Understanding Shutter Speed: Creative Action and Low-Light Photography Beyond 1 125 Second

RHOTOGRAPHY

AUTHOR Of UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE

P~ge

I: 70-200mm lens at I05mm. ISO 100, 1/4 sec. at (/4,5

P~ges

P~ge

2-3: 17-55mm lens, Inpod, ISO 100, 2 seconds al f/8

5: 70-200mm lens

~I

200mm, tripod, ISO 100, 1/60 sec. al f/8

Pages 6-7: 70-200mm lens, ISO 100, 1130 sec.

~I

(/16

Pages 8-9., ISO 400, 11800 sec. al f/11 P~ge

II: 70-200mm lens at 116mm, ISO 200, 1/2 sec. ill f/22

Pages 12-13: 17-55mm lens ilt tltImm. I!:IV WU, I/IU sec. ill lill Pdges 22-23: 12-24mm lens ill 12mm, ISO 400, 1/750 sec. ill (/6,3 P~ges

60-61: Mkon 02X, 12-24mm lens, 4-stop ND Iiller,ISO 100,2 seconds ill (/16

P~ges 118-119: 16

minutes at f/32. Kodachrome 64

Pdges 144-145: 1/8 sec. at f/II

First published in 2008 by Amphoto Books an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications the Crown Publishing Group. a division of Random House, Inc., New York www.crownpublishing.com www.watsonguptill.com www.amphotobooks.com Editorial Directo r: Victoria Craven Senior Development Ed itor: Alisa Palazzo Art Director: Timothy Hsu Designer: Bob Fillie, Graphiti Design. Inc. Production Manager: Sal Dest ro Cover design by Gabriele Wilson and Timothy Hsu Copyrightc/ 2008 Bryan Pe terson Ubrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peterson, Bryan F. Understanding shutter speed: creative action and low-light photography beyond 1/125 second / Bryan Peterson. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8174-6301-4 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0 -8174-6301-1 (pbk.) 1. Pho tography-Exposure. I. Title. TR591.P52 2008 771-dc22 2007030955 All rights reserved,

Typeset in DIN and Gotham Printed in Thailand 23456789/ 1615 14131211100908

Acknowledgments I can't express my gratitude enough to Victoria Craven (editorial director at A m pho to Books) and to Alisa Palazzo and Bob Fi llie (my ever-faithful and talented editor and designer, respectively). They all give so much of their time and dedication to my books, Thank you, thank you, thank you againl

To Harry and No

INTRODUCTION

t was some years ago, back in 1977 I believe, when I

I

came across this quotation from an unknown source

about the t opic of time: "Today, be aware of how

you are spending your 1,440 beautiful moments and

spend them wisely." It 's amusing that this person was

obviously so immersed in, and so consumed by, how he (or she) was spending each moment that he torgot to tell whomever he was speaking to his name.

Looking back at how I was spending my time in 1977, it's fair to say that t ime had less relevance to me

than it does today. It could easily be argued that t ime has simply become more important today because I'm getting older. but I wou ld have to disagree if only because I seem to have always valued my t ime and tried to make the best use of it. And t o be clear, I'm not really speaking about. or addressing, the issue of "saving time" or "wasting time" but ra t her about the

joy of recording time! The irony. of course, is that by recording time via the simple act of pushing a button on a st ill camera, one can experience the p leasure of time well spent! I, for one, do believe that there are at least "1,440 beautiful moments" (aka each and every minute) in a day; yet I also believe that many of these 1.440 beautiful moments zip right past me, sight unseen, simply because I don't have time to notice or appreciate their f leeting beauty_It has only been in the last several years that I've found myself making a concerted effort to really become aware of these 1,440 beautiful moments, and although my journey is still in its early stages, it's a journey that offers up these moments every day. Have you done the math? Those 1,440 minutes

,

t ranslate in t o no less than 1,440 sixty-second expo-

'. >oj,

sures! Do you have any idea how beautiful a moment

,

can be when photographed over the course of sixty seconds? A city scene at dusk. A lighthouse atop a cliff just out of range of the assaulting surf. Then there are the 86,400 seconds that make up those 1,440 beautiful moments. And here is one amazing fact that's guaranteed to make you realize just how

•

fleeting time can be: 1/1000 sec. is a perfect shutter saeed to use when you wish to capture in exacting sharpness many of life's daily 1,440 beautiful moments. So. how many one-thousandths does it take to make a second? Well, 1,000, of course! That also means that it takes another 60,000 one-thousandths to make a minute and 360.000 one-thousandths to make an hour. And that can only mean that those 1,440 beautiful moments are composed of exactly

8,640,000 one-thousandths. Yikes! Every day, we, as photographers, are afforded the opportunity to freeze, in exacting sharpness. 8,640.000 action-filled images. And to think that you have often lamented that you can't find anything to shoot! I concur that some of life's "beautiful moments" are often too Quick, too fleeting,

to be seen by the human eye, but certainly, we can find other moments among the 8,640,000 daily opportunities to record an exciting image. Most every moment- no matter how big or smallcffers up a subject in a perpetual state of motion: jumping, slapping, hitting, running, wa lking, flying, diving. leaping. dancing, reaching, throwing. falling, slid ing. pulling, pushing. slamming. b lowing, splashing. beating, fluttering, bouncing, turning, exploding, spinning, breaking, smashing, splattering, or crashing. All of this motion translates into energy. and a well-executed photograph that conveys that motion is a photograph that is filled with both motion and emotion! Whether it be in a book or magazine, all of us have seen and felt the energy of two soccer players. caught in midair. heading a soccer ball. rendered in an image in exacting sharpness! "Whoa. look at that!" we remark in a tone of utter amazement. And all of us t-ave seen images that convey the angelic and cottoncandy-like effect of a waterfall shot at a slow shutter speed. "I find it so soothing to look at" is often the response. Unlike motionless photographs (the proverbial close-up of a flower, for example). well-executed notion-and-emotion-filled images are forever "on the Move." And it is this movement and the energy that is conveyed that appeal to our very own psychological

1~

INTR ODUC TIO N

need to have movement under our feet. Without movement, we die. and perhaps that is a so why photographers seem to enjoy a better-than-average level of mental health. We are pushed to record. to create. and no other images are as life-affirming as motionfilled images. These are the images that celebrate "life on t he move" with the greatest of exclamations. There are, of COurse, a number of ways to capture movement, and the methods you choose to convey that movement will, in large measure, be determined by the shutter speed you choose and the movement of the subject before you. The motion-and-emotionfil led images that result can be felt as soothing, calming, seething. shocking, surprising, or frightening. There are also ways to convey movement with subjects that don·t ordinarily move (for example. a large boulder stuck in a hillside). In effect. with the right shutter speed. you get to play God and breathe life into "deQd" subjects by the simple Qct of zooming your lens while shooting at a slow shutter speed. Perhaps you're not sure which shutter speed to use. Perhaps you're not sure which lens to use. Perhaps you're not sure what your exposure should be. Perhaps you're not sure about your overall composition. Perhaps you're not sure where to take your meter reQding from. Perhaps you're at that place where you aren't even aware that motion-filled images exist. All of the known techniques for capturing, conveying, and creating movement in a single still photograph Qre covered in this book in a simple, clear. and concise format, with examples taken dawn to dusk, into t he dark of night, and with available light, flash. strobes, and other sources of light. And as has been the case with my other photograpl'y books, and where I feel it's most necessary. I've chosen to present before-and-after pairs of images that clearly show distinct differences in exposure, composition. lens choice, or lighting. Of course due to page limitations, I'm not able to show you all of my examples of "life on the move." but I do list many other subjects to which these same principles could eQsily be applied.

ONE PHOTO OP, SIX CORRECT EXPOSURES

id you know that most picture-taking situations

D

have at least six possible combinations of '-stops and shutter speeds that will all result in

a correct exposure? They may not all be creatively

correct photographic exposures, but they will all be correct. More often, only one or two of these '-stop/ shutter speed combinations is the creatively correct m::>tion-filled exposure. Every correct exposure is nothing more tl1dll U\~ quantitative value of an aperture and shutter speed working together within the confines of a predeterm ned ISO. For the sake of argument, let's say that you ard I are both out shooting a city skyline at dusk using an ISO of 100 and an aperture opening of f/5.6. Let's also say that. whether we're shooting in manual or Aperture Priority mode, the light meter indicates a ccrrect exposure at 1 second. What other combinations of aperture openings (f-stops) and shutter speeds can we use and still record a "correct" expo· sure? If I suggest we use an aperture of f/8, what would the shutter speed now be? Since we've cut the lens opening in half (from f/5.6 to f/8), we now need to double the shutter speed time to 2 seconds to record a correct exposure. On the other hand, if I suggest we use an aperture of f/4, what would the shutter speed now be? Since we've just doubled the size of the lens opening (f/5.6 to f/4), we now need to cut the shutter speed in half (to 1/2 sec.) to record the same quantitative value exposure. Easy, yet hard. right? Here are the equations (which all yield the same quantitative exposure in this situation):

f/4 for 1/2 sec. is the same as f /5.6 for 1 second, which is the same as f /8 for 2 seconds, which is the same as f/ll for 4 seconds, which is t he same as f/16 for 8 seconds, which is the same as

f /22 for 16 seconds Add them up and what have you got? Six possible combinations of apertures and shutter speeds that will all result in exactly the same exposure. And by

14 SHUTTER SPEED FACTS & MYTHS

same, I mean the same in terms of quantitative value only! I can't stress enough the importance of being aware of this quantitative value prinCiple. It doesn't matter if you're shooting with a film-based camera or a digital camera: you must learn to embrace a simple fact: Every picture-taking opportunity offers you no less than six possible aperture/shutter speed combinations. And why must you know this? Even though each combo has the ·'same·· exposure, the motion ca ptured by each may look radically different. Knowing that each motion-filled exposure opportunity offers up six possible combinations is a start, but knowing which one or two exposures best conveyor capture the motion-before you take the picture-is the key. Once you are armed with this knowledge, you can begin to fully explore the truly endless road of creatively correct motion-filled exposures. Since every picture-t aking opportunity allows for no less than six possible aperture and shutter speed combinations, how do you decide which COMbination is the best? Think about what you want to do. Do you want to freeze action? Fast shutter speeds-1/250, 1/500, and 1/1000 sec.-are the creative force behind "frozen" images. Do you want to suggest motion via panning? Then you should call upon shutter speeds of 1/60, 1/30, and 1/15 sec. And, those superslow shutter speeds (1/4 sec. to 15 seconds) are the creative force behind images that imply motion, such as a waterfall or the wind blowing through a field of summer wheat. And keep in mind that when it comes to motionfilled subjects, you must first think about which creative shutter speed will convey the motion before you in the way that you want. Then and only then should you even begin to worry about the second-mostoften-asked question: Where should I take my meter reading from? I'll address this question throughout many parts of this book, but the good news is that the built-in light meters found in today's cameras do a fantastic job of rendering a correct exposure, even when using the semiautomatic modes, such as Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority.

WHEN SHOOTING THIS SIMPLE COMPOSITION

of an

5·curve on Inlerslate 5approachmg down·

10wn ~arrle. I was prest!nled WIth SIX possIble options for recording iI correct exposure. three o( whICh you see here. In terms of theIr quantltatwe value. a/l three of these Images are exactly the same exposure; however. you can clearly see that/hey are vas/ly different In thelf creallve mlerpre· tllliar>. WIth the ere,Hlve emph,,~'~ on the u~o 01 motIon. It IS always my goal 10 present mOllon·fIIled subjects In the mOSI mollon·fIIled way. ilild more often IhiJn not. when there is a mollon·fIIled scene. the longer the exposure lime. the more proml' nenlthe mOllon effects. / shollhe ("51 example (bollom leftl at f/' for 1/2 sec .. the second (OOllom rightl ,11 f/8 for 2 seconds. and the Ihlrd ,111/16 for 8 st!conds. An exercIse such as Ihis IS Irulyeye·openlng. The next lime you head oUllhe door to shoat elly lights ,11 dusk. you shouldn'I have any heSitation aooul uSing the slower shuller SPEeds. since ilS you can see. Ihe exposure wllh Ihe slowest shuller speed yielded. In my opinion. the Desl effect. {Nole Ihatthis is flOt bracketing. since they are allihe same eXPfJ5ure In terms fJI their quantItative value.} All phfJlfJs: Nlkon D2X wllh Nlk.k.or 2OO-'OOmm lOom lens at 'OOmm. tnpod. 150 IliO. Cloudy

WB

GOING TO EXTREMES

s you begm to digest more and more Information In this book, you'll soon see that motlon-

A

filled opportunities are everywhere-and that

In

capturing them you find yourself on either end of the shutter speed spectrum, using either fast shutter

speed s to freeze the action in crisp. sharp detail or slo w shutter speeds to blur or imply the motion that

was there. There 's rarely a middle gro und when it comes to the moving world , and with that in mind, it won't be long before you discover that most of your action (and al so low- light) photography time is spent at either anywhere between 1/500 and 1/1000 sec . or

anywhere between 1/4 sec. to 8 seconds.

WITH MY CAMERA AND 100M mounted on a Inpod, I sho/fhe firs!

image /opposite. !eft/ at {/4 for 1/500 sec. and Ihe se(ond Image al f/22 lor 1/15 sec. The deCISIOn of expo· svre and which snvller speed 10 vse will always be yovrs, so why not make Jt a pomt 10 make the most det.beratelyand /Jsvally compelling creative exposvre possible? Opposlle, left: BO-~OOmm Nikkor zoom lens at 300mm. mpod. 1/500 sec. at fN, oPlloslle. right; 80~OOmm Nikkor zoom lens at 300mm. tnpod. 1/15 sec. at f/22

VALUABLE LESSON : THE LARGEST LENS OPENING ALLOWS THE FASTEST SHUTTER SPEEO In keeping with the idea of extremes, note t he follow ing: (1) You will always attain the fastest possible shutter

speed at any given ISO when you use the largest possible lens opening , and (2) you will be able to attain the slowest possible shu tt er speed at any given ISO by using the smallest possible lens opening. This is one of the best lessons I know and one that I've offered to countless students over the years in my onlocation workshops and my online photo courses. It 's very revealing and, not surprisingly. will lead you further into t he world o f creatively correct motion-filled exposures. To practice this concept do t he following: Choose a moving subjec t, such as a waterfall, a child on a swing. or something as simple as someone pounding a nail into a piece o f wood. Set your camera to A pert ure Priority mode and your ISO to 100 (or 200 if that's the lowest your camera offers): then set your aperture wide open (f/2.8. f/3.5, or f/4) and take an image of the action before you. You have just recorded an exposure at t he fastest possible shutter speed based on the ISO in use. the light fall ing on your subject , and, of course, your use of t he largest possible lens opening. Now stop the lens down 1 full stop. So, if you star ted at an aper t ure of f/2.8, go to f/4; if your lens star t s with f/4 ,

16 SHUTTER SPEEO FACTS & MYTHS

go to f/5.6. Then. once again, make another Exposure. Do this over and over again, each time with the aperture set to f/8. then f/11. then f/16. and finally f/22_ Each t ime you change the aperture by a full stop, your camera does a quick recalculation and offer s up t he "new" shutter speed to maintain a correct exposure. And since you 're stopping t he lens down wi t h each full-stop change in apert ure ( making the hole in the lens half as big as it was before). your shutter speed has now doubled in time to compensate-or. in o t her words. your shutter speed is becoming progressively slower. The slower your shutter speed. the more likely that the resulting image will exhibit some blurring effects. since the shutter speed is too slow to free ze the action. A nd what abou t wa terfall shots? That well-known cotton candy effect you can get with the wa ter doesn't start until you use aper t ures of f/16 or f/22. Likewise. isn't that motion-filled image of your child on the swing really something? Note how the faster shu tte r speeds freeze your child in midair but the slower shutter speeds turn your child into a ghost. Take notes on your exposures and make the discovery as to which combinatior of aper t ure and shutter speed resulted in the most c reatively correct photograp hic exposure.

THE MYTH OF ISO EXPOSED

orne of you may be wondering why I haven't taken into account the importance of ISO when talking about motion-filled images. particularly

S

those that freeze action. To address the myth that a high ISO is needed and preferred by professional photographers worldwide, I want to offer up a CliffsNotes version of ISO's very important. but also sometimes m sunderstood, role in exposure. Simply put, the ISO you choose will determine which of the six combina-

tions o f apertures and shutter speeds you can use in creating a correct exposure. I want you to think of ISO

as a group of carpenters who respond to light and, in turn, build a house with that light-or in other words, they record an image. Clearly, if you were part of a group of one hundred carpenters and your friend were part of a group of

two hundred carpenters and I were a part of a group of four hundred carpenters whose job it was to build

many days would it take two hundred carpenters or four hundred carpenters to build these same sixteen houses? Eight days and four days respectively. And how does all this apply to action photography? Well. if you expect to record-in exacting sharpnessthe power of an ocean wave slamming hard against the rocky cliffs or a motocross racer flying over the rain-soaked hill, you will need all the "carpenters" you can get your hands on, right? Wrong! Just because four hundred carpenters (ISO 400) can build sixteen houses twn timF'!> ~s fast as two hundred carpenters (ISO 200) and four times as fast as one hundred carpenters (ISO 100), it doesn't necessarily mean the quality is better. In fact. when it's all said and done, each house. at least on the surface, looks exactly the same! But-and here is the part that's critical to understand-once that house is finished, all eight hundred, four hundred, or one hundred carpenters will be moving in with you permanently. If you think one hundred

sixteen houses, which group, in all likelihood, would get the houses finished quicker? Obviously, my group-all four hundred strong of us. For the sake of

people in a house can make some noise, imagine how much more noise eight hundred people can make!

illustration, let's say it would take one hundred carpenters sixteen days to build sixteen houses. How

Noise, or what in photographic terms is called grain. begins to be a real problem whenever you use

FREEZING ACTION AT ISO 100, 200 & 400 So. here's a question: If you could end up with a razorsharp action-stopping image by using ISO 100, would you? Take a look at this table to discover how you can freeze most action subjects with as little as ISO 100, resulting in an image that's flawless. The following exposure calculations are based on sunny lighting conditions with a frontlit or sidelit subject, and to be clear, this same lighting condition applies to each ISO. And one important point: I am fully aware that sometimes depth of field issues are also a concern when you're freezing <)ction. When you want to add a bit mora depth of field plus maintain a fast. action-stopping shutter speed, you may feel inclined to resort to the higher ISOs. I've certainly found myself doing just that over the years, especially when I was shooting film. However. in this truly wonderful age of digital, I've discovered a way to record exposures with both a depth of field and a shutter speed

18 SHUTTER SPEED fACTS & MYTHS

normally reserved for ISO 200 or ISO 400-without havIng to actually resort to those higher ISOs. See page 138 to learn this great trick. The technique does require that you shoot in the raw format. which for some is not welcome news due to the time (although minimal in my mind) spent in postprocessing. If you're not a raw shooter, but rather a JPEG shooter. then by all means, use the higher ISOs when necessary. ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

'/4 for 1/1600 sec.

'/4 for 1/3200 sec.

f/4 for 1/6400 sec.

'/5.6 for 1/800 sec.

f/S.6 for 1/1600 sec

f/S.6 for 1/3200 sec.

f/a for V400 sec

f/a for vaoo sec

f/8 for 1/1600 sec.

f/ll for V200 sec.

f/11 for 1/400 sec.

f/11 for 1/aoo sec.

f/16 for 1/100 sec.

f/16 for V200 sec.

f/16 for V400 sec

a high ISO such as 640, 800, and beyond. Grain affects overall sharpness and even color and contrast. In addition, when you employ eight hund red carpen· ters (ISO 800), you often end up using smaller lens openings, which, in turn, have this uncanny ability to make "things" even clearer. So, not only has the over· all depth of field (sharpness) increased from front to back, but because of the added sharpness, you have made the noise that much more apparent. On closer inspection of those houses that were built in four days with eight hundred carpenters (ISO 800), you begin to see minor imperfections-cracks in the woodwork, flaking in the plaster, and an overall

ON THIS ANO THE NEXT lWO PAGES,

Ihesehvelmagesofmydaughler ·flymg "lo ward me altlle local park prove my poml about tile mytll of ISO, In

all fIVe sllo/s, / used the same aC/lon-s/opplng slluller speed of 1/250 sec. but used a different ISO and, SUbsequently, a dd/erent aperture In order 10 keep the exposure constant, As my ISO increased, so did Ihe visual ·flaws· Ilncreased nOise and, In tills case alleast, some unwanted increase in deptll of Iteldl. In tile first Image fleftl note tile out-of-focus tones tllat surround Iler, parllcularly ~Illnd Iler. Tile exposure was /50 100 at an aperture openmg of f/4 for 1/250 sec.• so tlleres very /title depfh of field/sllarpness beyond Iler NOle how Ihe area of sllarpness around Iler Increases as Ihe ISO gels high· er You can see i/ clearly In the grass both m lront and behind her '001 and also In Ihe background, which becomes more defmed, In addilion. the use of 150 16110 really bnngs on Ihe nOise If nOise IS going to ~ made aboul your PICture-taking tallmls, wouldn't you prefer 1/ to be ·Ioy and e~CI·ement· ra ther lhan Ihe "nolse- (i.e., grammess) thaI comes from uSing a high/SO?

