Professional full frame lenses are usually large and have fast apertures. In this episode of DPReview TV, Chris and Jordan argue that there’s a need for slow professional lenses – inspired by some of their favorite Micro Four Thirds lenses.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The post Go With The Flow – Using Slow Shutter Speed to Create Motion Blur appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
Starting out as a photography assistant in a daily newspaper, I had one thing drummed into me. Make sure it’s sharp. This was the cardinal rule. It was appropriate for the situation.
Any kind of unintentional fuzziness, especially when it renders the subject indistinct, looks awful when printed on newsprint.
Adding motion blur, or any other form of blur, in a photograph can work extremely well when circumstances are right.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 8 seconds
Two main techniques for creating motion blur in a photo are subject movement and camera movement.
Deciding to add motion blur is best when:
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/20th of a second.
Adding some flash can at times truly enhance a photo made with a slow shutter speed. I find this works best when you sync your flash with the rear shutter closing.
Using a slow shutter speed to create motion blur, I find it’s best to ensure that some parts of your composition remain sharp. Whether you are moving your camera or your subject is in motion, your results will be stronger when not all the composition is blurred.
Using a slow shutter speed and moving your camera in relation to a moving subject, is known as panning. This will keep your subject sharp and the background will blur. Getting a perfectly sharp subject while panning is challenging because it requires the camera to be moving in sync with how fast the subject is.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/25th of a second.
Having your camera locked down while your subject or the background move you will have a better chance to render your subject sharp.
Bright sunny days make it challenging to capture motion blur in a photograph. You need to use a slow shutter speed for the effect to happen. Setting your aperture to the smallest opening and your ISO as low is it can go will not always allow you to use a slow enough shutter speed.
Using a neutral density filter in bright sunshine will make a slower shutter speed possible. At times I have coupled a neutral density filter with a polarizing filter to cut the light entering the lens even more.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/4th of a second.
In this photo I had my friend stand very still to achieve motion blur in the people walking behind her. Being such a bright sunny day meant that even with my aperture set to the minimum opening of f/11. My ISO was set at one hundred and still did not allow me to use a slow enough shutter speed. I attached a four-stop neutral density filter and a polarizing filter so I could set my shutter speed to 1/4th of a second to capture the motion blur.
At night and in other low light situations achieving a slow enough shutter speed is simple.
Choosing a shutter speed setting appropriate to the pace of movement in your composition is important. Having too much or not enough motion blur will give you a poor result. This varies greatly depending on your subject and the style of photograph you are creating.
Photographing waterfalls, people walking or traffic at night, all require different shutter speeds for best results. Generally, slower moving elements in your composition need slower shutter speeds. Things moving more quickly need faster shutter speed or there will be too much motion blur. It also depends on how much definition you want to retain in whatever is moving.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 20 seconds.
Flowing water, like in this waterfall, can be completely blurred. In fact, waterfall photos usually look best when a shutter speed of more than two seconds is used. I used a twenty-second exposure for this photo and there’s absolutely no definition in the water. It is still obvious what it is though.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/10th of a second.
Keeping the motion blur balanced is more important with some subjects. For this photo of people on a sidewalk in Bangkok, I chose a shutter speed of 1/10th of a second. A slower shutter speed would mean more blur and less definition. A fast speed would show less blur and may just look like it was a mistake. I was happy to capture an image where the people walking are blurred yet their feet are reasonably sharp. The young woman modeling for me was very patient as it took quite a while to make a composition with the right number of pedestrians in my frame.
Experimentation is key to finding the sweet spot with your shutter speed. You need to decide how clear or how blurred you want your subject and other elements in your composition.
You can use a slow shutter speed even if you do not have a tripod. Learn to hold your camera well and be in control of it. I do not often carry a tripod so am forced to use alternative means of preventing unwanted camera movement. Unintentional camera movement creates ghosting which introduces extra fuzziness to photos.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/20th of a second.
Hand holding a camera while panning can be preferable for some more than using a tripod. Keeping a steady movement along with your subject is what’s most important. If you are panning with a passing vehicle you do not want to be jiggling your camera up and down as you track your subject.
