Introduction - A way of seeing - 5

Project: Photographing movement

Exercise: Panning with different shutter speeds


Practicing, experimenting is always useful and ...fun. As it was this exercise, in which I had to pan the camera at different shutter speeds, while trying to follow my subject and keep it in the middle of the frame. I couldn't do it just by swinging the camera (couldn't focus properly), so I used my tripod, but I loosened the tripod head (as it was suggested in the course). Even so, it wasn't so easy to focus properly all the time.

I didn't have somebody available to ride a bike, or simply run back and forth in font of my camera. So I deposited myself and my photo gear in front of the building complex where I live, and started taking photos of the cars passing by. Not too far there is a hump on the road, placed there on purpose, so the drivers don't speed too much. But even so, the cars are pretty fast. And for the ones that weren't ... I got different results...

In the course it is said that a shutter speed of 1/60 or 1/30 should give a fairly sharp image of the subject, which I found true. But I tried other speeds as well, so I can compare the results.

The first photo is taken at a shutter speed of 1/20 and while it is fairly clear that a car is the subject, it is kind of blurred and uncomfortable for the eye to look at.

1/20, f16

Starting with 1/30 the image of the subject is sharper, almost sharp enough to look good.

1/30, f14

I don't see a big difference between 1/30 and 1/40, if I look at the whole image. What I do see, is that (probably because of the difference in design as well) the wheels of the car in the 1/40 photo, give the sense of movement much better than those of the bus in the 1/30 photo, while the car itself seems sharper in the 1/40 than in the 1/30 photograph. Do I make any sense ... ?!

1/40, f10

The photo taken at 1/50 seems a little sharper than the one taken at 1/40.

1/50, f5.6

And as it was expected, the 1/60 looks even sharper. And it is the one one that I like the most. The contrast with the seemingly faster moving car in the background makes it more interesting. Even if the blue car doesn't give the viewer the impression of speed, I think the whole picture does and I find this nice. And I think the colors, especially the deep blue, contribute to the whole impression.

1/60, f5.6

1/100, f5

I think the photo taken at 1/100 shutter speed didn't come out as sharp as it should have. Or I simply can't notice the difference between this one and the 1/60 photograph.

1/250, f3.5

The car above was photographed at 1/250 and it looks almost static, except the wheels which give it a sense of moving. The background is not sharp, but it's not streaked either so I don't think it helps in giving a sense of motion anymore.

1/250, f3.5 (car passing at a lower speed than the one above)

I put this photo in my learning log, because it shows the difference between two photos taken with the same shutter speed, but passing at different speeds themselves, so the results are different. The second car was passing at a lower speed, so it's image looks sharper.

1/400, f3.5

With a shutter speed of 1/400 things look already sharp, both subject and background seem static, only the placement of the subject (car in the middle of the road) sends the message: "the car must be moving". Same for 1/1000.

1/1000, f3.5

In the end, trying to decide if I like the sharpest versions or the blurred ones most, I think it depends on the situation. When it comes to cars, or people riding bikes, motorbikes or just running, skating etc, I think I like the blurred versions more (either blurred backgrounds, as a result of panning or blurred subjects, as a result of using a slow shutter speed, but keeping the background sharp). They give a better sense of motion, than the sharp, frozen images. I also like "frozen in time" images, but I think they're more suitable for showing concentration, skill or beauty, than speed and motion.