun, your shutter will be way too fast. For example, if you are metering 1/1000 @ f2.8, the SLOWEST you could go is 1/125 @ f8 on the Canon A85 because of it's limited minimum F-Stop. With the Pentax K100d, the slowest you could go is 1/15 at f22.

Here is how it looks:

So, as you can see above, if you use a polarizer, you can slow the shutter down a couple of more stops to 1/4 of a sec. But, if it is really bright out...you would be more likely at 1/2000 or 1/4000 of a second at f8, which means, even with a polarizer, you would only be able to slow the shutter down to 1/30.

Bottom line is that it is difficult to show motion in broad daylight. Some other tips would be:

• Wait until early or late in the day.
• Shoot with as slow of ISO as possible (50 ISO on the A85)
• Stack two polarizers (at the expense of some image quality)

Bonus: Want to try something even more interesting? If you have a MANUAL zoom lens (one that can be turned WHILE the camera is exposing), try zooming during a 1/4 sec exposure...either WITH or WITHOUT a flash.

Here is another example you can try with out flash:

Samples of Motion Posters:

Samples from various sources:

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