Finding a firm surface to place your camera can be a good substitute when you don’t have a tripod. You may need to place something under the lens so your angle of view is level. I find my mobile phone or wallet often come in handy for this.
Using a tripod does make things more straightforward when using a slow shutter speed. With a tripod, you have more stability and often more control of your angle of view.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1/4th of a second.
Many cameras give you an option to synchronize the flash so it fires just before the shutter closes. Doing this combined with a slow shutter speed and movement produces interesting effects.
As the flash is triggered near the end of the exposure it looks like the movement is partially frozen. Using a very slow shutter speed when there’s fast movement your subject may appear semi-transparent.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 4 seconds.
I used a four-second exposure for this photo of a tricycle taxi in Chiang Mai. You can see the ghosted image of two people just above the handlebars of the cycle. They were riding past on a motorbike just at the end of the exposure as my flash fired.
Photographing movement using long exposures it pays to give yourself plenty of time to experiment and take lots of photos. Varying your shutter speed. Choose a faster or slower speed with the same subject. This can create vastly different looking photos.
© Kevin Landwer-Johan. Shutter speed: 1.6 seconds.
If you’ve never often used a slow shutter speed, begin to explore the possibilities. If you’ve had some experience, try some new angle or subject. Please share your photos and comments below.
The post Go With The Flow – Using Slow Shutter Speed to Create Motion Blur appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.
So often we are caught up in hectic schedules and checking completed items off our to-do lists that we don’t make time to truly enjoy our photographic experience. I believe slow photography can be a fabulously enjoyable, and even therapeutic experience, especially when you give yourself time to indulge.
When you have a camera in hand you can set your mind and emotions free from the troubles of the day and step into another world, one of inspiration and creative expression. But you must be mindful and make time for yourself to achieve this.
Patience is a virtue and should not be exclusive to bird and wildlife photographers. Maybe these genres require somewhat more patience, but street photography, sports, landscape and most other kinds of photography require you to slow down and take time to obtain the best possible images from most situations.
Some of the very best street photography is not brought about by spontaneity alone, but by careful planning, anticipation and patience. Finding a great location on the streets is one thing, but often you’ll have to wait for the best light and the most interesting action to present itself in your chosen location to capture the most impressive photographs.
Even the best sports photographers take time with their photography. The time they invest may be in studying the game more or getting to know the players and coaches of the teams they photograph the most.
Doing this will give them the knowledge and relationships which will enable them ultimately to capture more dynamic pictures in the spur of the moment. They will more easily anticipate the flow of the game than someone who’s inexperienced and knows little or nothing of the character of the team.
Taking time to observe the environment in which you are photographing will help include more sense of feeling into your photos. Rather than rushing in to get some photos as soon as you arrive at your location, leave your camera in its bag or case and just observe what’s there and what’s happening.
Use your other senses too, not just your eyes. Listen, feel, smell and even taste (when it’s appropriate) to become more aware of the environment where you want to take photos.
Give yourself space to slow down, to take a step back and observe what’s going around you. You will often discover interesting and photogenic subjects that you may not notice if you move in too quickly and start taking photos immediately.
Take your camera with you wherever you go. To work, school or university, when you exercise, when you go shopping, and when you walk the dog. By doing so you will learn to see your regular environment in different ways.
Making time to use your camera each day is one of the best ways to improve your skill and technique and to develop your own unique style. Giving yourself time within the regular context of your day might seem hard or a little strange at first. But as you commit yourself to doing this you can begin to find ways you hadn’t thought of to make interesting photos.
Think outside the box as you go about your regular routine. Make the ordinary things in your life look extraordinary in pictures.
Visiting the same locations multiple times and photographing the same subjects more than once is often worth taking the time to do. If you go someplace just once you will never really know if you’ve gotten the best photos possible.
Reviewing the images from your first or subsequent visits to a location will help you build a more critical eye. Then when you return to that place and subject you will have a more experienced perspective than at first go around.
By making time to do this you will most likely enjoy the experience more and produce better photographs.
Be careful to opt for places you really enjoy and feel good about as this will help compel you to return and seek to make better photographs than you have done previously.