THE MYTH OF ISO E)(POSED

19

color that may not be as rich. Such is the power of

and if there are any unsightly houses nearby, you

grain/noise. In addition to seeing more unwanted

either don't notice them at all or find them to be barely a distraction. My point in all o f this is to simply say that most of

detail in your actual subject, you may also see tha t more detail has been revealed around your subject. such as the unsightly house beyond the backyard. for example. Having to use too small an aperture when shooting with high I$Os allows you to use smaller lens openings U/16 or f/22. for instance). and somet imes, this will result in a composition that offers up far too much depth of field. When you compare the houses that were built in sixteen days to those built in four days w ith one hundred carpenters (ISO 100), the woodwork, plaster, and pain t appear to be flawless,

ZO SH UTTE R SP EED FACTS & MYTH S

those fleeting moments you wish to record on film or digitally can be captUred at shutter speeds that are well within your reach-even when you use ISO 100. The need to go out and buy high-speed film (for example, ISO 400, 800, or 1000) or to all of a sudden switch your ISO from 200 to 800 just because you want to freeze the action before you in exacting sharpness is a myth! Camera manufacturers are making some great strides in noise reduction. In p3rticular,

WHAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM WITH ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY? I'll be the first to admit that in tough to get a really good action shot, especially of sports. The subjects rarely stop moving, and when they do, the inte-esting action stops. as well. Still, since you can find some fairly advanced autofocus programs in many cameras keeping subjects in focus is rarely the problem. The real problem is keeping the subject inside that viewfinder, filling the frame with it without cuttmg off heads, hands. or feet . So, it's not the absence of a crystal-clear and sharp image that is the problem; rather, it's the absence of your subject inside the frame. Overcoming the problem of not filling the frame isn't an issue of ISO or shutter speed. It's a completely different hurdle that's easy to overcome. and througho.;t thiS book I'll offer up ideas about how to compose actlonfilled scenes with the emphasis on filling the frame. Additionally. this book explores night and lo.....·light photography, and it does so on the assumption you'll be shooting with ISO 100 or 200. However, if you're shooting at night. in low light. or indoors and YOJ can't or don·t wish to use a tripod, you can certainly opt to use ISO 800 or 1600. The primary purpose of these high-speed ISOs is not so much to freeze action but to shoot in low light. Still, as you'lI see, I shot more than gO percent of the images in this book with ISO 100, including the action-stopping images that are often shot at 1/500 and 1/1000 sec.

canon and Nikon, the two industry heavyweights,

eye's attention due to the increased depth of field

have several digital camera models that deliver some

found at f/16. Sure, we see you r son making the catch

truly low to moderate noise levels at the high end of

in the end zone, but we also see the hot dog vendor

their ISO spectrum, from 800 to 2400. The tempta-

over his shoulder, up in row 15. Had you shot instead

tion is there to become seduced by the low noise leve s found at these higher 150s. and some of you might

with ISO 200 at (/5.6 for 1/1000 sec., there would be no evidence of a hot dog vendor since the much shal-

e·...en think that you can now say good-bye to your tri-

lower depth of field of (/5.6 would have been limited

pod-yikes! The use of higher 150s means, in many cases, the

to your son's touchdown. Furthermore, the use of higher ISO settings also decreases your opportunity

use of smaller lens openings, which, in turn, increase depth of field. The shot you made of your son's win-

the end of this book. you will want to take full advan-

for using longer shutter speeds, and I'm sure that by

n ng touchdown at Saturday's football game, with ISO

tage of the literally hundreds of c reative opportunities

1000 at (/16 for 1/1000 sec., is now competing for the

offered up when using slow shutter speeds.

THE MYTH OF ISO EXPOSED

21

FREEZING ACTION

I

f I came to your house and chatted with you for a whopping 1/100 of a second, you would no doubt say, "Well, he was here, but in the blink of an eye, he

was gone!" And why not, since 1/100 of a second is

fairly darn Quick? Now imagine jf I dropped by your

house for only 1/800 of a second. Yikes! I'd be gone before you even knew I was there.

over that hill, but if I'm using a 400mm lens from that fifty-foot distance, then I may as well be right in front of him. In other words, if my frame is more :han 75 percent filled with t he subject, then as far as I'm concerned, we are sharing the same bed-and when you share a bed with anyone, you are close!

not, it's ten times faster than the blink of an eye,

Assuming you are indeed "sharing the same bed" with your subject. you have to then consider another important factor that I mentioned earlier, before you

wh ich, in case you were wondering, averages around 1/10 of a second. And since 1/100 of a second is ten

can determine which shutter speed is best: Is the framefilling action coming toward you or is it moving side to

times faster than the blink of an eye, you would think th:lt should be plenty fast enough to freeze the action of most anything that's on the move-but, of course,

side-or even up and down? When action is coming toward you, you can get away with using a shutter

Se, just how fast is 1/100 of a second? Believe it or

ycu'd be wrong. Read on. There are many keys to recording great action shots: lens choice, distance t o the subject. direction of the subject (i.e., is it moving toward you, or from right to left or left to right past you, or up and down in front of you), ISO. and, of course. shutter speed. Next to ISO, choosing the right shutter speed is the most irrportant element. For most outdoor action-filled shots, shutter speeds of 1/500 or 1/1000 sec. are the norm, and for many experienced shooters, getting to these 1/500 and 1/1000 sec. exposures is often the direct result of using the right ISO. Choosing t he right ISO doesn't have to be hard. On page 18, I spoke about how easy it is to get actionstopping speeds with ISOs between 100 and 400. I hope you will embrace this advice, because using anything higher will, in all likelihood, not render a better action-stopping image-but it will. in all likelihood, render a great deal more depth of field. if not more noise. As I mentioned before, I shot more than gO percent of the action-stopping images in this section with ISO 100, and the remaining photos were shot with ISO 400. As I mentioned previously, another consideration w ith action is distance. Many shooters talk about the photographer-to-subject distance, but how close you are to the action is really a moot point. I can be fifty feet away from that mountain biker in midair coming

21. FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

speed of 1/250 sec., but when the action is moving side to side or up and down, shutter speeds between 1/500 and 1/1000 sec. are the norm, and in some cases, you may even have to resort to 1/2000 sec.

EQUIPMENT I'm often asked by my students which pieces of equipment, besides the motor drive (see page 29), I cannor live without, and my answer may surprise you: I cannot live without my tripod. my LEE 4 -stop graduated NO filter, my polarizing filter, my 12-24mm super wide, my 70-180mm macro. my 200-400mm. my Nlkon Infrared Remote, my Bogen Magic Arm, my Bogen Super Clamps. and my Bogen suction cup. The Nikon Infrared Remote and the Bogen Magic Arm and Super Clamps allow me to execute those image ideas that oftentimes come to me at all hours of the night, waking me from my sleep. In other words, at 2:00 A.M. when I wake up asking myself, "What if ... ?" or "Could I possibly use. T' these pieces at equipment enable me to fulfill my vision. There are many other brands that compete ve'y well with the Nikon Infrared Remote. PocketWizard being one of them, and there are some lesser-known brands for less money that accomplish the same thing. At the time I bought my Nikon remote, there weren't a lot of other choices out there. so if you're looking to invest in a remote triggering device, shop around and you might discover that you can find something akin to PocketWizard at a place like Adorama in New York for under $100.

MY WIFE, KATHY. is one oUhose people who seems to keep dodgmg the "aging bullel." Not that being forty years old 15 "ala. • bul she still gets carded on occasion when we go 10 nigh/clubs or when she Iries to buy alcohol at the sIore. I shoot a lot of stock photography. and fortu" nately for me. when I have need of a beautiful model. I haye only to turn 10 my wife. On this particular morning. while vacationing in Hawaii and after buying her a br~nd new sWimsuit. she Willingly played Ihe part of -the beautiful, healthy. vlv~cious woman who enJoys Ide to the fullest." No doubt tha early-morn mg warm and golden glow of front light against Ihe backdrop of a trop Ical blue ocean also speaks /0 the issue of a healthy lifestyle. but more than that is the simple act of her running. When we see anyone runnmg in the park, for example. we ~II thmk health and Vitality. And runnmg also means the use of a fast shuller speed it I'm going to have any success 10 freezing her in midSlride. Since she was runnmg toward me, I could easily capture an aCllOn-stoppmg imag~ at 1/250 sec. Handholdmg my camera With the ISO sel to 100 am: the shutter speed set to 1/250 sec.. I Simply adjusted the apert~re unrll f/l1 mdicated a correct exposure. And of course on my Nikon D2X. I had set the motor drive to 01 fconrmuous high! mode. whICh I~ called Burst mode on some cameras. The Image here was one of seven taken in a sequence. Nikon D2X, 70-200mm lens, ISO 100. 1/250 sec. at f/l l

FREEZING ACTION

25

YOU CAN TAKE ONE

01 the more classic shots 01 rhe Golden Gate Bridge from the beach below as you look. north the Marin Headlands" I fired more than seven shots {three of which you see herel of thiS large incoming wave, and because I was in eH mode (Bursl mode on olher camerasl wrlh my Nlkof! 02X, I was assured of recordmg the one most Impor1an/ shol ollhe wave exploding at ItS peak. Since light meters can be fooled by wh,le areas, I chose 10 take my meIer readIng from the somewhal blue sky cverhead. And, since I knew I wanled 10 shOOI at an aCllOn-slopplng speed of al least l/5()(Jsec_,1 fIrs! PUI my shulI~r speed 10 Ihal setting and !hen, WIth the camera and lens pOinted to the sky between the bridges IWO lowers, / Simply adjusted my aperlure unlll f/8 IndlCaled a correct exposure. If you"re accustomed to uSing your camera In Mher Shuller Pnonry or Aperture Pnonly mode, the easIest route to a correct exposure would be to go 10 your autoexposure override. add. I, and then sImply aim and fire. No ~eed to take a reading off of the blUish sky. Of course, when you're done shoollng thiS white wave, you'/I want 10 remember to reset/he ilutl)f'xposure ovemde to O. You might be asMng yourself why I bother gOing to the trouble of uSing manual exposure. The answer IS t ....ofold: /II ItS the way I learned to use a camera thlfty-/wo years ago lold habits die hardl, and 12l there continue to be many lighting situations In whICh setting a manual eJlposure IS the shortest route to success and conSIstent eJlposures. Although this book does dISCUSS eJlposure to some degf"Pf!. It doesn't tell you how to use your camera In m"nw/ mtXic. If you don"1 know hf1w 10 scI Iln expo'<Jre In m"n",,' mode or you don" qUlle undef5l"nd Ihe mechanICS of expf1sure when usmg Shutter or Aperture Pnonty mode. , would suggest taking a look at my book r~ward

Understanding

E~posure.

iO-200mm lens, tripod, ISO 100, 1/500 sec at 1/8

FREEZING ACTION 27

JUST HOW COUlO I GET THOSE ANXIOUS PIGEONS 10 come In real/ye/cse /0 me while I was lying/ow on my belly ill/he edge of/he Silane In Lyon-and /0 fly up 10/0 I~e

foreground 01 my compOSlIion at jusr fhe right moment? I couldn't smce my presence at the base 01

my camera would have scared away even the most confident pigeon in France. But wllh the aid of my Mkon '~frared Remote triggering deVice, I could. So, wilh the Nlkon receiver mounted 011 the cameras hoi shoe, I simply rook a seal about fifteen feel away from the (
sendmg unit in my hand. I set Qui a feasl of French bread and cookies just below my shot. walled for the pigeons /0 come. ,md then

/Ired the sending uM. The sound of the cameras release and mOlor drIVe was enough to startle the pigeons and cause them 10 lake flight. Normally, in a situation like this, I am able 10 fire olf about 6 to 8 shots before Ihe subject moves out of camera range, and m a m ~ tfQr of minutQ5 IhQpl9QOn5 hOld relurned ro IhQ lea5t, 50 the process started aU over. On this partrcular mornmg I took a total of 88 shols. This was an easy exposure in that the scene was III by Simple lrontlight, all evenly Illuminated, No dark shadows or bright highlights Ihal might otherwise fool

28 FAST & MODERATE SPEEOS

the meter, so with my aperture set 10 1/8, I Simply adjusted my shuller speed untli 1/500 sec. mdlcated a correct exposure, Bu/. before shooting. and in antl"pation of the birds flying up Into the foreground 01 the frame, J fe!! that a shuller spl'!l'!d of 1/2000 sec, was m order if I was going to come close to freezing the flapping of Iheir wmgs withoul the slightest hmt of a blur. Therefore, I set the shuller speed to 1/2000 sec, even though my light meIer was now indicating a 2-slop underexposure. knowmg thai J could easily recover those stops m postprocessmg Isee page 138 for more on this technique), As the image 10 the right shows, I did capture their wmgs with exactmg sharpness. Note that I dldn'l open up Ihe lens 10 f/4 at 1/2000 sec, because I would not have allamed the (ronl-to -back depth-o/-field sharpness I needed to make thiS shot work. Also note. so Ihallhere is no confusion about my correct exposure. thai the stark sl/houellmg of the pigeons IS due 10 the facllhal my exposure was set for Ihe much brighter imd ~Ironger ~ar/y-momina frontligh/ falling on the buildmgs across the river. not lor Ihe open shade falling on Ihe pigeons. This is a lightmg situation Ihall favor and oflen look for,

ISO lOa, 1/2000 sec. al f/8

THE MOTOR DRIVE Nowhere else in the act of image-making is the use of a motor drive more important than in action photography. Most cameras today come fully equipped with a built-in winder or

motor drive. allowing photographers to reaCh a higher degree of success when shooting action-filled scenes. (This is often known as Burst mode on digital cameras.) Without the

aid of a motor drive or winder, it is often a hit-or-miss proposition as you try to anticipate the exact right moment to fire the shutter. With the aid of a winder or motor drive.

you can begin firing the shutter several seconds ahead of the peak action and continue firing until a second or two after the action has stopped-and it's a very safe bet that one,

if not several, exposures will be successful.

FREEZ ING ACTION

29

TRUTH Bf TO lD, I have never been a big fan of flash, and it all goes back to my early years as a photographer: I not only found flash unflattermg to my subjects, but for years, I could never fully understand how flash "worked. That. of course. had 10 change. and il did. since it was an absolute necessity to succeed as a commercial photographer. But. whenever possible. I will stili a/ways opt for available light. And one of my favome setups fjnds me m Ihe great outdoors. rakmg lull advantage of m idday IlgM. Yes. you read Ihal right. Bryan Pelerson shOals during Ihar god-awful rime of day called high noon. and you know what? You can actually get some really cool. studiO" flash-bke el<posures domg so. The Image al lell shows my selup lor food photography: a Simple vase filled with bubbly mmeral water siltmg alop an open refleClor Isilver side up}. and seamless blue paper for a backdrop Iwhich can be fou.,d at any arl supply sl ore/. I also mounted my camera With macro lens on a Irlpod. With an ISO of 200. I was able to record a correcl el<posure al fflO <wi 11500 sec .. bul due /0 the magic of raw lormat. I aclua(ly chose 10 shootl,1ese frUits 2 slops underel<posed al f/ l 0 and 1/2000 sec .. knowmg full wellihal I could recover those slOps m postprocessmg byadfusting the ExpoSJre slider in Photoshop until I got a correct histogram Isee page 138 for more on this/. Depth of field was a concern here due to my dose focusmg dlsrance. so Ihis IS one of those times when I had to employ a l-slop-hlgh~r ISO 1200/. which allowed me 10 record bolh Ihe fasler shutler speed am! the needed deplh of field. At ISO 100. f17.1 would not have been enough. Once I was all ready to go. I Simply asked my daughler Sop~le to drop a single strawberry. After repeated tries. I took a momenl to review Ihe results. and sure enough. I had far too many Images m which the srrawberry was either not far enough mto the composition or had dropped too far mto the botlom of Ihe frame. But mll<ed m amongst all of Ihose ml3sed shots. I also found one or two jewels. Then Ithoughl. why stop at ont strawberry when you can Iry three at a lime? /1 love Ihe power of three. in case you are wondermg why i chose three} After several attempts. I recorded an Image 01 three fallmg strawberries as Ihey broke Ihrough rhe surface of Ihe water: Note the /ightmg In both of rhese exposures. The strawbemes are /It from above and below: The sun overhead lighls rhem from the lOp. and rhe refleCled sun bouncing up 011 the Silver refleclor lighrs Ihem from underneath. Who says you need slrobes? Obviously. 100, thiS setup I. not limlled 10 strawbemes. Let your Imagmallon run wild and soon you will be droppmg almost anything thaI Will fit mlo your vase. ISO 200. 1/2000 sec. at '/10

30 FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

1/250 SEC. No matter what action you' re photog raphing , if that act ion is coming at you, you can safely shoot at 1/250 sec. This is especially true with regard to sports. The hundred -yard dash at a track-and-field event, cars on the straightaway at a NASCAR race, the lone swimn er nearing the end o f the p ool, the tight end runni ng

toward the end zone, o r the number four greyhound crossing the f inish line are just a few of the many examples that await the use o f 1/250 sec.

I HAVE ONLY BEEN

to one

motocross

fiJCe, and

Irs

safe 10 say II won', be my last! I don 't knoN If It'S the

norm at all motocross events, but alleast allhls one, I was able 10 gel ridiculously close /0 these guys. I hadn't been thaI near Ihe action of a spo"ling event since shootlllg an NFL game m PJUsburgh back m 1997. Granted. I walked away quite dirly. bUI ,I was worlh all the mud Ihal came flying my way. On one parI o( Ihe Irack. Ihe bikers ..ould come around a corner and hIt th,s straightaway b~fore mak mg anolher lurn Ihal would see lhem Ilyng up and over OM of Ihe many hills. Each and every flder almoSI always seemed 10 follow Ihe same deep ruts m Ihe dirt track. 50 thiS made II extra easy fIT me-alii had to do was focus on that SPDt and fire away as each nder came through. With my camera and lens m(lunted (In ~ mOMp(ld. I ch(lse an Bctl(ln -st(lppmg speed (If 1/250 sec .. since the riders were commg toward me. f then adlusted my aperture untIl 1/11 indIcated a correct eXfXJsure. and over rhe COUfR 01 (lnly five minutes. I ha:J recorded m(lre Ihan fifteen mud-caked m(llacross m!ers. (lne o( whICh you see here 7O-200mm lens. monopod. ISO 100. 1/250 sec. ar 1/ 11

AMERICA & SPORTS: Irs NOT JUST ABOUT HITTING THE BALL America is a very sports-minded country. Not a weekend goes by that doesn't showcase two or more sporting events. Next to a baby's first few weeks of life and the family vacation. sports·rek!lted activities are probably the subjects most regularty photographed by families. Sports appeal to men and women. and both young girts and young boys play various sports. including soccer. basketball, and baseball.

Bestdes shooting the action of these and other sPOrts, many amateur and pro photographers want to capture the participants' emotions.. For example, a photographer may want to record the grtmaces of two soccer players as their heads collide or the frightened exJWe$SiOn of a cawboy flying through 1M air only seconds after being thrown from the meanest bull at the rodeo. Keep these details in mind as you train your Jans on sporting events.

FREEZING ACT I ON

33

I HAD HEARD NOHING

but glow· ing reviews about Ihe Island of 5i1ntormi, off the coast of Greece, from many of my slucents, so I finillIy put Sanlorim on my workshop schedule one spring, Within minutes of arriving, I begiln 10 qUestiOn Whill all the rilves ,o~ld hilve possi· bly been about. since I dldn', ·see" all thaI much. But once J ilmved ill my holel. it becilme obvious why Sanlorin; is thought to be one of the more beilutiful islands. And. of course, wnere would Ihis island be without lis cats? One of my filvonte books, Cats in the Sun. showcases some really beautiful photography from the islandS of Greece. In facl, It was my hope thaI I might come away from Santonm With several outslandmg cat shots, much like those In thaI book. However. by Ihe last day of Ihe workshop. it didn't seem like II was going to happen-that is, unlil a black cat crossed mypath. I reillize Ihat for some, a black cat crossing your /Nth is surely a bad omen; bUI for rr;e, il proved to be a most forlunate lilmg. I followed this cat for some ilve minutesslalkmg II, 50 10 speak-until It finally (lUnd a reslir.g place at the top of some colorful steps that led to several of the loc~ls' homes. I moved to a short wa'l to the lefl of these steps, gelling into a position that allowed me to shoOI diagonally down on the slilrrs. All thai remamed was to walt till the cat took off, runnmg down the steps, but it seemed rather canlent 10 sil atop the fllghl-so reSigned, in facl, that II was soon lying dGwn and aboul ready 10 lake a nap when a large. bilrkmg dog came our way. ThaI was all ,I look 10 gel IhinfF> movin9_

17-55mm lens, ISO iOO, 1/250 sec. al f/II

SHUTTER SPEED FACTS & MYTHS 3S

WHEN MADE THI PH rURf on the facing p;Jge.bo rh

GO TO THE WATER

of my daugh ters were en/0)'lng Ihelr day tf snorkelmg m

So where does one beg in to get those g reat action

the SWlmmmg pool wh ile I wa s an ilssrgnmenl In Cancun, Mexico. Takmg a break from wo,k, I w as qUick

shots? As the weeks and months unfolded in the p ro-

/0 jom them. "I course Wllh my Cilm era

duction of thiS book, I began to realize just how much activity takes place in and around water. I began to wonder if I wa s simply blind to other action-filled opport unities, or if there was something magical about water in its ability to draw activity to itself. My oldest brother, Bill, is an internationally known oceanographer who is o ften seen on th e Discover y Channel offPring ur his insioht s into g lobal warming. While working on this book and, once again. finding myself shooting another action· filled subject in the water, I was reminded of something we had talked about years ago: Water accounts for more than 70 percent of t he earth's surface. That·s almost three-Quarters of the earth, so it should really come as no surp rise t hat we are drawn to water. We swim in, splash, or dive into it . We surf, water-ski, Jet Ski, sail, and kayak atop it. and mountain bikers cycle through it. And it's that same water whose moisture eventually makes clouds, which, in turn, dump record snowfalls during the winter months-to the delight of skiers everywhere. We wash with water, drink it. grow fr uits and vegetables with it, and even pu t out fires with itl Water is ever ywhere, and it is a great source of action-filled pho to ops.

ass ur ed, I was In Ihe shallow end of the

In

p'XJl.

hand. Rest Wjlh water

up {O only my wa,st Nearby was if smaU waterfall thaI sent duwn if genlle casciJde mlO lhe pool, and II was there thai Chloe go/ "a head masS
head and fell and splashed around her. Handholdmg my camera. I se tlhe s huller s peed to 1/250 nc. and adJusted the aperture un/II fII O mdlca ted a correct elfposure.

