October Fun, friendship and Learning President s Report The Shutterbug Report Buy, Swap, Sell Hi Everyone As you are all probably aware the Hilltops Council has put forward plans to build a much needed new library, unfortunately it appears that the proposed site is on the car park adjacent to the club, this decision however has been challenged by the Trust from whom we rent our club room. Rest assured that the elected officers are keeping a close eye on what is happening and have been assured by the trust that our position in the building is guarantied and the club will continue to function as normal now and in the future.last month saw the judging of the Camera Club Rally the winner was Sue second John joint third Julie and Alan. Christmas in July was a great success 18 people turned up much over indulgence was enjoyed. This month Martin is to give a talk on speed and how to take photos and how to obtain the "essence " of speed. This will hopefully start at 7pm 9/8/17. Cheers Trevor President OFFICE BEARERS President: Trevor Faulkes Vice President: Susie McDonell Secretary: John Van Rijswijk Treasurer: John Van Rijswijk Publicity: Brian James Events Organiser: Trevor Faulkes Shutterbug: Gail Douglas Public Officer: John Van Rijswijk Supper: Susie McDonell
Results - July Camera Club Comp A GRADE Open A GRADE Subject Portraiture B GRADE Open B GRADE Subject Portraiture JUNIORS Open JUNIORS Subject Portraiture LARGE PRINT No comp this month as camera rally was judged instead. Results of the camera rally are as follows: Susie first 477pts John van Rijswijk second 464pts Julie Downs and Alan Salmon tied for 3 rd on 454pts. Subject for 13/9/2017 Speed (movement) This month Martin is to give a talk on speed and how to take photos and how to obtain the "essence " of speed. UPCOMING EVENTS CFX. Entry forms are out. They will be available at Harvey Norman, Visitors Centre, Library, Big W and The Town Hall. Other info on entry form at website. This is a final call for those intending to join us for the WESTERN DISTRICTS at Orange. Also it is not too late to have your prints ready for the Western Districts individual prints
Speed/Movement Principles of Photography- Shutter Speed (Controlling Motion) by Todd & Diane What is the Shutter in your camera? When you take a picture and you hear that click, that is the sound of your shutter opening and closing. Imagine the concept like shutters on your window. You open and close the shutters to control the amount of light entering your room. Same idea goes for the camera. What is Shutter Speed? Shutter speed is about TIME, the amount of time it takes for light to enter your camera, how long it takes to let light through the camera. How is Shutter Speed measured? Shutter speed is measured in seconds, or fractions of a second, which will look like these examples: 1/80 means one eightieth of a second. Most cameras will just show the number 80 1/100 means one one-hundredth of a second. Most cameras will just show the number 100 1/400- means one four-hundredth of a second. Most cameras will just show the number 400 1 means one full second. Most cameras will show 1 Shutter speed can have bigger and smaller numbers, but you got the point, right? Because your camera is usually only showing the bottom part of the fraction, the BIGGER the number, the FASTER the shutter speed, the LESS light enters your camera. This means that your exposure is SHORTER, the image will be DARKER. Imagine this: the faster the shutter opens and closes, then obviously, less light comes through. If you stand in front of your window and open/close the window shutters fast, you have less light entering the room. Fast = less light = big number. The SMALLER the number, THE SLOWER THE SHUTTER SPEED, the MORE light enters your camera. This means that your exposure is LONGER, the image will be BRIGHTER. Imagine this: the slower the shutter opens and closes, then obviously, the more light comes through. So, if you stand in front of your window and open/close the window shutters slowly, you have more light entering the room. Slow = more light = small number. How to control Shutter Speed? Just like controlling the amount of light into your room by opening and closing the window shutters, you can control your shutter speed and how much light enters your camera. Essentially controlling your shutter speed is one part of controlling your total Exposure. Most camera s will have a Shutter Priority function on your camera. You can choose your shutter speed and make it fast or slow by turning the dial. Your camera will automatically adjust the rest of the exposure settings. You can control it on Manual, but this will take more practice because you will have the manually control the rest of the exposure components (Aperture and ISO). Why would I want to understand Shutter Speed? Isn t it easier to just shoot on auto or program and let the camera do it all the thinking for me? Certainly on most occasions, letting the camera do all the thinking for you will give you good results. BUT, in order to take your photography to a higher level and more CREATIVE CONTROL, you must learn shutter speed. OK, so what exactly does this Shutter Speed thing-y do? How will it give me more choices and creative control? Shutter speed controls MOTION and MOVEMENT. By controlling the amount of TIME the shutter is OPEN, you control the amount of TIME you capture the MOTION. When you re photographing anything that moves, from people to objects to food, there can be some cool stylistic results.