By allowing yourself time to slow down and enjoy using your camera you will begin to see a progressive improvement in the quality of your images. Continuing to delve into techniques you’ve not previously mastered and experimenting with new subjects will help maintain a freshness in your pictures and you will enjoy your photography time even more.
Maybe we can make slow photography the next popular craze!
The post How Slow Photography Can Help You Improve Your Images appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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| NHK Fukuoka Broadcasting Bureau. Credit: Soramimi |
Japan’s national public broadcasting organization NHK is developing an 8K slow-motion camera capable of recording ultra-high-definition content at 240fps. The technology was announced in a press release (partially translated here), and will be showcased at NAB 2018 in Las Vegas next week. Though 8K monitors and televisions are still in their infancy, the broadcaster is pioneering 8K technologies in anticipation of future demand.
To that end, NHK also plans to showcase a new 8K VR display during NAB 2018. The display is designed to eliminate the pixelated look common to current VR headsets.
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| NHK’s 8K 240fps camera |
Finally, future 8K broadcasts may benefit from the NHK’s new transmitter technology, which reduces an 8K broadcast from a huge 40Gbps to a more manageable (but still huge) 8Gbps. The transmitter then converts the content into an IP-based signal for live broadcasting, a process that allegedly happens in “tens of microseconds.”
According to AV Watch, NHK anticipates using its new 8K technology for sports broadcasts (think Tokyo 2020 Olympics) and other content featuring fast-moving objects starting later this year. Unlike existing solutions, the NHK system is said to offer better compression and transmission for a very low delay while maintaining 8K quality for live shows.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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| Photo by Arno Body |
According to the latest data released by CIPA, the number of cameras made and shipped in the first month of 2018 barely reached 70% of the volume for the same period last year and the year before that. Not a great start to the year…
As usual, cameras with lenses built in—compacts and bridge cameras—continue to show the worst decline, with only half as many of these models shipped to the USA and Asia in January 2018 as there were in January 2017. But while production and shipments were quite dramatically down by volume, measurements by value are not quite so bad, indicating that a more high priced cameras are selling… or that camera prices are rising.
The value of interchangeable lens system mirrorless cameras produced actually rose by 8% even though the volume produced was only 80% of production last January—just fractionally ahead of DSLRs. Interestingly, DSLR shipments to Japan in that period were up on the previous year by volume and by value, but it was the only region that didn’t see a decline in this category.
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Further figures released by CIPA demonstrate the market’s decline since 2016, and show that while January 2017 was almost level with January 2016, this year has started very differently. The decline of cameras with built-in lenses has dropped to only 60% of the number shipped in 2016, and more worryingly, graphs show that January 2018 shipment figures are well below almost every other month in the last two years.
Hopefully this is just a blip, and we’ll see the numbers jump back into the black (or closer to it) in February. For more information, visit the CIPA website, or check out the full report here.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
The reason I’m a big fan of experimenting with different shutter speeds is that the opportunities seem endless. By only using a fast shutter speed you’ll limit your photography and miss out on so many great images. In my opinion, shutter speed is the setting which allows you to be the most creative and to capture unique and visually interesting images.
By changing the shutter speed only slightly (let’s say from 1/120th of a second to 1/60th) the image can look completely different and tell a whole different story.
A typical use of a slow shutter speed.
If you are already somewhat familiar with using a slow shutter speed, you’ll know that it’s highly recommended to use a tripod for this technique. Doing so will lead to sharper images and you’ll most likely avoid camera shake (at least if you use a delayed shutter or remote trigger as well). I’ll be the first to say that I use a tripod for 99% of my images, but every now and then, I choose to break this rule as I know that leaving it behind will, in that case, be the best choice.
In this article, we’ll look at three creative exercises you can do using a slow shutter speed. They may not be typical or the most logical but the results can be stunning.
As I said, one of the main reasons for using a tripod when photographing with a slow shutter speed is to remove any vibration and movement from the camera, leading to crisp and sharp images. This creative exercise goes against those guidelines and instead of leaving the camera on a steady tripod, you’re going to tilt or pan it while taking the image.
The use of a tripod is not necessary for this technique and it’s easy to do without one. If you’re using a shutter speed slower than one second, I do recommend using a tripod though as you’ll most likely get a better result.