70-200mm lens, ISO 100, 11250 sec. ill f/IO

Of the many wor~shops f offer around the world. none are more papillar Ihan Ihe Vagabond workshops, These offer no se t schedule, no ilinerary per se. We j usl aU meet at one spOI. and over Ihe course of four days. pomtlhe vans 10 the direction of

FOLLOWING PAGE

Ihe besl IIgM. Needless to say. irs not ~ workshop for those who don 'I like to gel up early or whc like to eat dmner on schedule. Of Ihe two Vagabond workshops o/fered 10 2006. the Malne/Vermont workshop. wh.ch took place In early October, was the mos t surpriSing In ter/"'lS 01 wha t and where we found ourselves shooling one afternoon, har-

ness racmg ill the Fryberg Co unty Falf.1 Keep In mmd, mos l of Ihe sl udenl s on Ihis workshop Mire looking forward to shool1n9 nal ure mall ils viVid 'all (olars. So. when .1 was suggesl ed thaI we give the ;rylJerg County Fair a shot, Ihe reacl ion WilS. at first. somewhal lempered. A county fa" wautd be a greal p/3ce 10 Iry your haod i1t balh paonmg and freezing ac"oo, I mSlsled Several hours later, everyone was feeling quil e eo thusiasllc and for good re9SOO: The harness racing proved 10 be fertile grouod for trymg all sorts of dlffereot shuller speeds and Iherr relaled effects /pannmg, zoommg, spmomg. IWlrlmg, and, of course, freezmg ac~on/_ Sharing th,s corner of Ihe tfct W(Jlltrl hp mllklnl) Ihp turn exactly here and IlIa l, smee II was shortly after Ihe race begao. everyone would sllll be larrly bunched together. All we had to do WilS sel an exposure thaI allowed Ihe use of Inso sec. (for acllOn :ommg toward us/. prefocus on Ihls spol , and have the camera sel to Burst or continUOUS mode,

Nikoo D2X, 70-200mm leos, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, al f/8

FR EEZtNG ACTION

37

1/500 SEC. It was in the summer of 1970 that I bought my first

camera-a DeJur twin-lens reflex-at a garage sale for ten bucks. This had more to do with my oldest broth-

er, Bill, who had been bemoaning the fact that I had been borrowing his Nikon F Photomic a bit too much

over the course of the previous two months. I recall distinctly that the DeJur had a maximum shutter speed of 1/500 sec. and yet my brother's Nikon F had 1/1000 sec. Of course I felt cheated by t his but soon discovered that there isn't a whole lot of action out there Ulal yuu Cdll'l bring lo a screeching halt at

1/500 sec. The biggest challenge with my DeJur wasn't the absence of 1/1000 sec .. but rather trying to compose

my actions shots. Like many twin-lens-reflex cameras back then (the famous Yashica Mat-124 G comes t o mind), the camera's viewfinder showed things as a "mirror image," meaning if the subject were moving left to right in my viewfinder, I had to move right to left to follow the action. Nonetheless, all it took was one "winning image" at 1/500 sec. of some friends playing flag football and I was hooked on the power of action-stopping compositions. To the surprise of many amateur shooters out there, 1/500 sec, is often all it takes to get those action-st opping shots. You really don't need anything faster than that to get that shot of the base-runner slamming into the catcher at home plate or the long jumper spraying sand on landing. Sure, there'll be times when your point of view may allow you to be within several feet of the action, and with your wide-angle lens at the ready, by a ll means, employ the faster shutter speeds of 1/1000 or 1/2000 sec. But remember that when you wish to freeze action coming in from the left or right-or action that is moving up and down-for the most part. 1/500 sec. is more than su fficient. The real key, when possible, is to prefocus on that spot, that area, where you know the action is headed-for examp le, that last hurdle near the finish line or the finish line itself- and, as the saying goes, let her rip!

40 FAST & M ODE RATE s p eeDS

has recenlly discovered Ihe fun of jumping rope, and now every da)' has become "jump rope day. - ThiS IS another act jon situation. for sure. Handholding my camera, se l onAp!rlure PriOrity mode, I can gel f/8 for 1/500 sec. It only took a few shots to get the fult image /o pposltel, but before moving on, I wanted to also record the intensily of emotion m Sophle:S face. Usmg the same ellposur~ forthlS laleafternoon, frontllt scene, I simply mo vedm closer until

I had fiUed Ihe frame with just my daughler's "Jumpmg face," and after more than a few tries, f was successful m re cording her elluberant ellpressio". 70-200mm lens, ISO 100. 1/500 sec. al fiB

WH11£ 1SHOT OOWNWARO from atop a ladder althe edge of a swimming peol, my friend Christopher was more Ihan happy 10 make severilljumps inlo the water on this very hOI summer day, My interest was, of course, in recordIng a composition of him in exacting sharpness and clarity, stopping the action of the splash Ihat he would make upon entering the pool. Handholding my camera, I first set Ihe shutter speed /0 1/500 sec. and Ihen adjusted my aperture until fIB indicated a correct exposure from the blue water of the swimming pool dl(eClly below me.

17-55mm lens at 5Smm,

I~U

WU,

1/~UU

sec. al 1/11

ALTHOUGH MY O~UGHTER Sophie has never played Ihe Violin, she has had plenry of expe,-Ience in pretending 10. Some years ago al a garage sale' purchilsed t.'lIS Violin solely to use as a prop when I felt the scene lenl ilself to il. In this case, following the disco very of this wonderful field of wildflowers, I returned home and eXCitedly shared the news with Sophie. She is also a budding photographer, and the follOWing day we returned-wllh $cphle, in a freshly washed white dre;s, and the Vlo/,n. The skies overhead were bright and overcast, and after Sophie walked oul a short dlslan~e into Ihe field, / climbed to the Ihird step 0/ a fourfoot stepladder and shol down Inlo Ihe field as she made a number of "joy-filled jumps.Handholdlng my camera, I was able 10 record a number of actionSlopping exposures. With Ihe cam era set on Aperlore Priority mode and the light evenly diffused before me, I was confident Ihat a shutter speed of 1/500 sec. would not only be correct but would record the upand-down mollon of her Jumping In exacting sharpness. As evidenced by her half, she is, indeed, seen clearly in an actIVe stale, 70-200mm lens, 150 100, 1/500 sec.

al {/5.6

G. FAST & MODERATE SPEEOS

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY Aerial photography is something you do because you are flying from point A to point B on a commercial airliner or you have a friend who has his/her own plane or you're a tourist takirg a helicopter tour and so on. I, for one, absolutely love to shoot aerials. Even when I'm on a commerCial airliner, I do my best to get a window seat if I think we'll be passing over any areas of interest to me. Of course, I never check my camera equipment. Wherever I go, my gear goes with me, a I packed neatly inside my Lowepro Trekker. Once we're airborne and the seat belt sign has been turned off. I retrieve my bag from the overhead and temporarily place it under the seat in front of me. Depending on what's in store for the upcoming journey. I'll determine if I should use my 17-SSmm or 70-200mm lens. And. since the action below me is moving ether left to right or right to left, depending on what side of the plane I'm on (God forbid the action is coming toward me!), using a shutter speed of 1/S00 sec. is the norm for most aerial photography.

,

.

¥> ,.t;' ,,

.

'

....,.' )t

Above. left: 17-55mm lens. 150 100. 11500 sec. al f/8; lefl: 70-200mm lens ill 75mm, 150 100. 1/800 sec. al 115.6: above: Nlkkor 8O-200mm zoom lens ill 200mm. 1/500 sec. at 1/8

'6 FAST & MOOERATE SPEEOS

I FREQUEN TlY flY from

Lyon to Frankfurt On sunny days, theresjusl

nothing quite like looking out your wmdow, seemmgly withm arms reach of the French, German, and SWISS Alps {Opposite, 10pJ, ShOaling from a plane, helicopler, parasall, or an ultrallghl craft does reqUIre Ihe fight shuller speed, smce you are obviously shootmg from a moving objf!C1 and you do want 10 record eKactmg sharpness If! the landscape below, Shootmg al 7/S00 sec. will, in most Sllual/ons, accomplish Ihls. IThe quality of your results will also depend on whether or not the wmdow you're shootmg through IS scra/ched.! For this shot at 1/500 sec, I adjusted the "perture until a I-stop overexposure was mdicaled. I chose 10 shoot al a I-stop overexposure due to the excessive brightness and the abundance of white snow on the mountams. If you were shootmg Ihls scene m semi-auto mode, Shuller Prloflty or Aperture Priority, you would, once agam, want to set your autoexposure ovemde to + f, making certam to reset IttO 0 when you were done II was on another commercral airliner on approach to the airport m Venice Ihal / was able 10 record the aenal to Ihe lefl about five minutes before landing, It was a beautrful day, and Ihe lale-afternoon Sidelight was castmg lIs warm glow across much of the Island, in marked con/ras/to the deep blue sea, Since /hls scene was evenly li/, wlthoul any bright hlgh/lghts

or dark shadows. I fell very comfortable shoolmg In :ny second-preferred me/hod of exposure, Aperture Prlorlly {Although manual exposure mode IS sllll my preferred method of me/erlng, I must confess thaI Aperlure Prlomy mode has been making up a /01 of ground lalely. and In all likelihood, II Will soon become my first chOice when metering mosl scenes./ /simply adjusted my shuller speed until 7/500 sec, mdlcated a correcl exposure, Airplanes aren't/he only way 10 gel In the air. There are always helicopters. And I love any excuse 10 shOal down on subjects, ollentlmes from much, much higher vantage poinls. Allhough I spend a great deal of trme walking upon Ihls good of earth, my mind IS oflen asking. I-Iow would what surrounds me look from overhead' After wa/kmg a/ongthe very pcpu/ar Bondi Beach In Sydney, Auslralla, I felt thit the answer /0 that questIOn would be -Simply amazing!" bullhen came Ihe even more Important qUfstlons: Could I get i helicopter rental on a Sundiy? And, woulda he/Kapler teal/owed /0 flyabove Ihls beach or was II a res/rlcted zone' Two hours lale', I was .wOOrne and haVIng the lime of myllfe_ W,th Ihe back pas~ngerdoor of Ihe he/ICopler sM Wide open and Ihe safety harness secured around my shoulders and waist. I leaned out Ihe open doorway, making i number of e~posures while handholding my camera labovel.

FREEZING ACTION 47

1/1000 SEC . As noted on page 40, the absence of a 1/1000 sec. shutter speed on my OeJur twin-lens reflex left me feeling a bit cheated. I seldom missed this extra stop, this extra fast shutter speed, yet I can still vividly recall that beautiful autumn Saturday when I had secured a field pass at the local college for that day's football game. Granted, I wasn't going to set the world on fire

with shots taken with my twin-tens reflex, but I was determined to get at least one midair-diving-for-the-

end-zone shot. Imagine my frustration on processing my three rolls of black-and-white ISO 400 that

evening and discovering that my two best jam-packed action shots had just enough subtle blur to be a dis-

traction; it was blur caused by a shutter speed that was just a wee bit too slow-blur that only the use of 1/1000 sec. could have eliminated. I've since learned that it boils down to one thing: If fast action is moving side to side or up and downand assuming you are truly filling the frame-then 1/1000 sec. is your best choice.

48 FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

plastic fish-Identifier cards at the dive shop across from our hotel on MaUl, I overheard a couple 01 -dudes- talkmg

Understanding Elposure, bul sufl,ce II to say, I find Ihe c!ear blue sky /opposlle)
aboullhe promise of "some big swells commg m on Ihe Norrh Shore tomor· row." / W
mg or lale·aflernoon lronllil scenes when those scenes have as much while m them as Ihe waves above sure did. White is a killer when 1/ c~mes /0 eJlpo sure, as II -reads " far too bnght, and often, when one shoots composlllcms

RIsmg early the ned mommg, I found Ifle spot where bolh b'g W
Wllh a lot of wh,'e, Ihe end result 15 will/ak.e
speed 10 1/1000 sec, and adjusted Ihe aperture until 115.6 mdreated a correcl eKposure from my good fnend overhead, Brolher Blue 5ky, If you're nor lamillar wl,h the -Sky Brolhers, - you can read all aboul Ihem in my book

Although I was only there lor less tll.ln an hour, I managed 10 record a number of reallyeJICllmg Images, Wllh mosl of the Credit gomg:o these guys, who, " seemed, could tum on a dime. Doe guy was domg a great deal of ·cullmg, - aod Ihls image is one of my favontes.. With the
FREEZING ACTION 4'1

ANOTHER ONE Of MY FAVORITES from the morning I made the pholog~ph on

till? previous page. this was

one of Ihe few wipeouts thai look place Ihal day. ThiS guy look Ihe

wipeout on stride. Heck. he even w~ved good-bye before disappearIng mome!l/arily under Ihe weight of

Ihls twenty-fooler.

SO FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

liMEN WE lIVEO IN SONOMA. I became good friends wllh Ihe guy who did our Iilwn and pool mamlenilnce. HIs fIiIme was Arnold. He had ~ome up from Nexico along with hiS lwo brothers about ten years before, and together. they had bUill a thrlvmg lawn and pool mamle~ance bUSiness . Each Sunday he and hiS huge eli/ended family would :;ather al Ihe local park and playa prelly serious game of soccer. ! tagged along on one of those Sundays. and dUfing warm-ups. I was able 10 fire off a number of exposures. mc/udmg Ihls one opposlle of Arnolds ~rolher and cousm gomg head-Io-head, IIleraUy. for the soccer bal/. One thing stayed WIth me afler thIs outmg; Photographmg 5occer)r foolball. basketball. and mosl sporls, for thai maller-relies on a ~real deal of luck and skill. Plus. if you expecl 10 gel anything decerll. JOU best keep your eye on Ihe ball. -Follow Ihe ball and shooll" was a ~real piece of adVice I was given along lime ago bya professionalspor/s ;Jholographer: Allhe lime. 1 had high hopes of becoming a sporls phD'ographer. II was 1975. /0 be exac/. AUhough my dream 01 shoolmg sporlS for a livmg never maleriallred (I would always gel caught up In 'he game. and rather than 5hoo/m9 Ihe wmnmg 10uchdown, I would be oln the slde/mes. Jumpmg up and down Wllh glee because my team just .cored), 151111 enJoy Ihe occasional challenge 01 shooting sporls. as long as! can walk away from It and lust enjoy walchmg II whenever I warll. 300mm lens. monopod. ISO 100. 1/1000 sec. al 1/5.6

'UMPKI NS. BR ISK WINOS,

failing leaves, azure blue skies. Scunds ;,ke autumn IS m Ihe air. and thaI means fOOlball-Amencan-style foot· ball. 01 course. FootbaU 15 a rough sporl, even when kids play II. bull ;ove the game. Heck. I played it as a kid and have the memories of a bro· <en collarbone and wrist to prove it; yet. even loday. I'm the first one 10 show up al Ihe park if a pickup game has been announced. My lalenlS al shOOlmg football. however. are one nOleh above shoolII)g weddmg pholography. which I learned years ago was nol gOing 10 be pari of my career as a profeSSional photographer. / would much ralher endure Ihe mtense anKlety and pamful WIthdrawal of Irymg /0 sUfVIve a day without my Dlel Cokes and cigarelles than suffer Ihe eKcruclarmg and sometimes pamful challenges that wedrJlflg photographers often face. For Ihal reason, I was reluclanl 10 agree 10 shool pic tures of Ihe all-Importanl game Ihal my niece's husband was cOiIchmg. Every game 15 the -all-rmporlanr - game when II comes 10 family. nghl1 / showed up al rhe game. and Wlthm frve mmutes. I knew! was m for i long day. Nonelheless,! shot lhe whole game. 287 piclures 10 be eXile/. And Ihe se/ecllOn to the nghl shows whal you can freeze Wllh 1/1000 sec.-and /usl how limber the human body IS! I used 1//000 sec. for all Ihree of these Images and gladly len the camera In Aperture Priority mode. keeping my eye on rhe aperture and adjusting il when necessary 10 make sure my shutler speed was always around I/IOOOsec.1 a/50 had my camera mounted on a monopod. All photos; BO-'OOmm lens. monopod. ISO 100. 1/1000 sec.

FREEZING ACTION 53

THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN

hen it comes to t he creative use of shutter

a tripod, for just one hour in your backyard or in the

speed, I've noticed during my many years of

city at speeds of 1/4 sec. or 1 second. Much of what you'll do when shooting in the slow

W

teaching that most photographers. profes-

sionals and amateurs alike, seem to migrate mo re

toward recording razor-sharp images of action-filled subjects t han toward exploring the "art of possibillt es" with much slower shutter speeds. As we just discussed in the previous section, action-stopping

images rely on primarily t hree shutt er speeds: 1/250 sec., 1/500 sec., and 1/1000 sec. Bu t let's turn our attention to the opposite end of the shutter speed

dial: 1/60 sec. to 1 second. If my hunch is correct, you will

soon be finding a lot more reasons to "hang out"

with these slower shutter speeds. In my mind at least, slower shutter speeds offer far ~ore out lets fo r creativity than faster ones; yet at the same t ime, slower shutter speeds are incredibly unpredictable. And it is in this unpredictability that, if ~iOU can be patient. you will often find the diamond in the rough. Action-filled subjects t ake on a whole new

shutter speed arena will be experimental, but as is often the case, some new and exciting discoveries can be made only in the laboratory. Every shooter who's truly passionate about taking pictures is on a neverending journey of c reative expression and strives to be inventive. Using slow shutter speeds when common sense suggests otherwise has proven to be a successful venture for many shooters . These compositions are often filled with tremendous movement and tension . They convey strong moods and emotions and are anything but boring. You might not be able to identify the sport or activity, but in the midst of all of this blurred activity is an image of great energy. Fast-action shots normally made with fast shutter speeds take on a different yet very invigorating life when shot at slow speeds. They can resur rect memo-

meaning when deliberately photographed at unusually slow shutter speeds. If you're a purist who still

ries perhaps of an earlier exciting time in your life or simply confirm the current excitement you feel. It is our nature to feel invigorat ed when there's movement

believes in the age-old standard of razor-sharp. everything-in-focus pictures, I don·t expect to change your way o f thinking, but if you're a p hotographer who's

under our feet ~ that feeling that life is exciting. tha t we are on a journey, tha t we are within reach of that 10ng- sQught-after goal. And of course, everyone at

looking for some fresh approaches to photographing action, subtle Or blatant, I strongly recommend that you consider st re t ching the limits of your slow shutter

one t ime or anot her has experienced boredom or depression, w hich is simply life without movement.

speeds to the fullest. Try shooting, without benefit of

54 FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

Slow shutter speeds will, without question. reveal a life that is anything but stagnant or boring.

LYING FLAT ATOP THE ROOF ofamovmgcardowna tree-Imedcountry road, I found myself dellberalely shootong al a slow snuller speed, m Ih,s case 1115 sec. I wanted 10 convey the feelmg of flying down Ihe road, oJS I hoJd seen a crow a few mmules earlier domg fusl Ihal. Shootong from Ihe safe confines of Ihe passenger seal was oul, since Ihe angle was 100 low 10 Ihe ground. It was a rough fide, /0 say fhe least! I had sone apprehension, as the road had irs share of po/holes, and Ihe car didn't have a roof rack, so hanpmp on whit.. ~hnnlmlJ r;",~ .. rl;m ;m',OU$ mom ..,,' or two. HOWfl.,.r, my (fiend Kil/ldn drove ·slowly,· and ,fter makmg several pas~s. I had mere than enough Images /0 offer up the Czech RepublIC,

a flymg

crow's View of thiS country road m

Nikkor 17-SSmm lens, '-slop ND fIller, ISO 100, 1/15 sec, al fill

THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN 55

MAKING RAIN ONLY WITH 1/60 SEC.

