Weekly Header Challenge - Panning

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Feel free to click on the other participants' blogs

to see what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Panning

For this week's header, I chose the only picture I have of true panning!  I took it (there really are two!) for a photography class lesson on...panning lol, and capturing action.  Here are the two full images I took:

For this class lesson, I asked Danny (left) and his friend Nathan to run by me.  Since we were doing this after church on a bright, sunny Sunday literally at noon, I knew I'd have to fiddle with settings in order to achieve the blurred panning look I wanted.  The settings:

• ISO 100
• Canon 17-85mm lens at 28mm
• f/22
• 1/30 second shutter speed

The reason behind the settings:  I recall trying to get a slow enough shutter speed to achieve blur in the image, so I set the shutter speed first and adjusted the rest so the images would be properly exposed.  In the bright noon sunlight, this meant the lowest ISO possible, and a pretty high f-stop.

I also used the AI Servo focus mode so that the camera would continually focus/refocus as I panned with the guys.  This form of panning is a great way to achieve a sense of motion, if that's what you want to convey in the image.

I do use panning, just not with the above effect.  For Thomas' football team, for which I was the official team photographer, I had to pan with the players running around on the field.  I did not want to have the blur, however; I wanted the sharpest images possible, to stop the action in the image.  Here's a series of images I took of Jonah, the team's captain, as he ran with the ball one play:

In order to achieve the stop-action look, I knew I had to set my shutter speed at 1/500 second or faster (according to the quick research I did as a non-sports photographer!).  So I set the shutter speed and set everything else to jive with it:

• ISO 500
• Canon 70-300mm lens at 170mm
• f/5
• 1/1000 second

Fortunately, this was an afternoon game, meaning lots of light.  My 70-300mm lens is not the best, but by bumping up the ISO to achieve a fast shutter speed, I could get a nice overall sharpness.  The F-stop was set as low as the lens would let me.  And, of course, I used AI Servo focus to continually focus/refocus as Jonah ran up the field.  (BTW, I captured a little face-mask action there--tsk, tsk, Jonah!)

One final shot, but it's not really panning.  Panning is basically moving the camera in order to follow the subject.  But what if the subject is stationary?  Can you still move the camera somehow and achieve a blurred effect?  You sure can.  :)

Now, I'm no expert, haha.  But I read about this particular technique right before Fernando and I went to Paris.  And there was a stationary subject that leant itself to this technique, in my mind, so I figured I'd try it.  And what came out of my camera was pretty cool.  Here it is, the Arc de Triomphe on a beautiful Friday evening:

It's called zoom blur, and it's achieved by keeping your camera stationary, but turning the lens to zoom in (or out) while the shutter is open.  Click here if you want to read a detailed tutorial.  But basically, the essentials are a steady hand (or tripod), a slow shutter speed, and a zoom lens of course!  As soon as you click the shutter, twist the zoom lens in (or out depending on how you started).  The settings:

• ISO 100
• Canon 17-85mm lens starting at 85mm, ending at 17mm as I twisted
• f/4
• 1.3 second shutter speed

Here's another tutorial (click here) if you're intrigued; the really cool images are the three examples at the end.  I'd like to experiment more with zoom blur; I think it achieves a sense of motion in a unique way!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Photog Class -- Silhouettes

Summer is approaching, with lots of extra daylight to play with!  Take some time one warm evening to experiment with silhouettes.  They are fun and easy, and you generally do not need a tripod (or a fancy camera) to capture some great shots!

The play of light and darkness is called chiaroscuro, in case you were wondering.  :)

You'll need some brothers or sisters (or friends) to play with you, of course!  Remember, I use manual mode with my Ellie, so you'll have to experiment if you use a different setting with your camera.  First of all, I always like a low ISO (more on that in another post), so my images below are all with ISO set at 100.  I also used my 50mm portrait lens, which is nice and fast since it allows me to go as low as f1.4 if I need to.

Since I want a fast shutter speed, I set my f-stop to 2.2, resulting in a shutter speed of 1/2000 second.  To achieve the silhouette effect, I expose for the sun, not for my subjects.  See how the guys below are all in shadow?  With the shutter set at 1/2000 second, the sun and sky are properly exposed, but since the shutter speed is so fast, the guys end up being all dark.  This is the effect you're going for.

