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.
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).
Candles have been around for centuries and they have been providing the light by which we see the world at night for just as long. Many starting photographers shy away from shooting in candle light because it can be tricky. After all, photography is the art of capturing light and with so little light from a single candle, the task can seem daunting.
But that’s it, it just seems daunting. With a little practice, that fear can melt away (ha ha! wax humor) and you will find just how easy it is to shoot in candle light.
Here’s the experiment you can run:
It’s time to play with fire! You’ll need a candle and a dark room, preferably. I am going to suggest you choose your ‘fastest’ lens for this experiment. That’s your lens with the largest aperture. Forgot which way the numbers for apertures go? Re-read this. Also, don’t burn yourself or anything that shouldn’t be burnt.
1. Set up the candle in the middle of a table in a dark room. Light it (maybe before you make the room dark).
2. Place a few objects around the candle and then a few more staggered gradually further away, as far as you can go. Make sure one of the objects is white so you can accurately see the color cast be the candle.
3. Can you take a hand-held photo? Give it a try.Using Aperture priority mode, and with the aperture all the way open, and using matrix or evaluative metering mode, try to get a shot of the objects close to the candle. By the way, what did you decide for your ISO setting with this light? Will there be too much noise?
4. Then take a photo of the objects a little further from the candle. How fast did your shutter speed change? Did you get blurry photos either time? Why?
5. Now switch to spot metering. Point that center spot right at the candle flame from about two feet away and take a photo. What happened to the objects around the candle?
6. Still in spot metering mode, point the spot at something dark but near the candle. Before you take a photo, look at your shutter speed. Do you think you will get blur? Try to take the photo.
7. If you have a tripod, now is the time to break it out. If not, use some objects to set your camera on on the table. Try taking that exact same shot of the dark object as you did in step 6.
Done!
This experiment is really an ongoing thing. You’ll find advantages and disadvantages to using spot metering, so it might not be your best friend. Matrix/Evaluative will help you at other times especially if you know how to use Exposure Compensation/Bias.
Today we want to add some pizzazz to sunlight photos. Specifically, when sunlight is coming through an opening, be it a window, another window or maybe a door with a window. Or clouds! The key here is you need stuff for the light to bounce off of so we can see it, otherwise it just passes through the air and we can’t capture it.
This experiment is going to be easy, but you might get dirty in some way.
Examples
Here’s the experiment you can run:
1) Set your camera on Manual mode, ISO 800. Pick a lens of your suiting. Aperture to f/4.5.
2) You’ll need contrast for this to work. Pick a room or space that is mostly dark. If you have a natural light source, such as light through a window, that will work. Otherwise, grab a flashlight and a book of matches. In this case, I used my iPhone with a flashlight app.
3) Meter off the area where the light falls, not where it’s coming from. If this area is very white or black, you’ll need to use the techniques from Making White Tones, White and Making Black Tones, Black.
Here’s what happens when you meter off where the light is coming from:
ISO 800, 22mm, f/4.5, 1/1250
Not good.
But when metered for the area where the light is hitting, I get ISO 800, 22mm, f/4.5, 1/15.
4) Metering is set? Good. Now light a match or two and blow it out in that space where the light falls. Using a tripod might be a good idea.
5) Take your shot!
DONE!
Were you able to capture the smoke in the light? Something like this?
This is the basic concept to taking the picture in the examples.
In the case of these image, I metered off the floor and then threw some dirt into the air. Same thing as with the match (blowing it out caused smoke/particulate/dust to come about).
Any time you have a dark area with a strong beam of light coming in, use this technique.
Meter off the lit area, compensating depending on its inherent light absorption (black or whiteness).
Get some particulate into the light beam. Smoke, dust, dirt, etc…
Snap away!
It really is just that easy to make dramatic images. On a larger scale, you can do this with the sun.
Things To Consider
Be careful when playing with fire.
Be careful when playing with dirt as it can mess up your pictures if it is on your lens or sensor.
Today, let’s start a mini-series. This will be a three part series looking at silhouettes, shadows and light through smoke. They are all essentially the same thing, but we’ll pull them apart to see the subtle differences.
Example
How did I shoot this shot? Where did I meter?
Some post-processing trickery was used (to highlight the prayer wheel and bit of robe). But otherwise, how did I shoot it?
Here’s the experiment you can run:
1) Set your camera on Manual mode with ISO 100. Pick any lens you like as long as it fits your subject.
2) You will need an object that is highly backlit. Either have a light source behind it.