You’ll get the best results when your subject contains different colors and also has texture and patterns. When you’ve found the subject you wish to photograph, let’s say a treeline or a patch of grass, slow your shutter speed down to between 1/15th and 1/4th of a second. You can use an even slower shutter speed, but I’ve found that the best results are in this range, as you’ll still get some good texture and detail in the image.
Now, when you press the shutter button, quickly tilt or pan the camera in one direction – make sure that you’re quick enough though! As you can see, the result is an abstract image with lots of lines. This technique doesn’t work for all scenes though and I recommend zooming in on your subject to avoid including the sky.
Photographed with a Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at f/11, ISO125, 1/15th.
Continue repeating this technique and try moving the camera both slower and quicker, as well as making small changes to the shutter speed. You’ll soon see that even small adjustments will have a huge impact on the final image. It may take quite a few attempts before you get an image you’re truly satisfied with, so keep playing.
Exercise number two is similar to the first in that it will create an abstract image with a lot of movement. Also this time you will forget about the guideline of keeping your camera still when photographing and will deliberately create motion, this time by zooming your lens.
This is a technique you can experiment a lot with, as the results can vary greatly. You may also want to use a longer shutter speed than you did above. For a more detailed description of this method, you can also read: How to Create a Dynamic Zoom Burst Photograph
Let’s try this first. Set your shutter speed to five seconds and place the camera on a tripod. Press the shutter button and wait two seconds before you slowly start zooming your lens, continue until the exposure is completed. As you can see, it appears as if two images are put together into one. The background is sharp but the ghost-like lines going away from it creates a sense of motion and can add a lot of extra depth.
Image courtesy of dPS Managing Editor, Darlene Hildebrandt.
Again, as with all of these creative exercises, trial and error is your friend. Don’t just do it once and leave. Try this multiple times with different settings, vary the exposure, try a different tempo of the zoom (go fast, then try slow), zoom in then try zooming out, zoom and stop at varying intervals, etc. After a while, you’ll hopefully capture something that has potential!
This method can result in fascinating images taken at night. By capturing two images (one where this technique is used and one that’s normal) and blending them together you can get a quite interesting result. The landscape will be normal while the stars look like their shooting out of the image. It’s all about trying the unknown and take a moment to disobey the “rules”. For more on this technique read: How to Create a Dynamic Zoom Burst Photograph or Intentional Blur- How to Create it and Why It’s Awesome
Image courtesy of dPS Managing Editor, Darlene Hildebrandt.
Note: if you want to try this on a bright daytime scene you may need to use a Neutral Density filter to cut down on the amount of light. Otherwise, your image will just be overexposed.
This last exercise for practicing using a slow shutter speed is quite different than the other two. For this one, you will use a tripod and delayed shutter or remote trigger to capture a sharp image. Then, you will be zooming in on some details in the landscape and using a slow shutter speed to capture it.
For many years I rarely used anything other than an ultra-wide-angle lens, as I wanted to capture everything in the same image. As I became more experienced and my art began evolving, I realized that I found a much greater pleasure in viewing abstract and intimate shots. In many ways, these simple scenes result in more powerful images that better tell a story.
So, for this exercise, you’ll need to go outside and search for something that includes a moving element, such as a waterfall, river, or perhaps waves. The composition isn’t crucial yet as you’re mostly going to be experimenting with different shutter speeds but if you’re able to find a good one that’s a benefit.
Once you’ve found the subject you wish to photograph, set your shutter speed to 0.5 seconds. Capture an image and start lengthening the shutter speed until you reach somewhere between 5-10 seconds (you might need to use an ND filter and compensate with ISO/Aperture for this to work). By scrolling through the series of images you’ve taken you will see just how much it changes by making only small adjustments. I bet that the 0.5-second exposure looks nothing like the 5-second exposure, right?
What fascinates me with this exercise is that every now and then you’re going to find patterns or shapes in the image that you couldn’t see with the naked eye. The motion creates these shapes and in some cases, it can even be scary. Can you see all the screaming faces in this image?
So now it’s up to you to go out and try these shutter speed exercises. Share your results in the comments section below as well as any questions you may have.