Examples of Shutter Speed controlling motion: WATERFALL: Shutter Speed freezing water movement and pretty blurred water shots: The fast shutter speed at 1/800 (bigger bottom number), freeze the water motions. But as you slow the shutter speed (decrease the bottom number), you start to blur the motion of the water. Finally, the slowest shutter speed (at one full second) gives that magical, dreamy look, kind of like the shots you see in gorgeous nature photography So, you selectively choose your style: freeze the motion of the water for a detailed, sharp shot. Or blur the water, for a pretty shot. FREEWAY: Shutter speed freezing car lights and artistic night shots: The faster shutter speed (1/13 seconds) freezes the motion of the cars and lights. Giving a look that you would normally see with the naked eye. As you slow down the shutter speed (to full seconds), the motion of the car s headlights start to blur and lengthen. The slowest shutter speed at 10 full seconds gives full blur to the headlights, creating that long stream of lights on the freeway.
This strawberry photograph was shot at 1/8 second, which is a slow shutter speed. We wanted the water to be blurred and soft looking when it splashed on the strawberries. Camera Shake: Shooting on such a slow shutter speed required camera stability on a tripod to still keep the hand and strawberries in focus. As you photograph on slower shutter speeds, the camera will pick up on the most tiny of movements and cause the whole photograph to be blurry. The tripod kept the hand and fruit in focus and allowed only the motion of the water to blur. (above) Both of these wine photographs were shot at 1/800 second, which is a very fast shutter speed. We wanted to freeze the wine motion as it entered the bowl of the wine glass. You can see the stream of wine frozen in the right photograph. There are Two Main Purposes of Controlling Shutter Speed The primary reason To Capture Motion. Either by freezing motion with a fast shutter speed (bigger number 600, 1000, etc.) or by allowing continued motion with a slow shutter speed (30, 10, 1 etc.). To adjust the Exposure when shooting in Manual. A faster shutter speed (bigger number) will let in less light, the image will be darker. A slower shutter speed (smaller number) and the image will be brighter. Final Thoughts on Shutter Speed: In order to really start understanding, you have to practice. Reading about it will only allow your brain to get so far. Find the Shutter Priority Mode on your camera (some point & shoots may not have this option). In Shutter Priority, you will be telling the camera what shutter speed you want to shoot at, and it will adjust the rest to get what it thinks is the correct exposure (usually this will at least get you close to a decent exposure.) POTENTIAL PROBLEMS: Reminder, beware, slower shutter speeds will also pick up small movements of the camera (the dreaded Camera Shake). The slower the shutter speed is, the more you have to focus on being steady. Eventually it slows to the point where you ll need a tri-pod or something to rest the camera on to get a clear picture.
Panning Another technique that a photographer can use to show movement is panning. Panning is a simple yet effective technique that delivers the opposite effect of the long exposure technique above. While panning, a photographer sets the shutter to a slower speed anywhere between 1/15th to 1/30th of a second and moves the camera at the same speed as the subject. By doing this, the subject will appear more in focus and the background will be blurred. Panning gives a different point of view (POV) than the long exposure technique. It makes the viewer feel as if they are moving along with the subject and the world is rushing by them. Done effectively, the photographer can achieve some stunning effects. You can also play with around with the panning technique and get different effects. For instance, panning from a moving vehicle will give you a much different feel than standing stationary. Panning while moving at the same speed as your subject will give you a different feel than panning a stationary object from a moving vehicle.
Rear Curtain Sync Speed/Movement (cont) The last technique to consider is a mix of both long exposure and panning, with the addition of flash. To start with, you need to understand a shutter is not one curtain, but two. One curtain opens up from the bottom to expose the sensor, and then another follows in a split second to close or hide the sensor from the exposing light. Usually when we use a flash, the shutter s first curtain opens, the flash fires, and then the shutter s second curtain closes. The flash is synced to fire right when the first curtain opens, at around 1/180th of a second to about 1/200th of a second on the average camera. After the first curtain opens and the flash fires, the image is recorded and motion is stopped (remember the disco strobe). However, while the shutter is still open, ambient light is still etching an image on the sensor until the second curtain closes. Let s suppose a ball enters the frame from the right. Just as it enters the frame travelling towards the left, the flash fires and freezes the image on the sensor. But with the shutter still open, the blurred image of the ball crossing the frame is still recording. In the end, the photo looks a ball but with a trail of itself reaching out in front of it. Very odd. But what if you could somehow turn that around and show the ball leaving the frame, with the motion blur trailing behind it, much like an artist might draw motion lines behind a ball in a cartoon? It would look natural and feel right. The good news there is a way to do that simply by changing which curtain the shutter syncs with. It will alter the outcome and give us that trailing tail. Most advance flashes and camera have an option for something called rear curtain sync or second curtain sync.
Many photographers use a slow shutter sync to bring in more ambient light this is called dragging the shutter. What we are talking about here is really slow shutter speeds. It is not uncommon to use rear curtain sync with a shutter speed as slow as 1 second. It can give a very dream-like effect that combines the suspension of time with movement. Play around with these three simple techniques for showing motion, and you will give yourself and your work a creative boost. The key thing to remember about using a slow shutter speed is that anything that moves in the scene will blur. Once you're aware of this you can use it creatively in your photography.