T

he rain effect is easy to achieve. Whether you

choose to set up your "rain" in the early morning or late afternoon, it's important that you (1) use

an oscillating sprinkler, since it is best at making realistic falling rain, and (2) place it in an area that has lots of unobstructed low-angled sunshine. Additionally,

you must face the sun when you shoot, making sure your subjects are backlit (meaning the sun is behind

the subject ). If your subjects are fron t lit or side Iit, you will not record much rain at all, since it 's t he backlight

that creates the contrast, allowing the rain to stand out. Once you have your props, including your subject (some cu t flowers or a bowl of cherries, strawberries, or lemons, for example). you are almost ready t o produce the look of falling rain, but you must adhere to one simple rule: Use 1/60 sec. You can only make rain using 1/60 sec.

So. the first thing to do is set your shutter speed to 1/60 sec. and make sure to use an ISO of 100 or 200. \Jaw all that remains is to get the correct meter readng. and the best way to do this is to move in close so that your back lit subject (flowers o r fruits) fills most of t he frame before turning on the water. Then, you simply adjust your aperture until the lig ht meter indicates a correct exposure. Next, move back a bit and frame up your overall composition, and with the camera on tr ipod and your exposure set , fire up the sprinkler. Note if the falling "rain" is cascading down across the entire flower or fruit area. and if it's not, then move the flowers or pieces of fr uit so t hat they are being completely covered by t he falling rain. Once everything is perfect . simply start firing away when the sweeping arc of the oscillating sprinkler begins to fall just behind and then onto the flowe rs.

56 FAS T & MOOERATE SP EEDS

HERE"S MY SETUP in Ille lop photo on Ihe !!icing p;Jge, ;Jnd Ihe resuU is al right Whal happens If you Iry ilnd shool Ihis effect ill il fasler or slower shuller speed? The results won 'I look like rain. Anylhing slower or faster just doesn't look believable as ram, As you can see in the lower image on Ihe facong page. al the faster shutter speed of 11125 sec .• the raindrops are much /00 shari-pIus, the shorter streaks of ram don 'I feel quite as refreshing, AI slower shutler speeds than 1/60 sec .. the rain streaks become much 100 long and lose Iheir luster. In addition, when it comes to lenses, I almost always choose Ihe 200mm or 300mm focal length for rain shots, not so much because these focal lenglhs have an inherenl Shililow depth of field. but because they enable me to record pleasmg compOSitions with· out gelling wet.

MAKING RAIN ONLY WITH 1/60 SEC . 57

BACKLIGHT WITHOUT SILHOUETTES

O

ne of the more common questions I get from

students deals with the subject of back li t port raits: "Since the sun is behind the person whose portrait I want t o t ake, how do I avoid record-

ing a silhouette and render detail of that person's face and character?" Expe rienced photographers use a

reflector most of the time in these situations. A reflector is nothing more than a white, gold. or silver piece of fabric that has been attached to a pliable ring that

allows for a quick and easy setup. A reflec tor that's ten inches in diameter while st ored in its zippered pouch opens up to a thi rt y-inch reflector (that weighs almost not hing, by the way). W hen you aim a reflector into the sun 's light, it acts h many ways like a mirror, bouncing this light right back toward the sun, However, it's not t he sun you want to reflect light back into but the subject that's facing you. So, in effect. it's like having two suns: one that backlights your subject and one t hat "frontlig hts" your subject. Studio photographers have been using this "two sun" approach for years, so why not you? There is, o f course, one other concern when using reflector s: Who is in charge of holding the reflector? If you don't have four hands, then t his is a good time to bring someone along and have him or her be your g rip (the person whose job it is to hold the reflector), Once you and your assistant have reflected the sunlight back onto the subject, it is equally important that you move in close with your camera t o set an exposure for this light that is now hitting the subject. Even if you are so close that you cannot get your subject in focus, don't worry; you are only interested in recording an exposure.

58 FAST & MODERATE SPEEDS

WHEN COMBINED with the right ,ain·making shutler speed of 1/60 sec .. a really fun backl,t portrait ~waits you-if you can find a willing model ~nd you have ~ccess to a garden hose. You can ma ke the ,dea of cooling off on i/ hot summer's day even more appealmg when you combine it with the effect of cooling drops of -summer rain. · For the ourposes of comparison. the bOI· tom image on the facing page of my nieces husband. Jason. shows him coolmg off while fron/lit by the Wi/rm glow of lale·aflernoon sun. The much stronger e~ample in my mmd shows Jason backlit by the same sun /righl!. In Ihis case. because Jason IS obViously not transparent funllke water. which isl. I felt il necessary to fill hiS face with reflected sun · IlgM. With the i/id of my son. Justin. and daughter Chloe, I was able to do jusl thaI: Justin held the reflec· tor and Chloe provided the "rain{opposite. topl. All that remained was to fill the frame with just Jason's face. set my shuller speed to 1/60 sec., and adjust myaperlure until f/11 indicated the correct e ~posure .

Nikon D2X. 70-200mm lens at 200mm. 1/60 sec. f/11

a'

BACKLIG HT WITHOUT

~llHOUETTES

59

PANNING: 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, AND 1/4 SEC .

O

ur journey through the land of creative shutter

pan any subject, keep in mind that you must have an

speeds must include a visit with, to quote many

appropriate background in order to be successful. And what, e xactly, is an appropriate backg round?

of my studen t s, "a most fr ustrating. yet really rewarding technique" called panning. When you pan any moving subject, you will almost always be shoot -

Something colorful. Since backgrounds are rendered as blurred streaks of color and t one when you pan,

ing from a point of view that is directly parallel to your

you'll find t hat the more busy and colorful t he back -

subject. When your moving subject enters the frame

g round , the better t he panned subject will look in fron t

'rom the left or rig ht , you simply follow it with the

o f it If you were to paint colored horizontal streaks

camera, moving in that same direct ion white depressing t he shutter release button. This ensures t hat your

onto a c anvas, streaks of the same color would look

moving subject remains relatively "stationary" (in t hat

of the streaking). But if you were t o use several colors,

same spot in your viewfinder) and in fairly sharp

you would be able to distinguish the streaks.

focus, while all of the sta t ionary object s su r rounding it record as either horizon tal

o r vertical

like nothing more than a solid co lo r (with no ev idence

In much the same way, panning when your subject

st reaks.

is a jogger against a solid blue wall wi ll show little, if

( Normally, when one pans, the subject s are moving right t o left or left to right , but you should expand

any, evidence of the panning technique because of the lack of tonal shift or contrast in the backg round.

your horizons and consider panning ver tical motion, too-for example, kids on pogo sticks or seesaws, t h e

graffiti, it will provide an electrifying background

up-an d-down " free-fall" rides at amusement parks). To pan effectively, you'll want t o use a shutter speed

However, if that same wall is covered with poster s or when panned. Simply put, the grea t er the color an d contrast of the background, t he more exciting the

of at least 1/30 sec. But again, I'm all about experi-

panned image will be. So, in addi t ion t o concentra t ing

mentation, and if you're shooting digitally (i.e., with no

on the many motion-filled panning opportunities,

film costs), consider panning at even slower shutter

make it a point to shoot those opportunities against

speeds, such as 1/15, 1/8, o r even 1/4 sec. When you

colorful backgrounds.

THE ADDED ADVANTAGE OF DIGITAL For those of you shooting with a digital camera. you'll soon be counting your blessings as you try your hand at panning. It is a challenging exercise in getting it right, and needless to say, a lot of shots are wasted until you get that one. So, this technique can be a nightmare for many photographers who still shoot film, and I know of at least one former film shooter who found this panning technique to be a blessing in disguise: A student in one of my online courses informed me that '·thanks to the lesson on panning," her husband went out and bought her a dig ital SLR after he noticed how much film from tha t one lesson went

62 SLOW SPEEDS

into the trash. Since she had six more weeks of lessons to go, he reasoned tha t she would probably be throwing away even more film and "surely, the cost of ali that film would more than pay for a new digital SLR.'· And, wouldn't you know it, when this story got out to the other class members, several of whom were also stili shooting film, they made a point to place their garbage cans right in front of their respective spouses and then do the ""moan and groan": ·'If only I had a digital camera. By the time the class ended, there was not one film shooter left in the bunch!

TI MES SQUARE INN EW VOR K ClTV IS one 01 the richer lociltions lor creating successful panning shots, owing to the nonstop huslle ilnd buslle 01 trillfie in the street and the pedestrians on the sidewalks. Additionally. there IS no shortage of backgrounds, thanks to the numerous neon signs and billboilrds suspended above t~e shops and restau rants. H~ndholding my camera, I simply moved left to right and al a diagonal as one of many slreleh limos came driving down Broadway over the course of an hour. Since I was focusing so/ely on this limo and lollowmg II as iI moved /plus shooting al a slow shutter speed/! recorded a relallvely shilrp vehicle against some very colorful. blurry, streaky background signage. A truly high-energy image Ihat conveys the sigh ts and s()unds (){ Times Square was fhe result. My reasoning for shooting on the diagonal was really qUlle simple: A diagonal line impilrts a sense of movement and speed, even when i/ is a sliil diagonal-for example, a ladder leilning against iI h()use. And smee I was panning in this case, I felt the resull would be an even bigger -rush, - a greater sense of movement and speed, when shot as a diagonal composition. 17-55mm lens, ISO lOa, 1/15 sec. al f/8

PANNING : 1/30, 1/15, l/S, AND 1/4 SEC. 63

OPPORTUNITIES TO PAN ore everywhere, bUI wher'!

il

reaUy

comes

10 fmd,ng an abundance of these photo ops, the city really IS king. From New York 10 San Francisco, London to Rome, Tokyo 10 SmgiJ~ ~ore. cilies are on the move, by day or by mgfll. And when you throw in ~ome ram. Ihe once monochromatIC ~Idewalk of pedestrians IS Irans formed mlo a flowmg fiver of colorful umbrellas. Here. I handheld my camera. sct II /0 1/30 sec.. and ~dlu5led myaperlUre unlll a correct txposure was IIId,caled al f/1 I. I then a,med al Ihe s,dewalk directly KroSS from me. replele Wllh colorlui newspaper slands, and followed /Ius humed gfOlJp 01 pedeslflans. ~he overall combmallon of color and movemenl creales an energized mage whose volume IS e.tra loud. In Image Ihal 's anylhmg bul qUIet.

JO-200mm lens. 150 100. 1/30 sec. II f/ll

64 SLOW SPEEOS

I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL WllOLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER

lalsolearnedearlyinmycareerthatlJustdon"thave wait for the bald eagle perched in the nearby collonwood Iree along Ihe Skagit River in Washington Siale 10 come swooping down and grab a clawful of salmon. Perhaps I suffer from ADD, but something else will fore~er grab myallention while wailing for a shot like Ihal-and when it comes to wildlife photography, you can't afford 10 miss such a shol/whlch I did because a nearby spiderweb distracted mel, However, when I came upon a flock of restless flammgos al the Smgapore Zoo, I had no trouble becoming a wildlife phologrilpher: From the relilxing conlines of a sundeck overlooking Ihe flilmmgos below, I was able 10 shoot ""U",I,;,,, U! ~u"'l'u"illu"" (/'''/ ""uw~"",,u /II"'" "" (/'''1 f/"w UV"" Tu
the patience

/0

7C-200mm lens, ISO 100. 1/4 sec. at f/22

61. SLOW SPEEDS

IN A MANNER

YPlr.Al of rhe Peterson famity, we decided at the last minute to head up to the French Alps, Chamonix to be exact, for several days of skiing. We had yet to ski Ih,s winter and although the calendar said one week until Easter, the clouds above the French Alps were stil/ pouring down snow as if il were Chnstmas, Allhough our firsl morning on the stopes was met With sunshine, an azure blue sky, and mild temperatures, It got progreSSIVely cloudy as the day wore on, until finally, the snow began to fan I had already removed my skis, thinking it was lime to assume the role as Ihe family photographer once again and gel some shots of the girls and my wife, Kathy, making what proved to be their final run down the mountain, They were hopeful of getting some simple snapshots; however, and much 10 Ihe chagrin of my family, I chose to shoot some "fine art" shots, /In retrospect, I should have laken the snapshots earlier thaI morning, bul hey, I wanted to ski, too-l My reasoning In going Ihe fine art route was simple: TIle light was all but gone, and we were approaching a whiteout due 10 the falling snow. With not mUCh lig hl and impending whiteoul condilions, what more could I do' So, with my camera In my cold bul steady hands, I zeroed In on my daughter Chloe, who was heading rtght for me, and Just as she veered 10 my lef/. I fired off several frames aI/he correct exposure of 1/4 sec., while also moving the camera in the same righHo-left direction she was traveling, 70-200mm lens, ISO 100, 1/4 sec.

SNOW TIP Here's an exposure tip for all you snow lo\'ers out there: If you're shoo t ing in the snow in any of t he automatic modes (Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Program, and so on), set your au toexposure o\'errides to +1 if it's a cloudy day and +2 if it's a sunny day. This will pre\'ent the often-seen underexposed, gray images of snow. Your camera's light meter think s t he world is a neutral gray color, and it "reads" everything base:! on that, But, the last place in t he world where you will find any neu· t ral gray is on the ski slopes, When the me:er is "hit" with all of that white, whether it's a cloudy day or a sunny one, it reacts in a "host ile" manner and serves up exposures that a re ei t her 1 or 2 stops underexposed, In o t her words, it can't stand to see any t hing that brigh t , and it will do its bes t to turn the snow into t he neutral gray tone it's familiar with So again, the solution for you au t oexposure junkies is to simply set the autoexposure override as described above. and if you're one of my manual exposure heroes, you don't need any advice.

PANN ING : 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, AND 1/4 SEC. 67

AS YOU MAY HAVE GATH ER E0 by now,

I'm a big fan of shooting down on

5I.Jblec/s, and when you live three stones above the street, every day seems to present somethmg new to photograph, This past Winter, we had one fair· 11 good snowfall wi/h b/lzzardlike condilrOns, and if wasn't long before I saw 5Omeone caught oul 10 II, I was quick to raise the camera 10 my eye, and wilh

my e~posure already sel to 1/8 sec.. I decided to try my hand al pannmg on a e'iagena/m the same downward direction as tile fal/mg snow. I got lucky with we of Ihe shots I made thai day. No doubt, liS an Image that conveys the tarshness of a wmter s/orm, and what really makes thiS message loud and dear are the many diagonal lines of falling snow. UnlJke the horizontal or I'E'rlJcal line. the diagonal /one JS filled With movement and speed. It never rests. it never tires, It '5 constantly on the move. and consJdenng Ihat we are 'Joking at snow/all. Jt feelS qUite bru/al and cold. lJikkor 17-55mm lens, ISO 100,

b8

SLOW SPEEOS

1/8 sec.

at 1/16

HAVE YOU EVE R BEEN CHASED

by iJ ferrwous dog while nding your bike or scooter? Are you one 01 Ihose dog owners

whose dog chases aller bikes and scooters? While shoollng one morning on Ihe Island of Sanlorln;' I was qu"kly adopted by ~veral wild dogs-an easy thmg to have happen when you offer them food. Shorlly after shooting j sunrise over severa! of Ihe whlte - and blue-domed ~inted churches. I found myself Sllling ar a small cafe SirUaled on Ih~ square-along With -my dogs. - It was a qUiet lime of day. but Within th"tymlnules. the square came alive With numerous scooter riders. Withoul fall. allhe sound of eiKh oncoming scooler. Ihe dogs would take olf running. apP<Jrenl/y Ihrllled at th~ prospect of mpping Ihe riders heels. Try as I mlgh! 10 gel my dogs 10 slop Ihls behaVior. Ihey made II clear. comp/ele With Ihe" snarls. Ihal Ihey were commilled 10 Ihls game and we hild no chance of sloppmg II. In Ihe Iradltlon of -if you can·I beal ·em.jom ·em. - I decided 10 try some panning shots as rile dogs chased every scooter. After aboulthlrty mmules. Ihe square was qUiet once again. and I learned from Ihe owner of Ihe Colle lllal most of Ihe scooter riders were Simply fishermen headmg off /0 work who were qUite accustomed to bemg ,t..,sed by these dogs. Seems Ihe dogs are forever adop/lng new owners WIth the amval of every plane or boatload flf lourlStS. and Ihls day Just hap~ned 10

be rhe day I got chosen. Alrhough I remamed on SiJnronfll for anolher three days. I never saw my dogs agam.

17-55mm lens. ISO 100, 11/5 sec. ar 1116

WHILE ON ASS IGNMENT

in the shipyards of Charlotte. Nortll Carolina. I had numerous opporlunilies 10 try my hano al panning, It proved 10 be quite a place of nonslop aclion as Ihree conramersh,ps arrived. al/ wilhin four hours. Those mighty cranes were hard al work. loading and unloading conlainer alter contamer. Of par/lcular nole w'tll the shot 10 the leflls that the panning molion was nol horizontal. The container was being lowered from the ship. so I panned moving downward. following its slow path 10 Ihe ground below.

70 SLOW SPEEDS

NOW HERE IS AN EXERCISE tflat I know can be fun, and you can do It without ever leaving your home. Spend an hour with your hand! While holding the camera with one hand. photograph your other hand at various slow shuller speeds such as 1115 or lie sec., and voila! You will be surprised at the results. Howabout your hand opening up the fridge? Your hand getting a beer? Your hand serving some cake or pie? Your hand playing air hock ey? Your hand pounding a nail? Your hand washing windows? Your hand painting the hause? The possibilities are endless. When you·re done thinking aboulthis exercise. if nothing else. you will at least be well versed in just how mUCh activ'ty your hands go through. In this example, ilfterchoosing some cherry tomatoes at the outdoor market. I followed my hand {panning once againl as it f/ewacrosslhe display of other veget(loies complele with money 10 pay the vendor. 12-24mm lens. ISO 100. 11/5sec. at 1116

PANNING: 1/30. 1/15. 1/8. AND 1/4 SEC. 73

IMPLYING MOTION-WITH ATRIPOD

hen t he camera remains stationary-usuall y on a firm support such as a tripod-and there are moving subjects within the composition.

W

the photographer is presented w ith the opportunity to imply motion. The resulting image will show the moving subject as a blur, whi le stationary objects in the composition are recorded in sharp detail. The list of potentia l moving subjects is long: Waterfalls, streams, crashing surf, planes, trains, au t omobiles, pedestrians. and joggers are but a few of the more

obvious ones , Some of the not so obvious include a hammer striking a nail , toast popping out of the toast er. hands knitting a sweater, coffee being poured from the pot, a ceiling fan, a merry-go-round, a seesaw, a dog shaking itself dry after a dip in t he lake, windblown hair, and even the wind blowing t hrough a field of wildflowers . Choosing the r ight shutter speed for many of these motion-filled opportunities is, oftentimes , a process of tr ial and error. It is here that, once again, the digital shooters have the advantage, since they can v iew instan t ly the results of the right or wrong choice in shutter speed on their LCD panel. Additionally, there are no film costs involved, so t his photographic trial and error costs not hing. There are certainly some general guidel ines to follow, and if nothi ng else, they can prove to be good starting points fo r many o f the motion- filled opportunities that abound. For example, a shutter speed of 1/2 sec. will definitely produce the cotton candy effect in waterfalls and st reams. A shutter speed of 1/4 sec. w ill make the hands that knit a sweater appear as if they're moving at a very high rate of speed. A 30 mph wind moving through a stand of fall-colored maple trees, coupled with a l-second shutter speed can render a composition of stark and sharply focused trunks and branches contrasted with wispy, wind-driven overlapping leaves.