Now remember, it's more than just snapping a bunch of shots of people in silhouette.  I chose the below pose--with Jacob's arm around Thomas--because it portrays the friendship and camaraderie of two brothers.

f2.2, 1/2000 second

Same with the below shot.  Both of the guys have their hands in their pockets, but they're talking and joking around, and smiling at each other.  I feel a real sense of friendship and togetherness in this image.

f2.2, 1/2000 second

I love the silhouette of the hands together in a high five.

f2.2, 1/2000 second

The outline of their faces also reveals emotion--strength and a little bit of seriousness.

f2.2, 1/2000 second

For the last shot below, I bumped up the shutter speed a bit to achieve a darker image.  Plus, the guys were ready to be done with this particular photo session!

f2.2, 1/2500 second

If I had thought about sun flare, I could have changed the f-stop to shut it completely down (say, f22).  If I did that, I would have to adjust the shutter speed accordingly, to a much slower speed.  By doing that,  I would have gotten some very nice star-like rays off the sun.  I'll have to show you that in another post.  :)

Now, go grab your camera and some family friends, and have some fun!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Photog Class -- Pose or Candid

For today's photography lesson, I'd like to continue addressing the subject of, well, the subject.  :)

Whatever you're shooting--person, place, or thing--there are a few more things you can think about before you look through the viewfinder.

Think about how you want to portray your subject.  How you can show your subject's personality through your photo?  Do you want to capture your children's personalities?  The playfulness of your dog?  The excitement of a sports game?  The hectic atmosphere of a city street scene?  I think one key way to capture these things is based on this quote I recently read:

The whole point of a good photograph

is to show what is going on in your life at the time.

Joel Sartore, Photographing Your Family, page 125

Take a posed shot.  Then take a candid one.  It seems that whenever a camera is pulled out, someone hollers, "Look at the camera!  Smile!"  Those shots are fine if you're taking a portrait shot, maybe for a special occasion or to document an event--to show that these particular people were all there.  But if we truly want to capture what our life is like at that moment, as in Sartore's quote above, I encourage you to take the candid shot.

In the candid shot, the subject is in his/her/its natural environment, doing something he/she/it normally does--playing together, talking, reading a book, participating in a sport, etc.  He (and I'm using he so I don't have to keeping typing he/she/it) is not necessarily looking at the camera.

Danny is voting for the first time...

 The girls are enjoying their new baby sister for the first time...

My dad is "overseeing" the carving of the turkey.

No pose in the below shot, either.  Even though the scene is backlit (not great for capturing faces), Jacob and his grandma were listening to the conversation going on in the room.  I saw Jacob's sweetness and love for his grandma.  I saw my mom smiling because she knew I was clicking away with my camera.  I'm so glad I captured this!

I wanted to capture the people in the above shots in their moments, enjoying their moments.  Those things were going on in their lives, and in mine.  I feel that I captured what was going on in my life at the time.

All that being said, go ahead and pose a shot.  Older kids and (some) adults are good at posing for you, in the way you want them to.  Check out Thomas below.  The family room was a mess, and he needed to pick it up.  I asked him to pose on purpose, and that was the face he made.  I love it.  :)

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Photog Class -- Intro

When I bought Ellie, I had no idea how to use her.  I just knew I wanted as good a camera as my film camera, which was a Canon.  After much research, I chose the Canon 40D, saved for two years, and finally purchased this really cool camera, which I named Ellie, of course!  (Don't you name your camera?)

Ellie worked great on the fully automatic setting, and I started taking pictures--lots and lots of pictures--right away.  Full auto is very easy, and I got some great shots.  But after shooting through that spring and summer, I knew I was in over my head and figured I should learn what I could really do with my really cool camera.  I found a photography class at my alma mater, North Central College.  The price was right, the time was right, and Danny (then 16) signed up with me since he was constantly "borrowing" Ellie and using up the memory cards with all his snapping away.  I figured we could both learn together.

Our fearless teacher, Tim (who is awesome, by the way)

We found ourselves sitting in class with about nine other adults.  Poor Danny!  He did great, though, and brought some innovative, youthful ideas to the table when it came time to submit images for review each week.

I have to tell you--that first class was so daunting!  Tim told us that he expected us to know how to shoot in manual mode.  It turned out that this particular class was the third one in the series!  I gulped when he asked if we manually set the white balance before we shot.  I half-raised my hand and quavered, "What's white balance?"  (Boy, was I in trouble!)  But Tim was fantastic.  He launched into a discussion about white balance, what it was, how to set it, etc.  A photographer was born that day.  Well, let's say she was always taking pictures, but she suddenly learned that she needed to learn how to take pictures.

Since that class, I've taken a number of other classes, just finishing the most recent one last month.  I know from homeschooling that you learn best what you teach to others, and I've actually had several opportunities to teach basic photography to others.

The 4-H class to whom I presented my first photography class!

Since I also love to write, I plan to combine all this into several posts that will hopefully teach others in the virtual world.  I'm always learning, even if it's solidifying the basic stuff I should know by heart.  Every time I pick up my camera, it's a challenge to put into practice all the stuff I've learned over the years.  Some of it comes naturally, some comes smoothly having been incorporated into my style and routine, and other knowledge has to be implemented on a regular basis.

Even if these blog posts end up being me teaching myself, I don't mind.  Writing it all down helps me remember it better.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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