3) The key here is to meter for the bright light, not the items you want in silhouette. Because the dynamic range of your camera is less than the dynamic range of your eye and brain, even objects you can still see in detail may become excellent silhouettes.
4) Compose your shot after setting metering and shoot.
Done!
Things To Consider
Try using spot metering to help isolate the bright object you want to meter off of.
If the object of your metering is white, consider overexposing as we mentioned in Making White Tone, White.
Your histogram will look like a bowl; high on both sides and low in the middle. Most likely.
Before we jump into tomorrow’s topic of Shoot Some Shadows, can you see how this technique might apply?
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
Yesterday’s topic was Sun Stars. Today let’s try something fun, but sometimes frustrating; Panning Blur.
First some inspiration and then the experiment.
Examples
Here’s the panning blur experiment you can run:
1) Switch to Manual mode.
2) For starters, pick a shutter speed of 1/20. This is a good place to start but play around with shutter speed as objects are closer or further from you, or traveling at different speeds. The shutter speeds in the photos above are from .3 seconds to 1/8. ISO set to the lowest number you can achieve (L1.0 on Nikons, for instance).
3) You will need a moving object, preferably not in a brightly lit place. Shots at night work, but near dusk works as well. If your photos are over exposed, you will need less light. (see Things To Consider below)
4) The best objects to practice on are cars on the road because they will move usually at a constant speed (stay away from stop signs and lights if possible). It is perfectly legal to take a photo of someone’s car on a public road while standing on a public sidewalk in the USA. You might get waved at. You might get flipped off. People are like that.
5) The important thing here is to track the object and follow through. Don’t stop when you take the photo.
6) Set your camera to its highest burst rate, in terms of frames per second. This will be the “Continuous” mode instead of single shot.
7) Also change your focus mode to AF-C or AI Focus, depending on your camera. More info on focus modes can be found here.
8) Now then, track your object well before it gets to you. It’s important to match the speed as best you can.
10) When the object is perpendicular to you, compared to its path of travel, start taking photos. You can even do it a bit before, if you like. Keep your finger down on the shutter release for 4-8 shots as the object passes.
Done! With Shooting.
Practice and repetition is the name of the game. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and sometimes everything will suck. As you play around with this method, you will find that fast moving objects are harder and objects moving toward you are really hard. Try to practice on constant speed items. If there is a velodrome near you, try that as the curve of the corner is a perfect place to stand.
Things To Consider
If the object is big, like a semi truck, different parts will have different amounts of blur. Track the part you want to be most in focus.
The longer the shutter speed, the more blur, but the more chance your subject will be too blurred.
If there is too much light, consider purchasing a 3 stop (.9) neutral density filter for your lens. These filters block out a certain number of stops of light, much like sunglasses, but are neutral in color to not change your image.
You can also buy a variable neutral density filter, but they are more expensive. The advantage is you can adjust the amount of light coming in based upon your situation
The more zoomed in you are, the more blur occurs.
As with many things in photography, this method can be a lot of fun and add flair to your images, which might otherwise have been boring.
Tomorrow’s topic will be Shoot Some Silhouettes.
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
Today’s experiment is fairly easy on the surface, but so is most photography at first glance. Point, hit button, look at back of camera. But we want to go a little deeper and think about what we, meaning you, are photographing today.
Today’s topic is to photograph a portrait of someone or, if the mood strikes you, some animal. As is my plan with these experiments, I am going to back off telling you what to do and instead, this time, give you some things to consider when photographing. If this doesn’t work for you, please let me know in the comments section and I’ll pass along a few hints.
Hint: Your aperture setting will be important here as you want to keep few things in focus. A good portrait typically uses varying degrees of focus to help bring attention to the subject. Knowing that, what do you want your aperture to be?
You can also use differing amounts of light to help bring attention to your subject. Move your subject around to find good light. Diffused (spread out and softened) light is often easier to work with than harsh light.
Focus on the eyes. Sony cameras now have a nice “Eye AF” feature that will make sure your eyes are always in focus.
Consider the mood and emotion you want to convey. Not all great portraits are shiny, happy people holding hands.
Once you have things set, check hair and small details. Do they help the portrait or detract?
There is a whole other world of things to consider when looking at complexion, clothes selection, advanced lighting, makeup, etc… We’re not heading there with this one simple experiment. I’m trying to get you to think of the baby steps it takes to get there.
What are your settings? How is the subject framed? Where is the light coming from? How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Please feel free to post a link to your results.