74 SLO W SPEEOS

THE VALENSOlE PLAIN in France continues to be one of my favorite shooting locations in all of Europe. In late June ;.md early July. the air IS filled with the scent of hundreds of acres of lavender and thE sound f1f bUZZing bees, bees Ihat are far more in terested in the flower's scent than they ever migh t be interested in you. which is a relief for anyone who is aUergic to bees. On most any afternoon. the hot windS of the Valen5 0le Plain increase. and thus begins the dance with eac~ and every row of lavender. a da nce of long stems swnging left to right, righ t to left In the hot blowing wind I'ke a gospel reVIVal with a rms and clapping hands extended high. With my camera on a tripod an1 al flower level. I waited momentarily for the Wind to moderate a bit and fired off the first image {top} at f/II an d 1/250 sec. Next. I reached Into my filter wallet and f,,"st placed a 4-stop neutral-density INa} filter on my le~s. thereby cutting the light value do wn by 4 stops; then. I added my Nlkkor polarizing filler. culling down the Ilg.'11 value by another 2 stops. I readjusted my exposure for this 6·stop reduction In light. whICh meant I had an exposure of f/ll at 1/4 sec., but I stili wanted to set a longer exposure. so I stopped the lens down further to f/22 12 more stops}. />1y final exposure was f/22 for I second (bot/om). Opposite. top: 12-21.mm lens. tripod. 1/250 sec. at f/II; opposite. bottom: 12-24mm lens. "'pod. 1 second at f/22

To

ge'

WIth myapef1ufl!

record if corree'

VENICE. ITALY.

continues to be one of the most visited (Illes in all of Europe, ilnd the gondolils are, of course, one of t~ bigger ilttrilelions. Seldom, however, do I run inlo other pholographers who, like me, ilre out before sunrise shooting the many docked gondolas nwr PiillZii San Marco. As difficult as it is for some, getting up with the roosters does have ils rewards, not the least of which is having much of the world all to yourself. Of course, at this hour you will need a tripOd, since In aI/likelihood, whatever you choose to shoGI will require really slow shutter speeds. As you can see, the first exposure Ibelowl doesn't record a 10/ of move menl, and thiS has much 10 do With the exposure time of 1/8 sec, at f/8. However, Ihere was a [arye ferry coming inlo the scen~ from the left, which I knew would kick up quite a wake, ilnd shorlly after i~ passed, these same gondolas were dilncing illop the water's surface. So, I changed to a much longer exposure lime, again with the addition of my polarizing filter la 2'stop reduction of Ilghtl and by stopping the lens down further /left/. In both exposures. I initially took my reading off of ~he dusky blue morning sky by simply aiming the camera up above the gondolas. In the fl(st example, thaI meant that with my aperture set 10 f/8, I adjusted my shuller speed unlil 1/8 sec. indicated a correct exposure; m Ihe second exposure withlhe polarizing filler in place, I pOinted my cilmera to Ihe sky, slopped the lens down 10 f/22, and then adjusted Ihe shuller soeed dial until 4 seconds indicated a correa e!<posure, The result: We see and hear the "ghosts" of gondola operators and flders of years gone by, Below: 1/8 sec. at f/8; left: 4 seconds at f/22

IMPLYING MOTtON - WITH A TRIPOD 79

I was greefed ,11 fhe IrOn! door by my lwa d3ughlers and WJ/e. all of whom had large. precocIous grins on Ihelr laces. The grins were soon explamed when. a few minutes laler. I was greeled by Ihe new member of the famliy. Cosmo. Although Ilhought we had ali decided a few weeks earlier that gettmg a dog alth,s Ime was not a good Idea and Ihal when and" we did. we would gel a dog and not a -toy.· Cosmo had soon stoll!tl all our hearts. Cosmo enlOYS helllg out on the terrace. and one such mornlll!}. the WJnds were really strong. so every 50 often hiS ears appeared to be standing straight up. due to lhe wmd comIn!} up from the streets below. I was able to shoot several slow exposures WJth my Lelca O· WX 3. qUlle possibly the best dl!}l/al pom/-and·shool currently on the market. Wilh the ISO set at 100 and the camera sel in Aperture Priority mode. I was able fa fire off several frames at 115.6 and 1/30 sec.• which was perfect, as thiS exposure reglslered some sub/Ie blUrring 01 wind-whIpped ears, rendermg a port rail of Cosmo rhe flying Pekingese! LelCa O-LUX 3, ISO 100, 1/30 sec. .11 f15.6

FOR YEARS, STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHERS have used ordinary fans 10 brmg some "movement" 10 their fashion work. I/s a really simply idea, too. and deliMely an effective one if you wish to record an imar;e of sensuality and/or playfulness. The key to making a shot like this work is ro, ()nee again. use thf' righl ShUllf'r speed. Its also imporlant 10 ask the question "Do you w,wtlo freeze the action of thf' blowing wind in crisp sharp detail or showcase the wmdy conditions as a subrle soft blur?'" In this SImple yet efff'ctlvf' composition of my wife, I chose to shool at an action-stopping shUller speed of 1/250 sec. Using one monoligM placed inside a soltbox 0(( 10 her left {my righl/, I was able to determine with my Sekonic Flash Meter that an aperture of f/II was the correct exposure based on thf' five-foot distance of the flash to hI!( face and based on my choice m uSing ISO /00. With the fan only three feet away 10 her right {my lef/}, her long blonde hair was qUICkly blowing as if caught in a IS mph wind gust. Handholding my camera, I look a number of shots as the "wind- blew, and as you can see here, the blowing haIr has been captured in exacting sharpness across her fi/ce. 70- 200mm

len~,

1$0 lOa, 1/250 sec. II/ fill

IMPLYING

MOTION~W I TH

A TRIPOD 8 1

"PAINTING" WITH SHUTTER SPEED

ntil recently, the "ru le" of photography was to

U

keep the horizon line straight and, above all

else, make sure it's in focus. It was also unthink-

able for a photog rapher to deliberately handhold the

camera while using a very slow shutter speed. Those who did ventu re out of this "norm" were often scoffed

at because the resul t ing images were, of course, blurry and out of focus, and on more t han one occasion, the photographer was asked, "Were you drunk when you took that shot?" Fortunately, times have changed. and the idea of

"painting with a slow shutter speed" has been embraced. But, unlike panning, which is already challenging enough, painting with a slow shutter speed is a real hit-or-miss affair. When everything does come together, however. it is truly rewarding. (Have you

priced abstract art lately? Doing it yourself is not only cheaper, but since you "painted" it yourself. it's also that much more rewarding.) Painting with shutter speed is a simple technique, really. You simply set a correct exposure that wi ll allow you to use a shutter speed of 1/4 or 1/2 sec., and at the moment you press the shutter release. you twirl, arch, jiggle, or jerk the camera in an up-anddown or side-to-side or round-and -round motion. The challenge is in finding the right subject to paint. Just as Monet discovered with his brush and canvas, flower gardens continue to be the number one choice of photographers for painting with shutter speed, but don't overlook other compositional patterns as well , such as harbors, fruit and vegetable markets, and even the crowd in the stands at an NFL football game. Also. consider painting with shutter speed in low light, where shutter speeds can range from 2 to 8 seconds. The difference here is that your movements are slower than the quick and hurried movements just mentioned, and the resul t ing effect can mirror the work of an artist who uses a palette knife, as the exposure time builds up one layer upon another. Presto! An instant abstract painting.

82 SLOW SPEEDS

NOT MUCH IS REOUIREO

to create some truly eXCIting -abs tract paintings- with your camera other th;m a slow shuller speed and the willingness to pErhaps look foolish in the presence of (Jthers. When you ilre defying all the -laws" 01 photography. strangers stop momentarily. as they find it odd to see you jiggling. spinning. jerking. or turning your camerll while pressing the shuuer release. They can 't for the life of themselves understand what on earlh you could possibly be so happy about. You might even. perhaps. give the Impression that you suffer from a nerve disorder. which would no doubt account for why you can't hold the camera steady. But do you real!y care' In a large w(J(Jden planler righl In fro.,t Df Ivar"s Seaf(Jod Restaurlln! on Seallle's Pier 54. a lon~ sumac tree was sho wing eVidence that autumn had amved. The first expo" sure of f/8 for 1/60 sec . resulted in just another rather mundane shot of fall color. but when I selthe exposure to a much slower shuller speed-f/22 for 1/8 sec.-and then lired the shuller release a number 01 times while making Circular motions With the camera. Ihe results were any" thing but. The swaths of color are reminiscent of the worK of an artist applying pain! with a palette knife. Opposite. lop; Nlkkor 12-24mm lens. ISO WO, 1/60 sec. al fl8; opposile. bollom: Nikkor 12-24mm lens. fSO 100. 1/8 sec. al f/22

FOllOWING A HARSH

and cold wmter, Ih!s roadside flower bed in the heart 01 Lyon. France. provgJed a welcome remmder that spring had amved. Standmg over a portion of Ihe 1I0wer bed and shOOlmg down w,:h my camera and t2-24mm lens revealed a most !nterest mg and energy-filled compOS'llOn thai was remmfscent of those l!meS I wenllo the county fair m my ycu/h. where I would gladly pay the man 25 cents for a wh!le p.ece of paper on wnch I would sqUIrt vanous colored pamt! and Ihen have 11 spun around for seW!r;.1 seconds to reveal a kaleodoscope of colors. So how dId I do II?!(S a rather simple technoque. but you'lI want to call on your w!de-angle zooms f,rsl and foremosland your polanzmg filter and/or a 3- or ' -slap neutral-densllyfiller. You are callmg up these Iwo f!,lerS pnmanly 10 decrease Ihe mlenSfry of Ihe Ilghl. Ihus allowm!1 you to use swwer·than -normal shulter speeds while st,/I mamlammg a correct exposure. And so. WIth my t2-2'mm lens set 10 a focal length of t2mm and htted w,th J '-slop ND filler, I was able to set a correct exposure 011/1 t lor 1/4 sec., and as I ~ressed the shutler release. I dId Ihe followmg: I rotated the camera m a rrghHo-left circular mollon. as !f drawmg a c,rcle, and at Ihe s ame Ifme. WIth my lefl hane. I zoomed the lens from 12mm 10 24mm iOPpoSlte. top}. And keep m mmd thaI all cf th,s look place m 1/' sec .. so you are ni/hllo assume that you must be qu'le fasl on lurnong the camera on thai CIrcular mO:lon and zoommg at the same tIme. In companson. With the next shot I was able to slo w dow~ a b!t as I repeated the same mDves, be,~use I had changed my exposure from f/ll for 1/' sec. to //22 for I second /opposile. bottomJ. Dr course. Ihe chOice is yours. but clearly. the splfal effect that resulls leaves a bl/ more definition in the flowers at 1/1. sec. than al I second. OPPOsite. top: 12-21.mm lens al 12mm. ISO 100. 1/' sec. al f/1 I; oPPoslIe. bottom: 12-21.mm lens. ISO tGO. 1 second all/22

810 SLOW SPEEOS

FOR SOME PEOPLE.

walls and doorYllays covere~ with gr
80 SLOW SPEEDS

FOR ME -HE FAll OF 2006 proved to be one of rhe most colorfullhat rve ever witnessed and photographed in the southwest comer of Maine. My stu dents and I had just returned to the parking lot from a short morning hike in the mountams, feeling quile satisfied with what we had already photQgraphed, Thai feeling of accomplishment can be quite dangerous lor us photographers, as a sense 01 complacency is usually no/ far behind, Even when one of the students called everyone 's allention 10 -the most colorful tree I have ever seen, - most of us looked and simply shruggf>d our shoulders, mdilferenl /0 what I, 100, agreed was in fact the most colorful tree I had ever seen. -, have enough leaf shots, - said one studen/. -I have enough tree shots,said another. Clearly all but one of the students were feeling fulfilled at that momen/. As I watched this student point her camera up toward the backlit branches, isolating several leaves and shooting them against the deep blue sJ
as

SLOW SPEEDS

MANY OF EUROPE 'S BACK ROADS

and meadows tum into carpets of red during the early part 01 Nay thanks to Ihe perennial blooms of the red poppy. In lact, up in the north of France, near UUe and as far east as Strasbourg, you can see acres upon acres of red fields. I broughl my car to a ~udden stop when I rounded a corner on a small count,y road alter haVing just passed a lone farmhouse w/lose entire yardfront. back, and sides-was rich ;n tall green grass and red poppies. Alrer a quick knock on the door and receiving permission to take pictures on the property. I was soon immersed behind camera and lens. Of the many expo sures I hoped to shoot Ihat morning. motion-filled shots were high on my list. From the frontlit Side of the house, I made Ihis exposure of a rather ho -hum, somewhat static composition (teW, bul il possessed all the Ingredients needed /0 make a wonderful abs/rac/ rendering of line. color, and te1ture. Alii had to do was shoot i t at a much slower exposure while simply moving the camera In a steady upward flow. I made the first exposure aliSO 100 and f/ll for 1/250 sec. I made the second using both a Nikkor polarizing filter and my 4-stop NO IiIter. which resulted in a light loss of 6 stops. To recover these 6 stops, I simply readjusted my shutter speed from 1/250 /0 1/125 to 1/60 to 1/30 to 1/15 to 1/8 to 1/4 sec., where once again my meter indicated a correct exposure. However, I stopped Ihe lens down furlher by 1 f,JlI stop to f/I6. which meant I now needed again 10 double my exposure time from 1/4 sec 10 1/2 sec. In order to return /0 a correct e1posure. I Ihen pressed rhe shutter release and simply moved the camera upward in a very smooth flow, resultmg in !he streaks of color and lexture that you see opposite. Lefl: 12- 24mm lens, ISO 100, 1/25Q sec. al f/11: oppo site: 12-24mm lens, polariling filter, 4-stop NO filter, ISO 100, 1/2 sec. al (/16

90 SLOW SPEEDS

SIMPLY ZOOMING

s we've just discovered, there are a number o f ways to bring life and movement to otherwise stationary subjects, yet I haven't t ouched on the

A

si mple and well-proven method of what I call " waking up the dead " via a simple twist o r push/pull of the 200m lens. Tripod o r no tripod, the choice is yours.

Personally. I prefer to use t he t ripod for simple zooms, as it results in a cleaner image. And, just as with those spinning or jerking images for whic h you w ill find no lack of subjects. finding photographic subjects t o zoom is just as easy.

WHILE TEACHING

i3 rainy and windy San

Francisco workshop a few years back. one of several umbrellas died, but before ref'fl ng if to the garwge can, I decided /0 play with iI, /0 brmg it back from the dead, so to s peak, I Ihre w II do wn on the parking 101 asphalt near a large wh ite dl(eClionill marker ilnd soon was shoo ling several SlOw exposures while zooming with the camera on tripod. Iset my aperture to fill and adjusted my shutter speed until 114 sec. In dicated a correct expo sure. As soon as I pressed the shutler release, I turned the zoom ring from 35mm to 70mm, and after making about twenty attempts, I fell confident that I had two or three thai dId, In fac t, breathe new Me Into thIS once-dead umbrella.

Opposite: 35-70mm lens, polariZing filter, tripod, ISO lOa, 1/4 sec. at fill

92 SLO W SPEEDS

BASED DN MY II MITE D EX? ERIENCE

with the Sf. Patricks Day Parade in New York City, 1/ seems like a great excuse to hear some really fine Irish music, to feel a sense of pride as some of New York's finest march down Fifth Avenue, and, of course, to consume enough beer that if beer were an ocean, all the ships at sea would find them selves on the ocean floor by the end of the day. The most recent 51. Patricks Day Parade I attended was a very cold one. Six Inches of snow nad fallen the flight before, and the daytime temperature never got above freeZing-ali the more reason to keep the beer flowing, as many of Ihe spectalors found themselves au/side on the sidewalks in lronl of bars big and small. At around 64th Street Imd Fillh Avenue, I managed to find an aU-but-empty private grandstand and mounted the slippery aluminum steps, ending up at Ihe top row, which provided me with a slight 'aerial" view of the parade going by on the street below. As each group of police officers, firefighters, marines, and marching bands walked on by, I made il a POint to pan in a right -to -Ielt dlreCllOn at a slow shutter speed { 112 sed while at the same time looming f"Iy 70-200mm lens. Of note in these images are the patterns formed by the colors and shapes, Pattern. one of the el€ments of design, IS nothing more than a repeat of a Single parr of a subject across the frame, but much In the same way someone turns up Ihe radio full biaSi, this repetitive design, in effect, turns up the volume considerably, When shooting zoomed exposures, its best to begin any composition you wish to zoom by framing it first With rhe widest angle of any given zoom and then zoom toward rhe longer end, So, for example, you begin With 17mm and loom to 35mm or begin With 18mm and loom to 55mm or begin wilh 70mm and zoom to 300mm, rhis effect w ill produce Ihe desired results but not without practice. Don't be disappointed if your first few allempts don't measure up. You are either zooming too last or too slow, but as with any other new technique, you Will 500,1 learn Ihe rhythm reqUired to make every loom shot a success. Both photos; Nikkor 70- 200m lens, ~-SIOp ND liller. ISO 100,

1/2 sec. ,11 1122

SIMPLY ZOOMING 9!j

I HAVE A COHFESSIOH TO MAKE. Severar years ago, aller spending no more than two hours at the Louvre if! Paris, I began 10 gel/fuly bored. /1 can hear the gasps from some of

you./ To be fair, I do love looking al

arl, but I am far more consumed wilh a

passio~

for image-making,

and after looking at the many, many beau/iful work. of many well- and lesser-known artists. I had Simply had enough. I felt the need 10 shoot

somllthing. 10 create something. /0 make an image of juS! about any-

thing. I just haa 10 hear the sound o( my shutler opening and closing. yel there I was wilh my wife and kids, who honeslly seemed to be really

enjoying themselves. Oh my, whal"s a father and husband 10 do
like Ihis? Of wurse! Use the old

"res/room - exc~se. With an ilgreemcnt 10 meet up in about twerlty minutes. I took off With my camera. Wi!hin minutes. I found myself back rlear the main entrance. where. it seemed to me. a lot of other bored people were standing arourld. With both elbows propped up on the circular railing arid with my aperture set to f/II. I was able to record an e' posure lime of 1/2 sec. ThiS proved plenty long enough to simply loom my 11-55mm from 17mm to 55~m. arid voila-that once·bored-Iookirlg crowd of people was now full of erlergy. myself irlcluded! My photographiC spint had. once again. been renewed. 11-55mm lens. ISO 100.

1/2 sec. at

f/11

SIMPLY ZOOMING 97

THE ZOOMING TECHNIQUE

15 olten done by the widest angle to the narrowest angle In a fluid. smooth. nonstop mOlion. However. there is another ~oom technique you may wan! to conSider when shootmg long exposures. such as those of 4. a. or 16 seconds. Take a look al these two images of Ihe Space Needle taken from Oueen Anne HIli overlookmg downtown Seattle. The first eXiJmple Iteft/ 's iJ -simple- loom: WI/h my cameriJ iJnd 70-200mm lens mounted on tripod iJnd my exposure set iJl (/16 for a seconds. I fIred I~e shutter release and slowly begiJn to turn 10 the loom from ItS mllliJl focal length of 120mm toward 200mm over Ihe course of that a-second expor.ure. The resull 's thallhe Space Ne€dle and surnwndmg build'ngs appear to have -exploded. In the second example {oppos'te/. I chose 10 do somelh'ng a btl d,fferen!. somethmg you can eas,'y do when shoot'ng ony long exposure when Ihe mam subjects are stallOnary. J Ihought II would be mlerestmg 10 see whal would happen If I made Ihree separate exposures at Ihree dlfferenl focal lenglhs of Ihls same scene m Jusl one Image. With myexposure 01 1/16 for a seconds. J (lfed Ihe shutter release and waited 2 stN::onds while Ihe exposure was recording the scene at 120mm: then I carefully and quickly loom~d 10 160mm and counted 2 seconds; and hnaUy. I again carefully and qUICkly loomed to 200rrlm and wailed for the exposure lime to close. As you can see m Ih,s example. 1/ IS still a -~·Jom shot. - but II'S much "cleaner. "

~oommglrom

BOlh photos: 70-200mm lens. If/pod. 8 seconds al f/16

98 SLOW SPEEDS

SINCE IT'S STRONG tNOUGH toholdmyNikonD2Xandfisheye lens. I mounted the Bogen Magic Arm on the handle of a shopping cart and aI/ached my two-foot cable release. As my wife 's friend Catherine pushed her daughter. Vicloria. through l~e aisles of the grocery store. I nonchalantly tripped the shutter with my cable release. With my camera set 10 ISO 100 and Aperture fJ"o"'y mode, Iiound IMt when sellmg the aperture to f/16. rhe shuller speed reg,slered a 1/2 sec. exposure. Also. Since I was shooling under fluorescent "gh/ing. I set my white biltance {WB} /0 Fluorescent. Then I focused on Victoria and. agam. merely topped Ihe shuller with my cable releilse as Catherine pushed the cilrt. Nikkor full-frame 14mm fish-eye lens. ISO 100. 1/2 sec. al 1/16

-

---

-

-

..'-

ATTACHING THE CAMERA TO

he g reat fo lk s a t Bogen make a host o f fanta stic

T

tripo d s. but they also make a bunch o f acces-

sories that allow you to put a camera just about

anywhere you can imagine. One of my favo rite gad-

g ets of theirs is called the Bogen Mag ic Arm, which at it s fulle st extension is about twen t y-fou r inc hes. Another is Bogen's suction-cup d amp that in many

•

-'f.l~:-_._

•

ways is akin to a plunger. It sti cks so well that it could give Super Glue a run fo r its money. With the

"plunger" you can p lace your camera on any smooth surface, including wall s, ceilings. and hoods of cars as they speed through tunnels (see page 102), Then there is the Bo gen Super Clamp. a really cool device that will allow you to attach your ca mera to most anything-skateboards, bic ycles, a t ennis racket, a putter-and record images fro m new p oi nt s o f view that w ill have your aud ience asking for m o re.

FOLLOWI NGPAG E I used a dolly with a handle. something lIke a hand truck. to take rh,s shot 01 a careless Rolierblader speeding through the 5tf!'!ets 01 Lyon, knock Ing over pedestrhlns along the way. I Wl S nowhere near thIS guy but, rather, was abou t ten feel to hIS left, running parallel to him ashe pus hed the dolly along the streets. So, where was the camera, and h01l1 dId I fire Ihe shu/ ler release ? The camera was mounted to IIle liar surface of rhe dolly WIth another favonte /001 of mine, the Bogen Super Clamp. It was loclled In place a,d faCing the feet of the RoUerblader. Since I was uSing a fecal length of 17mm, I was assured o{ recording a very wide angle of VIew. In add" tlon. 1had a Mllon radIO recewer mourted on the camera s hot shoe, and as I ran, I tnggered II ,."th the Mllon radIO sending umt I was holdmg, whIch fired rhe shutter each time I pressed the sending uml's bul/on. Since I couldn't control the elrposlJ'e, Ileftlhe camera In Aperture PrlOflly mode and sel rhe aperlure to 1/22. knowmg Ih"' l he smal/.,51.Jpolrlul .. wu"td fUfCe Ihe sloweSI possible shutter speed. Of the more than SIl
ATTACHtN G THE CANERA TO ..

