Peter West Carey Photography

Category: Newsletter

Water Splash Freeze and Blur – Photography Experiments

In today’s experiment I want you to think about two concepts: freezing motion and blurring it. Our subject to day will be water and you’re going to take two photos of it in motion or more if you like.

Check out all the 40 Photography Experiments.

Objective

Your objective today is to capture one image of water with its motion blurred and one with it frozen. This hopefully won’t be too difficult but I am always available in the comments section if you get stuck.

A Water Experiment For You To Try

I’m not going to give you step by step instructions for this one because you should be able to riddle it out by yourself if you’ve been following the lessons on this site. But I will share some examples.

Experiment 1 – Blur That Water

Sure, you can turn on a faucet in your home and get shots of the water falling down, but I’m challenging you to be a little more creative. Some questions to ask yourself in this experiment:

– What will my shutter speed be?

– Do I want a lot of light or a little?

– Would a filter (or pair of sunglasses) help?

– How will I keep my camera steady (hint: you’re going to have a slow shutter speed and handholding your camera might not work)?

Examples:

Experiment 2 – Freeze the splash

Now go the opposite route. You want to emphasize the motion of the water by stopping it in time, clearly. The same questions above apply with a few additions:

– Which mode do I want to be in (M, A, P, S)?

– One photo or many?

– Does my background matter?

Examples

DONE!

My hope is these two experiments get your creative juices flowing when it comes to stopping and blurring motion. While blur is a four letter word, it is not good nor bad. Like any tool, it matters how you use it.

I’d love to see your results! Post them online and share a link in the comments below. Or @ me on Instagram (Explore_Inspire_Educate) or Twitter (@pwcarey).

Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan!

March 6, 2022
One Subject, Ten Photos – Photography Experiments
Building on previous concepts that you need to look at light differently, today’s post in the 40 Photography Experiments series is fun but challenging.

A lot of previous posts have been about thinking, looking, evaluating. Today, it’s all about doing.

Here’s the experiment you can run:

1) Go take 10 pictures of the same object. Make sure each picture is different in some way.

Done!

Simple!

Wait until you try it.

These ten images can be in different light (meaning you can move the object) or they can be from different perspectives.

The object can be small or large (got a 747 in your backyard? You will have an easy time getting ten images out of that!). The important thing here is for you to think about each shot. There is no grade for this experiment so cutting corners only hurts yourself (yes, I typed that in a second grade teacher voice). Be creative!

Some things to look for? Try adjusting your aperture to get a different depth of field. Get close and go wide angle. Zoom in for minute detail. Use the Rule Of Thirds. Or throw it out the window and place your object on the edge of the frame.

Experiment, have fun! Then post your results on the web some place (blog, Flickr, etc…) and link to it from here for us to check out. I’d love to see what you shoot!

If you need some inspiration, I took the challenge myself and grabbed an apple. By the way, I suggest not grabbing fruit, because if you want to re-shoot something you might have already eaten your subject, speaking from experience.
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
January 11, 2019
Different Times Of Day = Different Light = Different Photos – Photography Experiments
Let’s get started early on today’s photography experiment!

Different Times Of Day = Different Light = Different Photos

The purpose of the 40 Photography Experiments series is not to bring up earth shattering concepts, but to start you looking at light, and how you capture it, in a different way.

Today’s experiment will seem obvious, but it will be helpful to run through it, even if you read the title and commented, “Duh!”

Here’s the experiment you can run:

1) This experiment will go slow, so let’s try Manual Mode today. As the light will be changing in this experiment, you will need to think through changes to Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO as appropriate. If you get stuck, leave a comment and I will help out.
2) Choose a subject which is in an area where light will change during the day. Outside will likely be best, but items inside, with ample windows, work just as well.
3) Shoot your subject at three or four different times of the day. Keep the framing and point of view the same in each image so they match up. In other words; same subject, same camera location. Use a tripod if needed.

Done!

Some things to think about while performing this experiment:
- How is the light helping or hindering your shots?
- How does the mood in the image change?
- What would happen if you got obsessive and shot your subject each hour?
- Get crafty and try this experiment with more than one object at a time.
Here are three shots I took yesterday of a tree out front of my house.

The first two were fairly close together, about two hours apart. But I missed the chance for a sunset shot, opting instead to wait until night and catch the accent lights (with a little bit of camera blur from having the shutter open for .5 seconds and no tripod!).

Same tree, totally different feel.

Lighting Matters

Changes in lighting will make a dramatic shift in the mood and content of your photos. Remember, you are taking pictures of light, not just of objects. How that light plays and interacts with your subject is important.

What I hope you learn from this experiment is to not always accept the light that is given to you and take bad pictures because of it. Sometimes you might stumble upon a great subject, but the lighting in horrible. Wait a while, or maybe half a day, until the lighting improves.

Come back on a different day or different time of season. Think long term and visualize how you want the light to appear with a particular subject then take steps to make it happen.

I would love to see your experiments if you want to share them. Just include a link in the comments section below.

Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.

Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.

If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
November 14, 2018