Slow Shutter Speeds and Long Exposure Photography

Slow Shutter Speeds and Long Exposure Photography by Rick Blythe


Many new cameras will come with built-in shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds or longer, which is enough for most long-exposure photography. Other cameras will have a B (bulb) setting that will keep the shutter open as long as you keep your finger on the shutter release button or a T (time) exposure setting that will keep the shutter open until you press the shutter release button a second time. Cameras with bulb settings can also be fitted with a locking cable release so that it isn't necessary to keep your finger on the shutter for long exposures. If your camera doesn't have a cable release, you can use the self-timer option found on most cameras. This will eliminate camera vibration from your hands.

A tripod, or something to rest your camera on, is essential because the camera must be completely still during the time that the shutter is open. If you want to make a fast-moving car blur as it speeds by you, a relatively fast shutter speed of 1/20 of a second may give you the results you are after, however, if you want to make stars in the nighttime sky look like glowing rings as the earth rotates, your exposure may last all night.

The light meter on your camera may not be able to accurately judge the best aperture setting for longer shutter speeds, especially in low-light situations, so your best bet is probably to "bracket." This means taking up to six pictures of the same subject, but doubling the shutter speed each time. This will give you a variety of effects and exposures and allow you to choose the best shot. In general, slow shutter speeds will allow a lot of light into the camera, which means that you will want to use a small aperture (ie. f/22) to avoid over-exposing the shot. In bright daylight it will be necessary to use the lowest ISO available and a neutral density filter to cut the light down.

Some great effects and shutter speeds to try are:

Moving stars: several hours Moving cars at night: 10 seconds Waterfalls: 4 seconds + Amusement park rides: 1 second

Macro Photography Inspirations, Tips and Tricks

Macro Photography Inspirations, Tips and Tricks by Paul Smith


You won't have to look hr to find close-up ideas - even everyday household objets can make fantastic subjects Once You've trained your eye to look for macro photo opportunities, you'll find them almost anywhere, even in objects such as stamps, coins, paper clips, drawing pins and so on. The fact that you're capturing them from an unusual viewpoint makes shot of 'found' objects interesting in themselves.



Macro tips

If your camera focuses poorly at close range, use the telephoto setting to increase magnification. However, remember that this will further reduce depth of field.

Attach a close up lens that screws onto the camera's filter thread (assuming your camera has one). Available in +1, +2, +3, +4 and +10 magnification, many camera can be adapted with push on systems that enable a close up lens to be fitted

Use a small or white silver reflector to fill in shadow caused by overhead lighting or the camera itself

Boost the ISO setting to enable you to use faster shutter speeds or smaller apertures. Shots will be noisier, but images will be sharper with a larger depth of field

Use a tripod and cable release whenever possible to maximize depth of field and eliminate camera shake and ensure accurate focusing.

When using compact-style camera with an optical viewfinder, beware of problems with parallax - an effect caused when the viewfinder is offset from the lens. Although you may have composed your shot perfectly in the viewfinder, the fact that the lens is in a slightly different position means that the composition of the finished image will be altered. The closer you get to the subject, the more inaccurate the view through viewfinder will be.


About the Author
Paul Smith has been a proffesional photograper for the last 10 years. His works are mainly published as Postcards and Calendars in Australia.

More News, Reviews, Photography Techniques, Tips and Photoshop tutorials are available in his website: Digital Photography Journal

Thoughts about digital Snap Shot

Thoughts about digital Snap Shot by Nick Peters


What is it that makes a good picture a great picture? For a run of the mill shutter bug like me, the answer can be summed up with three words, subject, composition and color; acronym SCC.

Unlike photographers of the late eighteen hundreds, todays photographer has unlimited possibilities for a truly great snap shot. To attain this level, you must develop the awareness of an observer. The rule of thumb that I follow when snapping, "more is better", you can never snap too many pics. Out of a hundred snaps, I can usually find two or three that make the grade for a great snap shot.

Subject

When shutter bugging be cognizant of smaller sections contained within the whole scene, a smaller section when cropped from the whole can sometimes make a superb photo. On identifying such a section, zoom in and snap away. If your digital camera is not equipped with a zoom, not to worry, the normal size pic can be cropped and enlarged with a paint program on your PC. For the best results set the camera to shoot super high quality JPG photos; on this setting the digital photo will not pixalize (degrade) as rapidly when enlarged.

People pics can be obtained in various ways, the standard posed portrait, candid photo and what I call realized or frozen moment snap. A realized snap is that instant, exceedingly brief instant, when the subject realizes she, he or it, is being photographed. The resulting photo, shot from the hip fashion without thinking on your part just reacting to the impromptu composition presented, is one of those rare instantaneous moments that can be frozen for posterity. I would say, always being prepared is your watch word, as you will most certainly not have this particular opportunity again.

Composition

Motion imparts the additional dimension of movement through time in the composition of a still snap shot. The quality of motion is therefore the most elusive element of a still and thus the by product of a large number of snaps, coupled with the luck of the Irish. To capture motion, click while trying different angles; a pro will run off hundreds of snaps with photographer and model in constant motion. I can not emphasize this enough, don't just stand there and shoot from eye level, ("very boring"). Get down on your knees, stand on something, snap both landscape and portrait pics of your subject. The reason being, a landscape format will give a different compositional look than a portrait.

Numerous Renaissance painters arranged elements in their paintings to create a compositional pyramid, resulting in a stable composition. Modern painters like Jackson Pollock, relied on the overall pictorial pattern, evenly loading the painted surface to anchor the paintings composition to the foreground. I would humbly suggest trying both forms of composition. Keep in mind, that with a paint program clone tool, you can remove any unwanted elements in the composition.

Color

Color is a very subjective component of a snap shot; strive to become a colorist of sorts and you photographic skills will be elevated. You say how can I accomplish this? My suggestion would be to look to the world of painters; this does not mean house painters.

To affect outdoor colors, I use a polarizing filter to deepen sky blues and significantly reduce bothersome reflections emanating from natural surfaces. When snapping shots in the desert, this type of filter is a must for me. Remember, you can always remove a filter to obtain unfiltered results; for the want of a filter a great snap could be mucked up.

On my very first photo trip to the desert, I was woefully unprepared for the lights intensity and forced to improvise, making due with my polarized sun glasses for a filter; this improvisation worked, just barely.

Conclusion

I constantly use my cameras auto setting, which leaves me free to concentrate on SCC. This strategy has been very productive in my search for the rare great Snap Shot. Good luck in your search and remember the Shutter Bug Motto," CLICK CLICK".

Do hope you enjoyed reading my ramblings. Nick Peters,

SNAP Shot ,SNAP Art Gallery, AquascapeArt.com

Open call for Snap Shots

If your would like a page of your snap shots shown on SNAP Shot, send five digital JPG snaps no larger than 300kb. each and a plain (txt) bio two hundred words or less containing no links, to snapshot@aquascapeart.com.. You must be the copyright owner of all work submitted. Aquascape Art does not accept any liability or responsibility for copyright infringements. I reserve the right to refuse any work deemed inappropriate, like porn. As the site fills up work will be removed at my discretion.

Now that the legal stuff is taken care of. Let the world have a look at your snaps.


About the Author
The worlds first underwater artist, creator of Aquascape Art and SNAP Art a new form of art done with your eyes closed.