10 1

THE BOGEN MAG ICARM . mcom bm~llon willi I'll' Super Clamp, opens tile door" lIundreds of pas SlbilllleS for new and never-beforeseen photographs. II your subjecl mo~es. you can ~ow show Ihe world how II mo~l's. 00 you wan! 10 lake a pholo Ihal's guaranleed 10 sweep your audience off its leel? Attach your camera to a broom and voIla : a broom'S-eye view 01 Ihe slreels 01 Lyon. As you can see In Ihe selUp left. I aI/ached the MagIC Arm to the handle of the broom. along WJth the camer~ ~nd my frsh·eye lens. I had already prelocused Ihe lens; at limes IlkI' these. you do nOI use autolocus but I~ste~d prrlfocus the camera on Ihl' parr 01 Ihe scene Ihal you WJsh 10 reco;d In sharp focus. In Ihls case. and 5JIlce thiS IS a view 01 the world as settl thrrwgh the eyes of Ihe broom, I c'tose to locus on fhe broom liself. Once my focus was sel and WIth the omera In Aperture Priority mode. I SJmply ad,usted the aperture. stopping down untJ/ 1/4 sec. was indica/I'd ~s a correcl exposure. I ha d delermmed from prior experience ih~1 1/4 sec. eaSily pn1Vldes the bll¥red-motJM effect I was seek mg. With Ihe broom handle m my lefl hand, I fIred the shul/er release wllh my fight hand while mailing gentle sweeps across the narrow street.

Fish-eye lens, ISO 100.

f/ll

101. SLOW SPEEDS

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....,-. . .-----

:. ...

't' 1 I" HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE J SilW the movie Jacob·s Ladder. about il Vietnilm vel caught between life and dealh. I reilllyenJoyed il. and il was also durmg that movie that an Idea came to me thaI. more than ten yeilfS laler, J flnal/y fOund the time and 10015 to creale. If you·ve seen the movie. you·1I no doubt recall Ihe somewhal ghoullsh-Iookmg characters that would show their faces on subways and 10 cars. I wanted 10 fe-create this idea while drivillg a car through a tunnel 10 France. With a Bogen Super Suc/lon Cup land boy, do they mean super suction/. I was able 10 mount my camera and fish-eye lens on the hood of my (fiend PMI,pe·s car labove/. mtent on hnng off a number of exposures as we drove I~rough severa/long tunnels. I was the passenger and Phillipe was driving. Of course I wanted 10 record if sense 01 motion, which meant I would need a slow shuller 5pced of at leasl 1/2 sec., I( not' second. And 10 order to delermme what aperlure I would need to use al these speeds, I needed to t~ke a meter readmg under a Ilghtmg condilion thaI would be Similar to the IIghl 10 the tunnel, Gellmg Ihal meIer readmg actually proved ralher eilsy: VIe (,r51 drove through Ihe tunnel Wlthoutlhe camera mounted Oftlhe car; ( opened the sunroof. stood up through II. and shot down onto the hood 01 the CIIrlo ,ake a meterreadmg. With ISO looand Aperture Pnofitymode.1 found t/lilt f/8 got me a correct exposure With lIZ sec., and at f/II, the correct ellp05ure was I second. After /hls 'irsl trip Ihrough the tunnel. we ultedand puUed off to the Side of the road. With the bnght Intenor dome {Ight on mSIde tne car, I took. another readmg of Ptllillpe·s face and discovered that at 1/1 I I ClIuld also gel a correct exposure at 1 second. I had the 'numbers. - and now we were all set. I chose to leave Ihe camera m Aperture Priority mode. rather than in manual. knowmg Ihat" J set the aperture to 1/1 Ithe camera would record a ClIrrect exposure somewhere in the neighborhood of I second. depending on the varying degrees of bflghtness as we drove through the tunnel. So, wl/h the camera 10 Aperture PrIOfity mode. the lens set to t/l I and pomled at us. iNld wllh the Nikon remOle receIVer mounted to the camera. we were ready to begm our Journey through several long tunnels-but no/ before donnmg ourghoullsh masks. I wanled Ih,s 10 be a "ghoulish dream" kmd ot photo. As we drove through the tunnels, I Simply (/fed the Cilmera from inside Ihe car wllh the Mkon remote sendmg UM. After makmg several /ripS through the tunnels. we pulled over. and I began a qUICk reVIew of the Images made so far. Two things were Immediately apparent: Mosl of Ihe exposures were spot on, but Phillipe and I were if bit too blurry III most of Ihe shots. /I was clear that we needed to sell/e oown. temper our e~cltement. and Sit as stili as poSSible. So, off we drove OIICe more. donnmg our masks. I am pleased 10 Sily Ihatlh,s last /lllllhrough Ihe tunnel proved 10 be the test of all. And lust a nOle: Phill/pes car is actually light blue. Once InSide t~e tunnel. II recorded an odd bronze cast thai no amount of Photoshop could repair. While trylllg 10 recover the light blue color m the computer. I c.:Ime across Ihls wild purple c%r, and the more I viewed it. the more I "ked II. so a purple car It IS! Th,s color was Ihe result of playmu With both the Color Balance and Hue!Saturalion controls in Photoshop. 17~ 55mm

lens, ISO 100. I second all/I I

106 SLOW SPEEDS

.~

DUSK AND LOW LIGHT: 1 SECOND AND BEYOND

here seems to be this unwritten rule that before

T

and after the sun goes down. And the rewards far outweigh the sacr ifices . If it's your goal to record com-

today are t he same three reasons I hea rd years ago:

imagery abounds. With a li t t le planning and a little fo rethought, you can soon find yourself in countless locations to shoot some shows topping exposures.

the sun comes up o r after t he sun goes down it's really not possib le for most shooters t o get any

good pictures. The three reasons for this that I hear (1) "There is not enough light," (2) "You need one of

t he more expensive cameras, don't you?" or (3) "I don't know how to get a meter reading." But as the images in this sect ion will show, there is always

enough light, and getting a meter reading couldn't be easier, as I will explain to you. Truth be told, I'm convinced that the real reason most photographers don't

venture out at nigh t to shoot is because shooting at these hours of the day can interfere with one's lifestyle (just ask my wife and k ids!).

Low-light and night photography do pose special challenges, not the least of which is using a tripod (assuming, of course, t hat you want to record exacting sharpness) and some degree of mathematical sl
pelling imagery-and it should be-then low-light and night photography are two areas in w h ich compelling

Once you've arrived at a given location a.,d conclude that this is where you will set up, the only Question that remains is how to set the exposure for t he upcoming "light show." W ith the sophistication of today 's cameras and their h ighly sens itive light meters, getting a correc t exposure is commonplace, even in the dimmest of light. Yet t his is an area in which many photographers often find themselves under a cloud of confusion: "Where should I take my meter reading from? How long should my exposure be? Should I use any filters? " In my years o f experience in taking meter readings, t here is nothing better nor more consis t ent than taking a meter reading off of the sky-whet her I'm shooting backlight, frontlight, or sidelight, o r whether I'm shoot ing the fi rst light of dawn or t he last remnants of light at dusk. What should my exposure be when shooting in low light or at night? Now, tha t 's a really good Quest ion, but by now, you should know the answer or feel a lot closer to being able to answer it. Your exposure will be based on the ve ry same principles of c reative exposure as we've been discussing throughout this

ing, " My friends are waiting for me back at the car." Make photographer friends who will gladly join you on t l-e shoot. "!'m all alone and don 't feel sa fe." Again,

book. Does the scene presen t any motion-filled opportuni t ies, or are you simply shooting a classic skyline of some city, large or small? Either way, the

make photog raphers your friends, or join a camera club. "I don't have a tripod." Buy one! In both my on-location workshops and online courses, students Quickly learn just how much photo-

principles of metering and where to take a meter reading from are the same, but if there's motion involved (such as t he flow of traffic), then you do have

graphic opportunity exists before the sun comes up

flow of traffic as fluid streaks of color.

108 SLOW SPEEDS

the option of setting an exposure that will render that

WHAT BETTER PLACE to try your hand al nighttime exposures Ihan the greatest city on earth, New York! And its a simple exposure, too! Wllh my camera on a tripoci, I raised the camera to the dus~y, partially cloudy sky above /lopJ and adjusted my shurrer speed unlil2 seconds indicatf.'d a correct exposure. I thf.'n recomposed the scene, fired the shurrer release. and, just like that. had my dusky nighttime exposure of thf.' Big Apple. Since this scene didn 't presenl any real motion-filled subjects. it wasn't necessary Ie Increase my exposure tim!! /onqf.'r than 2 seconds. I've often caught my students shootinq an exposure like this with apertures of f/22 and shurrerspeeds of 15 sf.'conds; whf.'n questioned about the logic behind such a long exposure, they are hardpressed to give an answer, since the ·same" exposure can be achieved at larger apertures /f/8/ and shorler shuller speeds /2 seconds} in the absence of any motion-filled opportunities, This is something 10 keep in mind, especially If you find yourself Qut shooting dusky scenes such as this in temperatures telow freezing. 17·55mm lens, tripod, ISO lOa. 2 seconds at f/8

DUSK AND LOW LIGHT : 1 SECOND AND BEYOND 109

FOR SOME YEARS NOW. IhecJlyofLyon has been holding the Filte d~s

Lumleres festival every December. pdrlly in honor of Ihe

L~miere

brothers {who are responsible for the birth of film, as in 'going 10 the moviCs-J, and MIi' main al/raction Is Ihl.' largest Ferris whl.'l.'l on Ihl.' European continent, which arrives every year from Germany. Wllh my camera on a tripod and my aperture ser 10 til I, I simply adjusted my shutter speed until 4 seconds indICated a correct e"P(]sure off (]{ Ihe dusky blue I(] Ihe len of Ihe Ferris wiled. Basically, I metered this scene off of Ille dusky blue sky, just as I did fa." the New 'fork City skyline on pages 2-3. Smce it wouldn't make any sensl.' to shoot a 4-second I.'xposurl.' if Ihe ridl.' was not moving, I waited a few minutes for it 10 fill up wilh people, and soon it was m3kmg rl.'vo/ulion aftl.'r revolUlion. 7C-20amm lens, tripod, ISO laa, " seconds al fill

So, for example, if you wish to shoot a simple exposure (and I really do mean simple) of a city skyline in manual exposure mode, set your aperture to fiB, raise the camera to the dusky sky above the cityscape or landscape, adjust your shutter speed until a correct exposure is indicated, and then return to your composition and press the shutter release. It's important to note that it's entirely possible that once you return to your compOSition, after you've set the manual exposure, your meter may indicate an underexposure, but just ignore it and shoot. The underexposure indicated is in response to what the meter sees as dark buildings, but in this case, the meter has been fooled. as the buildings really are not all that dark.

110 SLOW SPEEDS

If you prefer to shoot scenes like this in some kind of auto (Aperture Priority mode, for example), again set the aperture to f/8, and while pointing your cam· era to the dusky sky, hold your exposure-lock button and then recompose and shoot. The exposure lock will "save" the exposure for the dusky sky, so when you shoot, it will be at the dusky exposure. Chances are, in either case. and with ISO 100, f/8 will render an exposure time of about 2 or 4 seconds. If you are, in fact. shooting a motion-filled scene, set your aperture to at least f/11, if not f/16, which in turn will increase your exposure time to 8 to 16 seconds, The longer the exposure time, the greater the amount of motion recorded in the image.

SAN FRAN eIseo IS A eITY that many would swear is the only city worth bragging about, but lor me, It WIll always be a city Ihall could never qUIte gel my head around. Don't gel me wrong. I find San Francisco 10 be a pholographers paradise; but Ify as I mIght. mc/udlng Iwmg there. I could never embrace It as a cIty thaI I could call home. fm sure II WlU be one of Ihose otles that even If I were 10 love Ihere again. I would sIll/feel Ihal I was only a I'lSJtor. SIIII. from atop the sleep meline on Treasure Island. a truly magnificent l1ewof the Cllyawal/s. For my firsl al/empt WIth my Inpod-mounted camera and 7O-2OOmm lens {belowl, I chose an aperture of 1/1 I, and Wllh my cam· era pom/ed mlo the dusky blue sky to the right of the bridge. I adjusted my shuller speed until' seconds mdICated a correa exposure. At this slow shuller speed, I was able to record Ihe slow but steady flow of Iraffic headIng mto the C,ly by the Bay.

114 SLOW SPEEDS

f was nol done. however. One of the many realizations my students come 10 m my on-Iocallon workshops IS that many of their wonrlerful compoSitions do m fact have additional photographic opportunities inside the Irame. So. as Idyl'" as I/IIS scene of San FranCISCo is. I knew there...as s/lll alleas/ one olher dynamiC ,mage 10 be made; an Image thaI was pnmari/ydevoled 10 the strong graphiC elements of Ime and color: I switched 10 mj200-'OOmm lens.
10 CAPTURE THIS '-GHOST.

I found myself going inro the ·cave'· of my own apartment buMing. With my tripodmounted camera set to ISO 100 and my 12-24mm lens, I set up the compositon you see here, and with the aperture set to fl8, I adjusted my shutter speed until 8 seconds mdicated a correct exposure , Ghosts are shy by nature, and i"ve found that it takes about 8 seconds for them to reveal Ihemselves to you, Its Important that you stand very still, too, since any disturbance to the air could cause the ghost to flee. Of course, whether you believe in ghosts or not is nol ,mporlanr; bul if you do believe thallhis kind of time exposure is fun, then yOU'll be interested in learning just how easy il is.

The idea for Ih,s shot was originally born after both of my daughters had watched the movie The Ring. When I told Chloe ~nd Sophiq how e~sy il was /0 make your Own ghosts, th"y. of course, were ,,/I o"r~. "nd it w"s Sophio who won Ihe coin lOSS 10 play the role of Ihe ghost. Outfilted with a white dress and no shoes, Sophie s,mply stood in the dirt floor hallway of the ·cave." She stood in that same spot. holding perfeclly still, for the first 4 seconds of my 8-second exposure. Then, at Ihe end of 4 seconds, she bolted ou t of Ihe pic ture, to her left, in fact , where there was ana/her short hallway. Smce she was only m Ihe shot for half of Ihe exposure lime, she recorded only as a transparent. ghostlike subject. Pretty neat, eh' i2-24mm lens, tripod, ISO 100, 8 seconds al f/8

116 SLOW SPEEOS

PHOTOGRAPHING GHOSTS AND ANGELS

THERE ARE BUT TWO IMAGES

in

Ihis book for which the use of Ph%shop was pivotal to fhe success of the image. The first is Ihe

image on pages 22-23 in which I not only placed a different sky in the shot but also altered the overall color of the Image, making it pre dominately blue. The umbrella

appeared exactly as you see il. On command, one of my students threw it in Ihe air, and Ihe strong wind carfled II forward into the composition.

slarWng some of the pigeons of Piazza San Marco into flight. fTo

stop aC/ion. I shot OIl 1/500 sed The second image making obvious use of Photos/!op is Ihis one of

my angel. Kathy, which three

Images

IS

actually

assembled

masked logether.

and

Whars most

importanl, however, is Ihal the suc -

cess 0/ all three of Ihe images used relied on my getting Ihe e~posure right in camera and on my ca(llng upon the correct and most creative shutter speed. First and fOrl!most I needed the perfect clovd shot, which I took from my airplane window seal, holding my camera fight

ow do you photograph ghosts and angels?

H

Fi rst. it's critically important that you believe in

both. quite tricky many. Once one or the

Second, photographing either Can be but the rewards that await you wil l be word gets out that you've photographed other, you'll soon be featured on the

Dicovery Channel, perhaps A&E, and for su re, you stand a great chance of having your photographs pub lished on the cover of the National Enquirer. Are you ready to go ghost and angel hunting? Let's go! The first place to go looking for ghosts, of course, is old Victorian-style homes, particularly those in the New England area. Since you can only see ghosts at night, that means long exposures and bringing your tripod. When it comes to seeking out angels, you must bring along an ordinary house fan (which also means you need a small gas-powered generator or a long extension cord if you choose to shoot your angel outside); this is because angels are only made visible by the subtle wind that blows across their heavenly bodies, And, to capture the subtlety of this wind, shutter speeds of 1/4 sec. are the norm.

up to the window; using Aperture Pnority mode, I adjusted the aperture until '/Sao sec. indicated a correct exposure . For the second image, I rented a small gas-powered generator that let me use two portable house fans 10 proVide the wind effect. J had Kathy stand up on a white chair in the middle of a plowed field with both fans on the ground poinring up at her Since I wanted to record some subtle blurring m her hair and gown, I used a slower shutter speed of 1/4 sec. And final/y, il was on a trip In Tampa, Flonda, thai I shot a number of 5ho~ bircls flyinr;; low overheitd itt the ac/ion-Slopping shutter speed 01

1/500 sec. Combming all three pho -

tos

with the help of Layer Masks in

Pholoshop allowed me to produce this one-of-a-kind fantasy Image you see to the right.

117

WB ISSUES

am o ft en asked abo ut white balanc e (WB) when

I

shoot ing dig itall y, and I have fin ally concluded that

leaving my WB set to Cloudy for 99 percent of my shooting suit s me ju st fine. Th e Cloudy setting simply warms up eve ry image by adding red to t he overall scene. Red translates into a warmer, more inv iting

image. If your camera doesn't offer a Cloudy setting, but rather setting s for Kelvin temperature, set t he WB

to 5,900 K. Of course, you may not like us ing Cloudy, but more important . WB and W8 settings are an often-overrat-

ed t opic. If you are li ke most digital shooters ou t t here and shooting in raw format, you can always change your WB t o any color temperature you wish. But if you insist on sho ot ing JPEGs. then I would sti ll strongly suggest tha t you consider setting your WB to Cloudy, especiall y since m ost photographers who shoot primarily in JPEG forma t are also photographer s who don 't ordinarily shoot in t he early morning or lat e afte rnoon; adding w a rmth to muc h of your midday photography will only help the ove rall look and feel.

120 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

EVE N THOUGH I do have my WB setto Cloudy, because I shoot in ra w fOrmal, I also have the liberty to change my WB, and about the only time I have found this useful is when shooling lime exposures, particulariy city scenes. Sometimes. / find that a Oy skyUne is more appealing when irs seen and printed in ils -origmal slate. - The Kelvin temperature 01 Cily scenes and dusky blue sky are actually around 3,200 K. and when the camera is set to Cloudy {5,900 KI, the resuUmg ,mage ,s much warmer than the truer, cooler. and bluer 3.200 K. In these two examples of the Seattle skyline, the original image ftop! is warmer /5.900 KI. while the other ,s much cooler f3.200 KJ. Thal"s the only difference between Ihe two. Again. if you·re shooting raw and if you normally shoot your cily scenes around 5.201J K to 6,000 K. consider going down to the much coorer temperature of 3,200 K. The results m'ght be just exciting enough to turn a ho-hum cityscape into a real ;howstopper. Opposite, top: 17-55mm lens. '''pod, ISO 100. 4 seconds al I/n, 5,900 K; opposile. bo/tor:'!: 17-5Smm lens. tripod, ISO 100, 4 seconds at 1/11. 3.200 K

I SHOT THE IMAGE to tile left /in tile Valensole Plain 01 Provence. France! willi Ille Cloudy wllite balance selling. The image above shows Ihe same image with the white balance selling changed to Aulo in Photoshop. The Cloudy version is dearly Ihe warmer of the two photographs. Both photos: Nilwn D2X. Nikkor 12- 24mm

lens.

polariZing

filter. 1/30 sec. <111/16

we

ISSUES

123

LONG EXPOSURES AND REAR CURTAIN FLASH SYNC

magine setting up your camera and lens on a tripod

I

in a darkened room, almost black. You set the camera's shutter speed dial to 1S seconds, your aperture

to f/11, and you finish everyt hing off by powering up your flash, making certain to set it to the often -overlooked setting of rear curtain sync or second curtain

sync, depending on your camera. Rear curtain sync is a really simple idea to understand, and it goes like this: When you use your flash set to its default setting. the flash fires at the beginning of the exposure. It is, for all intents and purposes, the main light source in

your photo. and any other lights that might be on (or any other daylight that might be in the overall scene) will take a backseat, in terms of their exposure, to the flash exposure. When the camera's flash is set to fire in rear curtain sync mode, the flash doesn't fire until the end of the exposure. Note that I'm talking of an exposure time lasting anywhere from 1/250 sec. to several minutes or even hours. depending on what you're shoot ing. Just think of what kind of fun and creative exposures you can achieve with this kind of setup! If the many photo contest entries and student works I have reviewed over the years are any indication, the prospects are countless. It's about time you get enlightened , pun intended!

