Speeding Up and Slowing Down

“The technology in cameras should be there to make life easier, but all the different buttons, the menus and terminology often just make it more complicated. The physical process of taking a picture hasn’t changed in two hundred years and it’s not going to, because it is governed by the laws of physics.” (https://www.udemy.com/karl-taylors-free-photography-course/#lecture/129460).

Since I started this project, I have had difficulty working through the vast amount of vocabulary and understanding how it relates to the principles of photography. This quote has helped me realize that photography comes down to basic principles, and has made it seem a little less daunting. 

This week, I learned about shutter speed. When you change the shutter speed, you “adjust the amount of time that the picture is recorded or captured.” (https://www.udemy.com/karl-taylors-free-photography-course/#dashboard). On my camera, I can adjust the shutter speed from 30” (30 seconds) to 1/4000 (1/4000 of a second). A fast shutter speed will capture a quickly moving object in a fraction of a second. Slow shutter speeds will give the illusion of motion in the photo.

The "Action Photography" instructional video showed how to capture dirt bikes in motion using a relatively slow shutter speed. This will make the bike look stationary, but the background blurred to create motion. This effect is called panning. Here is an example I retrieved from Flickr:

After watching the instructional video, I wanted to experiment with shutter speeds. However, I could not figure out how to adjust the shutter speed on my camera. I found a Youtube video that explained this very quickly and concisely.

As I don’t have kids or pets, I had a hard time finding some action to shoot. So, I experimented with things around the home that have motion, including a dripping faucet, flames from a candle, and a ceiling fan. I was able to shoot pictures at around a 1/200 shutter speed and they looked quite “normal.” When I adjusted the shutter speed to a longer exposure, I experienced a blurring effect, which is what it is meant to do. Also, since the exposure time was longer, more light was let into the image, so the pictures seem whited out. At this point, I am unsure how to fix this problem. I will have to spend more time learning about exposure and light to understand this.

Here is the dripping faucet at 1/200 speed:

Here it is at 5" (5 second exposure).

Next, I will be looking at the section called "travel photography."