Note: If you want more info, my eBook The Ultimate Guide to Long Exposure Photography, covers the basics of using a slow shutter speed and shares multiple case studies on how changing the shutter speed can affect your image.
The post 3 Creative Exercises for Using a Slow Shutter Speed by Christian Hoiberg appeared first on Digital Photography School.
You’ve said it to yourself at least 100 times: ‘Hey, if only I had a trampoline, and maybe 1,000 mouse traps, I could have a jolly good time by climbing up a ladder and throwing myself on top of them all.’
We understand this is a bucket list item for an awful lot of people. After all, with trampolines readily available online, and mouse traps that can be ordered in bulk, why the heck not? Of course, if you’re being really honest with yourself, you’ll admit that the only thing holding you back from acting out this all-too-common fantasy is not having a $ 100,000 Phantom Flex 4K camera so that you share the experience in super-slow-motion on social media.
Thankfully, the Slow Mo Guys are around to help. It took them four hours to set everything up, and just a few seconds to take the plunge, but with super-slow-motion we get to see every detail.
Of course, this got us curious. If you had access to a Phantom Flex 4K, what would you shoot in slow motion?
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Market leader GoPro launched its new action cam models at a Photokina event on Monday. Rollei already announced its latest top-end action camera about a month ago, but we just got the chance to look at the new device at the Rollei booth at Photokina.
The Actioncam 430 offers impressive camera specs and can record 4K video at 30 fps, 2K at 60 fps, 120 fps at Full-HD resolution and up to 200 fps at 720p, allowing for the recording of high definition slow-motion footage. In stills mode the Sony image sensor captures 12MP photographs and the lens covers an angle of view of 180 degrees. Images can be framed and reviewed on a 2″ TFT display with a 320 x 240 pixel resolution and a status display at the front keeps you informed about current shooting mode, remaining recording time and battery status.
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The Actioncam 430 can be remote-controlled via a mobile app and a wristband-style wireless remote, with a range of up to 15 meters, is included in the box as well. The Rollei is not waterproof but comes with a case that is recommended for depths of up to 40m/131ft. The camera is compatible with most GoPro accessories and available now in Europe for €249 (approximately $ 275). No information on availability in other regions has been announced yet.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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YouTube channel ‘The Slow Mo Guys’ has posted a new video showcasing its fastest frame rate content to date: 343,915 fps, to be precise. The duo behind the channel, Dan and Gav, used a Phantom v2511 camera to record glass Pyrex dishes shattering with speeds starting at 28,546fps. At its fastest frame rate, the camera captured the glass shattering at a rate 13,756 times slower than real time.
At the fastest frame rate, the Phantom camera recorded for a duration of 5.1 seconds and during that time captured 19.5 hours’ worth of video footage.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, you can check out the full 19+ hour slow-motion shatter video here.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
If you feel like it’s a little rude to yell “Watch out!” when you’re running down the sidewalk and approaching a slow group of people, the gentle ring of a bicycle bell could be just as effective and slightly more polite. A product called Runbell takes those iconic little brass bells off the handlebars and puts them onto your fingers so you can courteously warn pedestrians on shared pathways as you approach, even when you’re on your own two feet.
Lightweight and frills-free, the bell is made of brass for optimal sound and comes slightly oversized with silicone inserts so you can make it fit just right. That way, the rings remain adjustable even for cold days when you’re wearing gloves. It weighs less than an ounce and features a striker that can be activated from any angle, though it’s loudest if you pull it straight back.
The Runbell was funded on Kickstarter and is now available for purchase in men’s and women’s versions for $ 25. It’s easy to imagine this in use not just by runners, but frustrated native New Yorkers and other city denizens who just want people to stop blocking sidewalks staring at their phones or gawking at the scenery.
A subway speeds by the platform, leaving most passengers with a fleeting impression and fast-fading memories of people glimpsed only for a moment, but not this …
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At first: vertigo. You are moving along the sidewalk, when suddenly you see the front of a structure, only on its side, extruded from the ground below you.
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Shaped like an apostrophe and bearing a shark-inspired fin, the Scale Lane Bridge in Hull, England allows pedestrians to go along for the ride when it swings …
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[ By Steph in Design & Products & Packaging. ]
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