I R£ MEM8E R THAT

unmIstakable /11111 eJ(pe"enced as a k,d when I I"ed 10 rescue my p,ece of burnmg loast from the toaster WIth an ordmary but<er knife-whIle the

toaster was. of course. sl,1I plugged mto the wall. Yeeowww! AI the time I had no idea t~at I would one day resurrecl Ihal eJ(penence pholographically. rhanks 10 my daughter Sophle"s Wlllmgness, l;v:is able to re -creale rhar fale/ul day. After choosmg rh,s partIcular corner of the kItchen, makmg certam the roaster and COOnreT'S were sprckand-span, and makmg sure, too, thar the CIrcUit breaker had been cur to rhat particular outle l, I locused on the composition you see here before turning out the overhead "ght. I also had sel up behmd myself and to the "ghl a White L'ghtnmg Allen Bee monO/lghl ms,de a sofr bOJ(, pomled up toward the kJlchen :ellmg. Plus, 1 had changed my flash seiling on lhe cameril body /0 rear curlain sync. Wilh my monolighr at full power and w,th Ihe aid of my flash meter. I lirst fired Ihe strobe manually and recorded an exposure of 1/16. That is to say Ihal " I set my lens 10 f/16 al any shutter speed from 1/250 sec, to as long as , to 8 and 15 to 30 seconds or even longer, I would record a correct exposure of Ille area before me Ihat Ihe flash could reach. In Ih,s case, Ihe flash dldn't have fO reach far, smce Ihe scene belore me was all but three 10 four feel aWily from the camera. As far as the shutler speed, I estJlTlared Ihat I would need about 15 seconds lops 10 add my -dose - of creativ,ty, wh'ch in thiS case was a Simple sparkler. Okay. so Ihe shutler speed was sel /0 IS seconds, .he aperlure WilS ar 1/16, and lhe rear curtam sync was ~ngaged, so at the end of 15 seconds Ihal flash would fire, and whatever happened dunng'ho~ 15 seconds wH on my shoulders. After pressmg Ihe shutler release. Ilmmed,ately I" the sparkler, at first w,'h my back to Ihe lens so Ihat the I'ghling of Ihe sparkler wouldn't be part of Ihe exposure. Ilhen qu'ckly went 10 work m oullining Sophie. rhe toasler, and the elect"cal cord With Ihe sparkler, makmg cerlam Ihal my body was nol blocking all of the oullmmg I was doing. Th,s mean/, forlhemosl p.lrt. Ihat Iwas dOing my outlmmg from rhe far right or far lefl of the 'rame. Sophie had already been coached to eJ(hlb'l a shocked expression. As the time wound down toward 13 seconds. she put her face on, and two seconds later, I was 01.11 of the PIC lure off to Ihe left when Ihe flash (/fed at the end of the IS-second exposure. Mkon 02X. /7· 55mm lens, fnpod. /5 seconds at f//6

124 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

WHEN MY DAUGHTER CHLOE got Inis very nice guitar

YOU OON 'T HAVE TO GET FANCY Don't start thinking tha t the idea shown on the previous page has to be done wi t h some fancy monolight or studio strobes. It doesn't! You can use your own portable flash-you know, the one that you mount on top of the camera's hot shoe. You will also want to point the flash up, at about a 60-degree angle toward the ceiling so that the flash filling the room is "softer": leaving it pointed straight out into a room often leads to hard shadows. Choose any well-lit room and se t your camera to Aperture Priority mode, choosing an f-stop of f/11. Then simply fire the shutter and see for yourself if t he flash recorded a correct exposure of the scene before you. Chances are really good that it did. as most flash today uses through-the-Iens metering, which simply means that the flash is able to determine, automatically, how much flash is needed based on your aperture choice. If you check your digital monitor and discover t he flash output is a bit too dark or too light (highly unlikely, by the way). you can make adjustments on the back of your flash by increasing or decreasing the flash outpu t , If the flash exposure was good. you can now mount the camera and lens on a tripod and set your shutter speed for the length of time you feel you need to light whatever it is you wish to light with your sparklers. flashlight. laser pOinter, or, heck, all three! When you're ready, turn off the room lights, fire the shutter, and start your light show. If, by chance, your flash shou ld fire as soon as you press the shutter release, you either (1) did not set it up for rear curtain sync or second curtain sync, or (2) the flash has simply fired a small dosage preflash, The latter is the more likely culprit with all TTL flashes: it's a way of calculating the ac t ual correct amount of flash needed at the end of the exposure, And don't worry about this preflash being influenced by what you do with your sparklers, flashlight. or laser pointer, It won't see a thing,

12(, EXPO SUR E CONCERNS

for her birthday a few years ago, she couldn't yel play For two years, ,( sal there in her room. untOUChed for the most parI. on Ihal very nice guilar stand my wife and I also

bought her. 50 I decided il was arne /, try 10 ·cash in, - so 10 speak, and gel some shots of her -playing " her guitar

out on the small terrace of our apartment. I purposely

chose to do this at dusk, against the backdrop of Old Lyon, and this proved. once again, to be a really easy exposure and it would have been for you, too. fm sure. With my tripod-mounted camera sel for ISO 100 and my 17~55mm lens sello fll t. I took a 'Tleler reading from the dusky blue sky and adjusted my soulier speed until 4 seconds indicated a correct e)(posure. / estimated that the time I needed to )aini" the area ~round Chloe with sparklers would be about 8 seconds. so I stopped the lens down 10 1116. which. in turn. increased my e~posure time from 4 10 8 seconds. Again. with my single Alien Bee mono/ighl in a soft bo~. mounted on '" stand to my nghl. and pointed straighl al Chloe. I fired off several rest flash es while holding the flash meter in lront of her and adjusted Ihe flash heM unlil an aperture 01 i/16 was Indicated. I now had my flash oulpul requiring the same e~posure of the ambient lavailable nalura/} 119h1. All thai remained was 10 sel my camera 10 rear curtain sync. which I did. J then had Chloe grab her guilar. sland on Ihe deck. iJnd hold still while making iJ screaming recker e~preSSlon_ AI Ihe same lime. I -painted - Ihe iJreiJ around her with iJ sparkler lor aboul 7 seconds and qudly gol oul ollhe wayas Ihe flash fired ai/he end 01 Ihe fl-second e~posure. PS. Chloe does now, indeed. play her ~uitiJr lor reiJl,

17-55mm lens, tripod. ISO 700, 8 seconds al f/16

NOISE Perhaps you have read about "noise" being a concern when shooting long exposure times. As I explained earlier in the section on ISO, noise, or grain, is normally associated with ISO: The higher the ISO, the more noise or grain appearing in the image. However. long exposures also create noise. There is a breakdown in the image sensor's ability to expose for long periods of time, and for lack of a better description, it's as if some of the pixels are unable to do the job assigned to them: as a substitute for not recording the correct color/contrast. they will resort to recording white or Silver-looking specks. These white or silver-looking specks become even more pronounced when you sharpen a digital image. In fact. many shooters don't even notice the noise until they sharpen their image In a program like Photoshop, The reason the specks become more noticeable is that sharpening an image boosts the pixels' luminance, and Since the ~bad- pixels are either white or Silver to b&gin with, the white or silver specks are made even brighter by sharpening.

So, what is meant by long exposures? As of this writ· ing, I've found that noise becomes Quite apparent on exposure times longer than 15 seconds. For the most part, that should have minimal effect on most shooters. since most of us are not inclined to shoot exposures much longer than 15 seconds and, more than that, since the industry haS made great strides in developing new sensor te<:hnology. I expect that one day we'll see the topic of noise faU off the radar. Of course, most of us do want to sharpen our images when making prints. so until the problem of noise has all but been eliminated with new technologies. what's the solution? For starters and as already discussed, use low ISOs so that noise will be kept to a minimum. Secondly. if you still have obvious noise problems. you ca'"l call upon a number of plug-ins on the market that reduce, if not eliminate, noise in postprocessing. Noise Ninja and Kodak's Digital Gem are two of the most popular, and both are available for download and purchase online.

MOST EVE RVO NE HAS heard of. If not read or seen, The Da Vinci Code. Thus was the msplratlon for this photo born, I found Silas, one of the truly bad guys in the book. a fascmatmg character for many re.:lsons. Including the fact that 1m was a man com, mlled to the cause at any COSI and. of course. that he had an amazing tolerance for pam. SIlas was often 10 the shadows. both literally and figuratIVely. scurrymg toward somethmg or someone or scurrying aWiY from somethmg or someone-and thIS was how I wanted "my SIlas "10 appear. as well. II made sense /0 use it church, /1/ at dusk. for a backdrop, and II made even more sense to cloak Silas m black wllh Jusl a louch 01 light on hIS lace. The solution 10 achieve Ih,s: rear curIam sync. My daughter Chloe donned a mask and black hooded cape. and I was soon gellmg my deSired results. And, to really emphiSlze the SimplICity of thiS -trKk." I d,dn'I use any of my so-called -profeSSional equipment,· but rather my Lfica D·LUX 3 dlgllal point and shoot. Before I called upon Chloe. I gol down low, looked up at the church and dusky blue sky. and took an exposure 10 Aperture Priority m01e with the lens set to 1/4 and my 150 at 200. The actual exposure lime was 1/4 sec. Perfect. smce J fel l that if Chloe would simply stand in what was a dark foreground. I could lust take thiS same exposure as / frilmed her With Ihe church behmd her. while .lIthe same time usmg Ihe cameras buill-in flash sello rear curtam sync, of course. And as I shot her, t would Simply move the camera upward dUring the 1/1, sec. eJlpa5ure. As you ,,)n ,;ce. II,,~ upw')rd movcmenl recorded an exposure of (I "movingchurch. while aI/he same time. the flash eJlposure on Chloe did~'t fire unlll the end of the exposure. thus capturing the mask m aili/s de/all. OUring :he first part of thiS 1/4 sec. exposure. Ihe ambient light/hat was loll/lOg on the mask was so minimal that none of II was able /0 record an exposure until the mask was IiI by flash. Lelca D· LUX 3, ISO 200, 1/4 sec. at f/4

12B EXPOSURE CONCERNS

IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN a Unlled A".IInes (J
3, /50 100, 1/2 sec. at

'/5.6

130 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

FILTERS

hen It comes to moving subjects, you WIll soon dIscover the need or deSIre to "slow things down" to a shutter speed that IS often just ou t o f reach of recording a correct exposure, Even if you are using the lowest ISO possible in combination with the smallest lens opening, the slowest possible shutter speed still may not be slow enough for you! I'm not a filter junkie. preferring , for the most part. the light that is available in ali of its colorful splendor. However, there are three filters I take with me no matter where I go, and all three come in very handy when shooting motion-filled scenes.

W

POLARIZING FILTER The first must-have filter is the polarizing filter, or polarizer. You can rotate it on the lens to remove the glare often seen in sidelit landscapes, and when used at a 90degree angle to the sun, it will impart a much richer color to the landscape, including a deeper blue sky. So, how does this help when shooting motion-filled scenes? Unless the landscape before you exhibits some movement (for example, a windy meadow of white daisies), it really offers no help at all. But, back to that windy meadow of flowers or that cascading waterfall or even that "simple" shot of pedestrians out on the rainy streets with their colorful umbrellas: When the polarizer is placed on the lens, it actually cuts the light levels down by about 2 stops-and that loss of 2 stops can sometimes make or break your motion-filled composition, If you find yourself shooting a cascading waterfall, and you've already set the smallest possible aperture (f/22) and the lowest ISO (100), and you still find the correct exposure is a wee bit shy of your desired 1/2 sec, (your meter indicates 1/8 sec,), then you would mmediately reach for the polarizer, since it will further reduce the exposure time by 2 stops and thus eave you with your desired exposure time of f/22 for 1/2 sec. The polarizer takes away 2 stops, so you have to get it back, and the only way to do that is to increase your exposure time by 2 stops.

132 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

"P EOPLE IN OREGON

don 'I Ian

In

the 5Jmmer,

tlleyruslr

ThaI was JUs/ one of Ihe many IlIghly successful advertiSing slogans used years ago 10 promote Oregon IOUrr!im. The pomt bemg, of course. lhil/I' does ram a lor In Oregon, but al

least Oregonians have it sense of humor abour ,/ al/.

I, for ant. am not if fan o( the ram. unless I'm plarmmg'" go 10 Ihe woods for it day of shoalmg. One of my !avlm/e haums In all of Oregon conlrnues II) bE Silver Falls Stale Park. where more than eight miles 01 h,kI,lg Iral/s and eleven waterfaUs provrde cauntle» shootmg opporllJm/If!S for the nature lover In most 01 us. Rifmy days are my preference for

the besllwo reasons of all: " ' I can be assured of recordmg some slow shuller speeds rhill Will guann/ee me Ihal we/ corned COllon candy effect In Ihe fallmg ....aler. and /211 WIll get to use my polarizing filler / ....hich 001 only reduces or eliminates Ihal dull gray glare seen on all of Ihe wei surfaces. bul also reveals a far more colorf,,/ scene}. While shoolong Ihe Upper Norlh Falls one autumn day, I was almost illi set to photograph but had one final step 10 do: reach mlO my camera bag and place my po/anzmg filler on Ihe lens. As you can see m the first exafllJle flopl, there was a great deal 01 gray glare on the rocks ilfld leaves lhathad fallen on the rocks, and why ncl? rhey were weI, thus hIghly reflective. and the sky overhead was im!eed gray. O/'ICe the polarizer was on place, I SImply rotated /he ouler rmg while lookmg m the vlewfmder to see the gradual reductIOn of all the gray glare m Ihe scene (bol/oml. Tht difference IS qulle dramatIc, Such 15 Ihe power of the po!arlZlng filter when shootmg m the woods on any gIven ramyday. And, If the reduction on glare IS not reason enough 10 own and use a (Xllaflzer, then conSider /h,s added plus: A polarIZIng filter reduces the level of the IlglII :ommg Ihrough Ihe lens by 2 stops. If I'm al f/16 and / record an e_pos"re of 1/' sec., WI/h a po/arrzer, I can shool al f/16 f~r I SKond /1/4 sec. /0 1/2 sec. IS 1 Slap, and 1/2 SK. to I s~cond IS 2 stopsl. A walerfall al 1 second IS even more flUId. more angelIC. more cot/on-candy-Ilke at Ihls slower shuner speed, so make II a pomt 10 shOal your walerfall shots on ramy days and, of course, /0 use your polanzer. Opposile, lop: 17-35mm lens. tripod; opposIte. bottom: 17-35mm lens, polaf/llllg liller, tnpod

4-STOP N EUTRALDENSITY FILTER The second filter I can't go anywhere wi t hout is my 4-stop neutral-density (ND) filter. Unlike the polarizer, this filter does nothing in terms of enriching my landsca pe or making the sky a deeper blue. It is, as its name implies, neutral in that it doesn't change the colors of my images at all. What it does do, however, is cut the light down by 4 stops, and 4 stops is actually quite a lot when you're talking about motion. It's a filter you may find yourself using when shooting ocean waves that you wish to make calm, flower landscapes that you want to use to indicate just how windy it was out there on the prairie, or city scenes that show traffic flow but you don't want to wait until dusk. Again, if you find yourself at the smallest aperture number and the lowest ISO (100), but you're stili finding that your shutter speed is not slow enough, you can place this 4-stop ND filter on your lens-and. just like that, go from an exposure of f/22 for 1/4 sec. all the way down to f/22 for 4 seconds.

134 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST. just norlh of San FrancIsco, you can find a number QI rocky shorelmes slretchmg for miles. A few miles norlh of Bodgea 8ay, I came upon one such spot and spent/he bertef pari of an afternoon and evening there willi a small group 01 work shop students. As Ihe sun approached the hori zon, the light fK>(:iJme much warmer, and as you can see In the lop Image, I chose to stroot al a -fast" shu/ ler speed of 1/30 sec. al 1/76. The waves are certainly no/lack sharp. A few mmutes laler. I added the ' -stop

ND fi/ler. which allowed me /0 record a much longer exposure. And by also stoppmg dO'MlIO 1/22, I was able /0 reduce the lighl entering the camera by 5 SlfJPS for an e~fXJsure of I second ill 1/22 (bo!tomJ. Opposite. top: Nlkko r 70- 200mm lens. If/pod. ISO 100. 1/30 sec. at 1/16; opposite, bOl/om: Nikkor 70-200mm lens. '-stop NO filler. tripod, ISO /CIO. 'second al 1/22

GRADUATED NEUTRALDENSITY FILTER The third filter I always carry with me is much like the

neutral-density filter, except it is called the graduated neutra l-density (ND) filter. About twenty years ago,

someone had the brilliant idea to make a filter that. when placed in front of the lens, would "reduce" the exposure of just the sky by several stops, thus making

the brighter sky much closer to the same exposure required for the landscape below. And 50metimes-

not always, but sometimes-you may, indeed, find it necessary to use a gradua t ed ND filter to facilitate a correct motion exposure of the overall landscape. sky included. Sometimes, w h en I set up a motion-filled exposure, I find that the sky ends up being a bit overexposed since most of my motion-filled subjects are in the landscape below. But by placing my 3-stop graduated ND filter on the front of my lens (I use the LEE system of drop-in filters, by the way), I am able to "hold" the sky exposure back without it being overexposed, while at the same t ime maintain my correct exposure for the motion- filled subjects in the landscape below. Graduated neu t ral-density filters are clear, except for about the top third of the filter, where one finds the graduated effect applied. They're also a t imesaver! Despite Photoshop's promise of being able to correct t his kind of exposure problem, I st ill subscribe to the belief that if I can do it in camera, I will, since it will save me time!

136 EXPOSURE CONCERNS

WITH MY CAMERA ON ATRIPOO . I chose

it low V!ewpoml to cilp/ure Ihe mollon of the incoming waves ilnd the rex/ure (m the rocks while

shooting shortly after sunrise al Portland Head L'ghl In Mame it few years ago. Smce I wanted /0 emphasize the mol"", of Ihe W
I Ch05f!

to set the aperture /0 1/22 (again, Ihe smallest aperture forces Ihe slow-

est shutler speedl. lind smce I made Illis image back In my flIm days, I was uSing 11 slow-speed film. FUJI

Velvia ISO SO. I ',rst paimed tile camera /0 Ihe early-morning sIdellt rocks
speed unl,' II' sec. mdlcaled a correct exposure. (Remember: -Wh,le can create problems for the meIer. whIch is why I dldn " take it reading from the while foaming surf.} I then look a meier reading off the bluish sky above Ihe lighthouse, and my merer mdlcated ,m exposure 01 1/22 for 1/30 sec. ThaI meanl lhal if I were 10 phOlograph Ihl5 scene al 1/' sec., Ihe sky would be rendered as a 3-slop overexposure, which I didn·t wiml. Furlhermore. I wanled 10 record a mOlton-filled elCposure of Ihe Incoming waves atthts slower shuller speed of 1/4 sec., which is Ihe same shuuer speed used 10 getlhal ctlUtln candy effecl In walerfalls. Due to the speed of the Inctlmlng surf and my closeness 10 It. I was ~ssured of gelling cotton candy surf ~I 1/4 sec., bUll 51111 had Ihe problem of a sky thaI would be 3 slops ,verexposed-unless I added a J-stop gradualed ND fIller to Ihe lens. The Image oPposlle was made al f/22 wllhoullhe graduated 3-slop 1,lIer In place; Irs a nice exposure of 'he rocks and surf. bul Ihe sky is .Tlueh 100 overexposed. Afler I ;llaced the 3-slop graduated ND M·er In lronl o( Ihe lens {"ghll. POSI' :,on"'g II so that the gradualed effe<:1 was covering only Ihe blue sky. the exposure showed much better balance from the sky to the ocean below. Dpposlle; 17*35mm lens, tripod. ISO 50. 1/' sec. al (/22: flghl: 17*35mm lens. 3-slop gradualed NO ftller. lri· pod. ISO SO. 1/4 sec. at 1/22

FILTERS 137

LIGHTNING SAFETY TIPS Here are some safety tips for when you're working with

lightning. compliments of the good folks at Research and Extension (in Manhattan, Kansas).

K~ S t ate

• Listen to the weather and heed weather warnings. The National Weather Service offers this rule: When lightning

is seen. count the seconds until thunder is heard. If it is t hirty seconds or less, seek shelter and stay there until t hirty minutes after the last rumble of thunder is heard.

• Seek shelter in a substantia l building or enclosed meta l vehicle. Avoid meta l buildings or canopies, such as a picnic shelter, that may attrac t lightning. • If outdoors, avoid water, open fields, and high ground,

a5 well as metal objects, such as power tools or farm machinery. • If lightning is striking nearby. crouch down. Place feet together and place hands over ears to minimize the sound from thunder. • If inside, unplug appliances. Minimize use of the tele phone (which also can transmit an electrical charge), and wait to take a shower or ba t h until the storm has passed. • If you are trying to assist someone who has been s:ruck by lightning, check to see if he or she is breathing, administer CPR. and ask someone to call 911. People who are struck by lightning do not carry an electrical charge. The charge that hits t hem can, however, damage or destroy t heir internal organs and cause death.

140 EXPOSU R E CO NC ER N S

ONCE YOU OISCOVER 11 good lightning spot. keep working it. I frequently return to this spot in Old Lyon, and if you compare this shot to the one on the previQus spread, you can see the different results its PQssiole /Q gel. 12-24mm lens, /ripQd, 4-51op NO filler, polarizing filter, ISO 100, 8 seconds at f/8

FILTERS 141

RAW FORMAT: THE "ANTI" ND FILTER·

ince a neutral-density filter reduces the amount

ahead and shoot at 2 stops underexposed , whic h

of light coming through the lens, or extends the time the light is allowed to record an image on

would be f/4 for 1/500 sec. You will record razorsharp action-stopping images, albeit perhaps too

film or the sensor, is there such a thing as an "anti" neutral-density filter that will increase the amount of light coming through the lens, thus allowing for the use of faster shutter speeds and sma ller lens open-

darkly to really see on the monitor on the back of your camera. Then when you return home, load the image into the computer, and through the magic of postprocessing, you can bring these once too dark images

ings? Yes, there is! But it's not called a filter, rather, it's called underexposure!

into the light, so to speak. But again, you must be shooting in raw format, and you will need the likes of

In all seriousness, this is a really cool "trick" that

those of you shooting digitally can take full advan-

Photoshop Elements, Adobe Lightroom, Aperture, or a full version of Photos hop to process the underex-

tage of. Imagine that you find yourself shooting ISO

posed files.