Examples
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
Light Trails take a bit of imagination to conceptualize and shoot. While not vital, it helps to be able to plot out how you want your image to appear to understand the camera settings for this type of photography.
Here’s the deal; light comes in to your camera and hits your sensor. As mentioned previously, your sensor’s pixels and little scales measuring the amount of light ‘weighing’ on them (‘striking’ them is another way to think of it and is more accurate).
The more light that hits the sensor, the higher the scale reads. Most pixels have a scale from 0-255. 0 is black. 255 is all filled up with that particular pixel’s color (red, green, blue…if you need a diagram, check out the post on ISO).
How Light Trails
All fine and well. What happens to create a light trail? Light from a source moves across the scene in front of the camera and is emitting light (or reflecting it, but let’s stick with an actual light sources here, like a lightbulb, or the glowing eyes of the Yeti which actually emit light. Look it up).
As it moves from left to right, let’s say, it essentially ‘paints’ the pixels in its path with something brighter than what was behind it. Often these shots are taken at night, so the background is really dark, maybe a 20 on that 0-255 scale. Now this bright light comes along and pushes the pixel ‘scales’ up to 240 or even maxes them out to 255.
The pixels can’t go back down the scale and thus they show the bright 240 reading even though the light source has moved on to the pixels next to them.
Confused?
I kinda am, so let’s look at a pretty picture.
In this Fourth Of July shot I had the kids stand completely still. I then took a lit sparkler and traced it around them. It’s one of the few times I could get my daughter to remain still, so I I tried it many times to get the above image.
Because the sparkler (emitting light all over the place) was brighter than the background, and the shutter was open for 30 seconds, I was able to trace and have that brightest light recorded on the sensor.
Another pretty picture.
This shot is from Nepal with its mountains and chances to see stars. The exact same thing is happening here, believe it or not. Well, kinda.
On a simple scale I am holding the camera still on planet Earth and it is rotating. The stars are (perceptively, but not actually) holding still. So when the camera moves and the light source holds still, the light appears to move. Which is cool! In this case, the shutter was left open for 445 seconds.
There are two basic ways to go about recording light trails, be they Earth bound or in the heavens.
Method 1 – Long Exposure
This is the method in the first image above. I left the shutter open for 30 seconds in Shutter Priority mode. If you have a cable release or remote control for your camera, you can hold the shutter open even longer (or just hold down the shutter release when in Bulb mode, which might require switching to Manual mode). The long exposure method has its limits and challenges.
First of all, your subject needs to not move, otherwise it will appear blurred while the light trail is painted. I’m talking here about the subject, not the light that is doing the trailing.
Having kids stand still for 30 seconds is about the limits of this challenge according to the laws of physics. Even a relatively slow shutter speed can create light trails. Take a look at this .8 second long exposure of the Ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier in California.
.8 seconds might not be long on the back of a bull, but it is long enough to give just the right movement to the lights on the wheel. In this case, it was pretty easy to get the pier to not move (barring earthquakes).
Get a tripod
Or, if no tripod is handy (as in the picture above) use anything that you can that won’t move. In this case I set my backpack down on the sand, positioned the camera on the back of it and used a self timer to ensure I wasn’t moving the camera, blurring the pier.
Another example. This shot is 20 seconds long and is taken in downtown Langley, Washington.
Method 2 – Stacking Multiple Images
The other main method is to stack multiple, shorter shutter length images into one final image. This takes a special program or Photoshop skills. I downloaded a simple program that costs $17 call Image Stacker. And it does just that. The method used to create light trails is called “Brightest”. Opps! Let me take a step back.
First, plan and take the photos
So step one would be to take the images. You set up your camera on a sturdy surface or tripod. Something non-moving (which begs the question of why I attempted this demo in California). Using either your finger to keep pressing the shutter lease, or a handy product called an intervalometer, take a series of images, one after the other, as close together as you can. This can lead to hundreds of images, or maybe just a dozen if you like.
Back at home
In your computer throw these images (in JPEG or TIFF format) at Image Stacker, choosing the ‘Brightest’ option. The program then looks at the same pixel in each image and only uses the brightest one.
It does this for how many ever millions of pixels you have. If you are shooting at a mainly black sky, for instance, it will see black in all of those pixels except for when a start moves across. Then it will just show that bright spot.
In this way you get trails, which may have spaces in them depending on the time between shots and how fast the objects are moving. By way of example, let me show you a test I did.