S

100 at your son's next soccer game and the light is anything but bright. In fact. it's so dark and dreary that the best you can get for anything resembling an action-stopping shutter speed is 1/125 sec. at f/4. If you were to shoot at this exposure, you 'd run the risk o f recording action-stopping images that are unsharp. Granted, you could have easily set the ISO to 400, 640, or 800, but that, of course, means noise, and you are all about razor-sharp images with t he best color and contrast and with the least amount of noise. So. what can you do? Choose the raw format. With raw, you can deliberately record images t hat are 2 stops underexposed and then "correct" these normally "bad exposures" in postprocessing. You can correct them so well, in fact, that no one w ill notice that they were ever too dark to begin with. And when would you deliberate ly shoot bad exposures that will be made good? The ex"!mple of your son's soccer game is a good place to begin. If the fas test correct expoSJre you can come up with is f/4 for 1/125 sec., go

U2 EXPOSURE CO N CER N S

WHILE I WAS SHOOTING

a kayak compe tition in Prague wil h 150 100. I wanred greater depth of field l han Ihe correct exposure of 1/5.6 for 1/e00 sec. would give me. For sure, I cou ld Ilave resorled /0 usmg 150 400 or 800. but tha I would Ilave me~nl recording more noise. and I didn 't want thaI. So. what's tile solution? A really simple one. in fact: With myaperture set to th e depth of field I wa nted- III I - and willl IIle same ISO {tOOl. I simply kept sllooling al 1/800 sec. The r esult was that every shot was 2 SlOpS underexposed. but I knew full well that I could recover these stops when processing tile raw images. The middle Image opposite shows the underexposed picture in Pho tosllop . Aller adjusting tile Exposure slider. I recovered tile 2 stops I had lost and rendered a correct exposure-a correct exposure Ihat would normally require tile use of ISO 400 but tllat I was able to get wlthoullhe gram/nOise Illal 150 would have rendere d here. Prelly cool. ell?

THE BASICS

here may come a day when setting a creatively

T

correct exposure is all done by the camera, but I can't ever imagine a camera that tells you where

to pOint it and what the best point of view should be

and under what light conditions you should take the image. There are two constants in the art of image-

making that no amount of technology will replace, and the good news is that both of these constants can be learned: learning how to "see" and learning the "art" of composition. Photographic composition is based, in part, on order and structure. Every great image owes much of its success to the way it is composed. which is, in essence, the way the elements are arranged. Just as

with any good story, song, o r even potato salad, in photographic composi t ion, several ingredients combine to create a compelling final result. And, there are many choices. You can make your primary subject appear small and distant against the drama of the light and weather unfolding in the landscape. Or, you can opt to fill the frame, edge to edge, top to bottom with only the faces in the crowd at a football game or that box of cherrie s for sale at the produce stand. You can compose to include a background that calls attention to the subject or that, alternatively, serves as a shocking contra st to the subject in front of it. You can change your pOint of view, shooting on your hands and knees or shooting down from a stairway above. You can compose the subject as a horizontal a vertical and even at a diagonal. In addition to these choices, you can utilize two s:>ecific characteristics that dominate every successOf"

ful composition: tension and balance. Tension, which is the interaction among the picture's elements, affects viewers' emot ions. Balance organizes these visual elements and keeps the viewer from tripping over the photograph's intent or meaning.

1L6 CO MPO SITIO N

MOST OF US ARE FAMILIAR witll wllite noise:

Tllesoundofthevacuum cleafler afld the static from afl untuned radio stalion are, perhaps, two of the more common examples_ Most people, other than newborn babies, find wllite noise to be an irritant. White noise also eXists in pllotograph'c composl/iofl, but it is felt ratller than lIeard. By thaI, 1mean thalllle eye is constanr/y processiflg images throughoul the day. II CaflnOI focus on every delaillo an equal extent so il -edils out- the less imporlant visual information. If you ed,t your imagery as a photography student. and you see a photo thats not sharp. tllals wll,te noise, 100. Wilen IIIe eye sees sometlling like 11115, a feeliflg of anxiely results. illS tile eye s lob, after all, to make sense of IIIe Images it is bombarded witll. iwd whefl an efltire image is flol sllarp,

Ihe eye searclles for 'safer groufld-- or. somelhing tile eye Ciln bring into focus. When 1 sllol tllis image of taxis moving tllrougll Times Square m New York Cily, 1knew, siflce 1was pannmg, tllall would be deliberately creallng a great deal ofYisual white Mise, but my ifllefll was to leave at leasl one taxi sharp enough. The reason this image works is because the exaggeraled level of visual white flOlse Ithe streakmgl IS coupled with a large eflough area of relative sharpness Ilhe taxi vanl Ihallhe eye feels safe and is able to make sense tJf it all, despite the fact Ihal Ihe subject is really a chaolic, stressful. fasl-paced e.wironmenl. 17-55mm lens a/ 17mm, ISO 125, 1/30 sec. at f/1O

THE BASICS 147

FILLING THE FRAME

here is a lot of compositional theory out there

T

being discussed in both photography and art classes and in Internet chat rooms all over the world, but unless you first learn to overcome the number one compositional problem, all the theory in the

world isn't going to help you. And what is the number one problem? The failure to fill the frame. And man, if ever there was a subject that sc reams to fill the frame,

it would be a motion-filled subject, for which freezing the action is the primary goal. Motion-filled images are, by their very nature, emotionally charged images.

They are images with a "loud voice," and clearly. the more you fill up that frame with this loud voice, the louder and, thus, more attention-getting that image becomes. You do hope to create a buzz from your work, right? Then why not strive to turn that buzz into a roaring buzz saw! Fill the frame, especially when choosing to freeze the action of your subjects. Perhaps you're not a fan of landscapes. but rather. you prefer the finer and often-hidden details of life. Or perhaps you simply love taking pictures of people. In either of these cases. as well. fill the frame. It·s hard enough to concentrate on the action before you. let alone worry about your composition, so stop right there! I've used the following analogy in my other books, but it bears repeating here: Unless you requested otherwise. when YOU're in a restaurant. you expect the waiter to bring you that full cup of coffee you ordered . And should the waiter bring you a cup that's only half full. alarm bell s will go off immediately. For good reason, you feel cheated and ask for that full cup you ordered. Your reaction to the half-filled cup of coffee is understandable. and people may feel the same way when looking at your photographs. Unless you make it a paint to fill the frame, like you would a coffee cup, your viewers Will feel ··cheated." All that empty space around your subject is no different than the empty

H8 COMPOSITION

part of the cup-something is missing. And. in the case of freezing action, that missing something is called impactl If you don't want your images to get people's attention, then do the following: Stand farther back from your subject, and don't use the longest focal length possible. If, on the other hand, you do want to create images that freeze action with impact. then do just the opposite.

IS II REAllY HARDlojudgewh"h of Ihese IwO photos besl conveys what mlgh/ be a man jumpmg for joy over the news Ihal he gOI the promo/ion or quit his job or just gol divorced or jUst found oul he IS going 10 be a falher or Jus t won the lol/ery? Of course nOI! Clearly, Ihe righi-hand Image hils far more Impact. The subJecl fills Ihe frame. and as a result. It is much -Iouder. With my camera on a Irlpod. I knew that smce the ac/lon m Ih,s scene was commg toward me. I could $hoo/11 at 1/250 sec. ChOOSIng 10 shoot m Aperture Prlonty mode. / simply adjusted my aperture until 11150 sec. mdlCaled a correct exposure and told my model 10 starr jumpmg on Ihe coonl of three. 2OO-MJOmm lens. tripod, ISO 100. II2SOsec.

FILLING THE FRAME U9

LEAVING ROOM FOR THE ACTION

here's a good "rule" to adhere to when compos-

T

ing motion-filled subjects inside a horizontal frame, and it applies both to images you make at blazingly fast shutter speeds and to those you shoot

at much slower speeds. When action is on the move within your composition, it's a good idea to give that

action "room to move" across the frame. Normally. this means composing the action within the first twothirds of the frame. The direction from which the action enters the frame will determine if this is the left or right third.

150 CO MPO SITIO N

ON EOF THE MORE FUN andchallenglngaSSlgnmenls /"ve done forone of my cllenls, Kodak, involved a half-day shool at an equestrian event In northern California, / hold never shOI Jumping horses before, 50 I was eager to gIVe II .. try. Within minute~, I h"d ~I"ked "ut one of the jumps, a five-foot, deep -red wooden fence. I fell tholl, from a low VIewpOint, Ihe lines would become a powerfulslalemenl of movement and speed, and knowing Ihal horses would be soonJump!flg over Ihem made Ihe prospect of shoaling from thiS 1oeallon very eXCIIlng, II wasn'llong before my exCllement had lurned 10 elallOn as lite f"sl horse made a beaullfuljump, ajump Ihall was all sello (Kord Handfwlding my camera. I chose 10 shool In Aperture Prlorlly al a shuller speed 01 1/1000 sec, /slmply adjusltd my aperture unlll f/8 indICated a

correct exposure al Ihal spetd, With my eye 10 Ihe Viewfinder, my finger on Ihe Iflgger, and Ihe camera set 10 Bursl mode, I pressed Ihe shuller relfiJSe as soon as I saw Ihe horse enler Ihe frame from Ihe lei/. Nme frames laler, Ihe h"rse wa, oul of frame, and 01 Ihe nine shots ",corded, my '"vul ,It' Wd~ Ihe one below. In cOn/raSI, 1(5 easy /0 understand why you mlghl feel a bit cheated, a b,t shortchanged byone of Ihe Jolter ,mages, smce Ihe acllon is on lIs way out of Ihe frame (opposltel. II's as If il can'l wail for you, as if you're Irymg 10 gel on board a movmg /ram thaI has alread) closed ,'s doors and has begun 10 pull oul of Ihe stallon,

17-35mm lens al 17mm, ISO 200, 1/1000 sec, al f/8

THE RULE OF THIRDS

nmost sports. games are not allowed to end in a tie. Football, basket ball , baseball, tennis, soccer, and

I

golf must declare a winner, so overtime, extra

innings, extra periods, and so on are played until one team or one player can finally be declared the winner.

Why is this? It has everything to do with indecision

and the tension indeci sion creates. Bottom line: Someone needs to be declared the w inner before the brain can relax. In photographic composition , the eye (and the

brain) responds to images that are divided evenly in half in much the same way as it does to a tied game. The eye/ brain can clearly see and feel the "indecision"

in an image that is one half sky and one half landscape, for example, or what is called a 50/ 50 composition. The eye/ brain feel s this negative tension and is quick to respond with an unfavorable reaction. It demands t hat a "winner" (a "visual" winner) be declared. The ancient Greeks were the first to become aware of this psychological phenomenon and soon developed a proven method of artistic composition to address it that is known as the Greek Mean. In its simplest form, the Greek Mean-al so known as the Rule of Thirds-suggests that the compositional frame be divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, to aid in subject placement. In landscape compositions, th is often m eans that there's a d eliberate placement of the hori zon line near the top or bottom th ird. As a general rule, if interest is greatest above the horizon line, then the composit ion should find the horizon line near the bottom third of the image, and if interest is greatest below the horizon line, the composition should find the horizon line near the top third. In effect, the visual weight of either composition makes it obvious that there is a "winner " between the sky above and the landscape below.

152 CO M POS ITION

WHILE IN SAN fRANCISCO.

I stumbled upon CHEER. a San Francisco- b<Jsed organization of present and former cheerleaders. dancers. and gymnasts who come logelher and perform al various events aroun d the world in fronl of slunne d audiences. They were praClicing many of their roulines and Slunts in preparalion for performing in Ihe San Francisco Gay Parade I.ter that day. Lying down low to Ihe grol.'nd allowed me 10 showcase Ihese high-flying cheerleaders ag11lnsl Ihe early-morning blue sky. Had I shol the performers al eye level, I would ha ve run Ihe risk of "losing " them as they merged into one another. The COmposilion here is also a c1assi~ use of the Rule of Th"ds. The decision of whl!re 10 place Ihe horizon was an easy one : Smce imerest ",as greatest above the horizon, I placed Ihe horizon near the bottom third of Ihe frame. Handholding my camera. I chose an aperture of fiB and adjusled my shutter speed until 1/500 sec. indicated a correct exposure. I was also shooling m Burst mode. wlvch all but guarantee d a number of "peak action - compositions. The image below shows a -Pule of Thirds gridplaced arop the photo so thai )'OU can better see jusr how importanl horizon placl!ml!nl is and also how important il IS 10 take advantage of Ihe "swel!l spots " flhe places where the grid lines imersecrJ. Placing points of imeres/ at or near these intersection points is key.

12-24mm lens. ISO 100. 11500 sec. at f/8

WORKING ON A DIAGONAL

he letter K had always been a favorite with

T

George Eastman. He said, "The letter K seems to

be such a strong and incisive sort of letter." The

word Kodak, a name we all know, was derived by try-

ing out a number of combinations of letters that made a word that started and ended with the letter K. The reason I mention this is that the letter K also relies on the use of two diagonal lines: one that moves up and one that moves down. When compared to the

letters B, C, or D, it should come as no surprise that, just like Eastman said, the letter K is a strong and inci-

sive tetter. By their very shape~curvilinear rather than angular-the letters B. C, and 0 offer up a different emotional reaction, something akin to a lackadaisical , laid-back kind of feeling. The letter K is far more active. It's a letter that's constantly on the move thanks to the two diagonal lines. It's fair to say that any diagonal line is far more active than any curvilinear line at least in one respect: A diagonal line is taking you somewhere, like it or not. This whole idea of deliberately tilting the camera at a diagonal while shooting first appeared on the pages of fashion magazines . Slowly, it migrated to landscape photography, where it has also proven to be effective in some compositions. But, nowhere is deliberately tilting the camera on a diagonal more effective than when shooting action scenes. Any action scene is already active and made even more so when shot on the diagonal. As you look at the kayak images shown on pages 156-157, it's very clear t hat the image shot delibera t ely on a diagonal finds the kayakers moving at a much faster, and perhaps even too dangerous, speed. Of course, it's an illusion created by simply tilting the camera, but the next time you're out and about shooting a sporting event, try a few shots on the diagonal, and don't be surprised if it becomes another useful tool at your disposal in your ever-increasing arsenal of ways to create some truly moving action scenes.

15' COMP OSIT ION

ONE OF THE SUGGESTIONS I often make 10 my students IS to -work your subj~cl. - ilnd the day I photographed CHEER Ion the previous pagel was no exception. Finding another "picture in Ihe pictureis a great habit to ge l into. By switching from my 12-24mm lens 10 my 70-200mrr-. I was able to iso la te a single cheerleader from Ihe large group. Again. I used the Rule of Thirds. placmg the cheerleader close to the upper .-ighi grid in tersection point for sweet spot! and the do me prima rily on the lower left one. This image also illustrates some thing else: the use of diagonals. Note how both the jumper an d Ihe dome iKe place d diagonal ly to each other. Handholding ITrf camera. I set the aperture to f/8 and adjusted the shutter speed un til 1/500 sec. indicated a correct exposure /no surprise there. since this was the silme Expos ure I had used the moment before when shoc ting the image on page 153 with the 12-24mml. As the cheerleader ca me into view. I simply fired the shuller releasein Burst mode. of course 70-200mm l ens. /50 100. 1/500 sec. at f/8

POSIT 10 NING YOUR SE LF for turning your camera slightlyl so thai you create or emphasize diagomJI motion can add energy /0 your images. Above: 17-55mm lens at 35mm. ISO 100, 1/15 sec, at f/13; right: 17-55mm lens al40mm. ISO 100, 1/15 sec. at f/13

156 COMPOSITION

EXPLORING A THEME

hotographing motion-filled scenes can, no

P

Knowing this, it was several years ago when I came upon "the red ball" at an Old Navy store in Greenwich Village in New York City. I bought two of them. in fact.

sport s photographer or you will simply become more

intent on shooting the red ball in a variety of locations

creative in your passionate pursui t of recording what

around the world doing what any ball would do:

you see. Whatever you do with your photography,

bouncing along on its merry way. Everyone of my red ball images (more than two hundred strong to date) shows the ball in some kind of motion , and rein ter-

doubt, be a lifelong pursuit. Perhaps you will

achieve your goal of becoming a well-known

exploring a subject theme over an ex t ended period of time can be a good learning tool. It can help you det ermine both your compositional strengths and your weaknesses.

Nikon D2X.

12-2~ m m

lens. ISO 100, Fluorescent WB. I second ar f/ l I

158 CO M POSITIO N

pret ing this subject will, I am sure, remain a lifelong pursuit for me.

Mkon D2X. 70-200mm IIms. ISO 100. Cloudy WB. 1/500 sec. at 1/5.6

EXPLORING A THEME

159

IN 0EX

action

freezing of, 18-21, 24-53 leaving room for, 150-151 aeria l photography, 46-47 America, and sports, 33 angels, 117 "anti" ND filter, raw format as, 142-143 attaching camera, 100-107 background, for panning. 62, 63 backlight. without silhouettes. 58-59 balance, in composition, 146 Bogen Magic Arm, 100, 101, 104 Bogen Super Clamp. 101 Bogen Super Suction Cup, 101, 106 camera. attaching of, 100-107 composi tion, 144-159

correct exposures, 14-15 diagonal, working on. 154-157 digital, and panning, 62 dusk,108-115

8 seconds, 98, 99 equipmen t , 24, 29 exploring theme. 158-159 exposure(s). 118-143 correct, 14-15 extremes, of shutter speed, 16-17

fans, for movement. 81 fastest shutter speed, 16 fast shutter speeds, and moderate, 22-59 15 seconds, 112, 113 filling frame, 21, 14S-149 filters, 132-137, 142 flash sync, 124-131 4 seconds, 78-79, 110, 111, 114, 115 4-stop neutral-density filter, 134-135 frame, filling of, 21, 148-149 frpP1ing <,ction, lB-21, 24-53

ghosts, 116-117 graduated neutral-density filter, 136-137 grain, 18-19, 20 Greek Mean, 152-153

'"

implying motion, with tripod, 74-81 ISO, myth of, IS-21 leaving room for action, 150-151 lens opening, largest, 16 lifestyle, night photography and, 108 light, low, 108-115 lightning, 138-141 long exposures, 124-131 low light, 108-115 Magic Arm, 100-101, 104, 105 moderate shutter speeds, fast and, 22-59 motion, implying of, wi t h tripod, 74-81 motor drive, 29 neutral-density filters, 134-135, 136-137,

142 noise, 128 white, 147 1/1000 sec., 48-53 1/500 sec .. 40-47 1/250 sec .. 32-39 1/60 sec., 56-57 1/30 sec .. 64- 65, 76-77, 80-81 1/15 sec., 63, 68-69, 72-73 1/8 sec., 68, 82, 83 1/4 sec., 66-67, 84, 85, 92, 93 1/2 sec., 88-89, 90, 91, 94-95, 96-97 1 second, 74. 75, 84, 85, 86, 87, 108 opening, lens, largest. 16 "painting" with shutter speed, 82-91 panning, 62-73 photo op, one. and six correct exposures.14-15 polarizing filter, 132-133

safety, li9htning, \40 second(s) 1/1000 sec., 48-53 1/500 sec .. 40-47 1/250 sec .. 32-39 1/60 sec., 56-57 1/30 sec., 64-65, 76-77. SO-81 1/15 sec., 63, 68-69, 72-73 1/8 sec., 68, 82, 83 1/4 sec .. 66-67, 84, 85, 92, 93 1/2 sec .. 88-89, 90, 91, 94-95, 96-97 1 second, 74, 75, 84, 85, 86, 87, 108 2 seconds, 86, 87, 109, 112, 113 4 seconds, 78-79, 110, 111, 114, 115 8 seconds, 98, 99 IS seconds, 112, 113 second curtain flash sync, 124-13\ six correct exposures, per photo op, 14-15 shutter speed(s) fac t s and myths regard ing, 12-21 fast and moderate, 22-59 slow. 60-117 silhouettes, backlight without, 58-59 simply zooming, 92-99 slow speeds, 54-55, 60-117 snow, 67 speed(s). See shutter speed(s) sports, America and. 33 Super Clamp, 101 Super Suction Cup, 101, 106 ten sion, in composi tion. 146 theme, exploring of, 158-159 tripod, implying motion w ith. 74-81 2 seconds, 86, 87, 109, 112, 113 underexposure, 142-143 value, quantitative. 14, 15

quantitative value, 14, 15 r.. in, 56-57 raw format. \42-143 rear curtain flash sync, 124-\31 room, for action, 150-151 Rule of Thirds, 152-153

water, 36, 37 white balance (WB), 120-123 white noise, 147 wind,81 working on diagonal, 154-157 zooming, 92-99

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