Example
I shot 150 frames of the view from Santa Monica towards LAX airport to the south. Each frame was .8 seconds long and a shot was taken each second. I then assembled the images using Lightroom and this cool plugin. The video it spit out looked like…
If I take those same images and stack them, I receive the image below:
Kinda cool. If I had taken one second exposures, the spaces in between lines would be less.
Photoshop can even be employed to create this effect. More information here.
I hope those two methods of creating light trails start you thinking about what you can create. Don’t look to the stars for all your inspiration, grab any type of light and see what you can create!
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.
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.
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.
For today’s experiment you might get a little dirty, but that’s okay. If your camera has a flip screen, now is the time it will shine.
Here’s the experiment you can run:
1) Set your camera on Aperture Mode or Manual Mode if you are feeling up to it. Choose an f-stop around f/6.3. ISO set to suit your lighting. As these experiments go on, I’ll be giving you less instruction in this regard, so practice, practice, practice!
2) For the next 24 hours you are officially BANNED from taking a photo at a height about your knees.
3) Subject matter is up to you, but make sure you get 10 shots in today.
Done!
Shooting from a low angle will give you a different view of the world. Everyday scenes take on a different feel from a low angle.
So often pictures are taken from a comfortable height (by the way, if you have trouble getting low to the ground, you can practice by simply holding the camera down to a low height and firing off a bunch of shots while changing the angle of the camera slightly. Please don’t force yourself onto the ground if it is painful. Another idea is to use a monopod and set your camera on self-timer, then hold the camera upside down and low to get your shot. It’s digital and each shot is essentially free, so play around and see what happens. Am I still in a parenthetical phrase?).
Let’s start that over. So often pictures are taken from a comfortable height and this is a good way to take pictures like everyone else, never standing out from the pack. If you want something different, be different and try a new angle.
Things To Consider
Instead of keeping your camera level to the ground, change angles.
Did you know your tripod might help with these photos? Many tripods have a center column that can invert and hold a camera upside down and close to the ground. I used the setup you see at right to shoot some time-lapse and regular video of leafcutter ants in the Amazon basin while keeping my clothes clean.
Shoot not only objects that are also down low, but shoot higher subjects you would have shot if standing up.
Pets and kids work well with this technique.
Examples
Below are just a few examples to get your creative juices flowing. All were shot from knee height or below. Sometimes framing is hard to accomplish if you are not looking at the screen, that’s why I suggest using it when you can. Or the viewfinder.
If you have time, please post some results in the comments section below. I love to see what people come up with for this experiment.
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
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.
You might say, “Not much (but it is horribly boring).” And you would be right on both accounts. Not much is wrong and it is boring.
But what if I presented this image as it should have been shot with proper metering?
Do you see the difference?
The difference is the first image is okay, but black is not black. This is because your camera is set to believe the world in front of it is not black or white, but neutral gray. Goofy, you might say, but it is true.
The effect this has on photos is, when the area in front of the metering spots (see this post for a refresher on where your camera’s metering spots are) is predominantly black or dark, your camera is set to assume there is something neutral gray there instead. It then tries to match the metering to neutral gray, making black items not so black. They move toward neutral gray.
What do you do to fix this?
Here’s the experiment you can run:
1) Set you camera on a table and switch it to Aperture Priority mode.
2) Set your ISO to 400 and place a black object in front of your camera, about four feet away. Make sure the black object takes up the central area of the field of view, as in the image above. It can fill the whole screen if you like.
3) Take a photo.
Take a look at your photo and I’m willing to bet it is like the first image. The black object is not really black, but moving toward neutral gray. Now then…
Can you see the difference in the two images? Take a look at the histogram for each.
The one that is better exposed (hint: the second one) should be pushed more to the left side while the first one is trying to be more evenly spread. You don’t want even, you want black to be black!
When To Use This Technique
You will use this technique any time there is a large black or dark area that takes up most of the metering spots of your camera. Otherwise, your camera will make an incorrect exposure.
This problem can be eliminated completely by shooting in Manual Mode, at which point your camera will complain you are about to mess up. At that point, you ignore it and shoot any way.
The important part to remember is your camera’s meter is a tool for figuring out which ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed to use. It is not perfect and makes an assumption about the world in front of the camera. When that world does not meet your camera’s assumption, you need to make adjustments. Or shoot in Manual Mode.
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
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.
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.
With yesterday’s topic being 
Our last experiment was 
Wandered here from somewhere else? Check out all the 
