Assignment #4 - Motion and Depth of Field (Focus)

Ok, here's an assignment that's really two assignments in one. Motion AND depth-of-field.

MOTION:

You will take two sets of photographs. The first one will show me that you understand how to shoot using SLOW shutter speeds. A slow shutter speed is anything longer than 1/30th of a second. A really long shutter speed is anything longer than one second.

The idea behind using sloooowwwwwww shutter speeds is that you can show how things move over time. For example, leaves blow in the wind. Cars drive down the road. Turtles move slowly. Experiment with shooting the same object with DIFFERENT SHUTTER SPEEDS.

Slow shutter speeds allow your camera to move (i.e. you get a shakey blurry image). When you shoot using a slow shutter speed, be sure to keep your camera steady. Place your camera on a beanbag, or a table, or a tripod, or a rock, your knee, anything that is steady and won't move. Try to keep the camera motion to a minimum. Keep the cameras as steady as you can, and allow the subject to move.

The other speed for your shutter are what? What is the opposite of slow? FAST! A fast shutter speed is anything that is 1/250 or shorter. 1/500 is faster than 1/250th. A really fast shutter speed is 1/1600.

You need to pay attention to your overall exposure. When you change the shutter speed, you will NEED to change the aperture. What happens if you don't? Your exposure will be WRONG. If the exposure let's in too much light the frame will look white. If the exposure let's in not enough light, it looks too dark or black.

Some suggestions for shooting your slow shutter speeds...shoot them inside or at night or at dusk or dawn when the light outside is fairly dim.

Some suggestions for shooting your fast shutter speeds...shoot them outside on sunny day.

You will have to experiment with various settings. find out what works...find out what DOESN'T WORK. Finding out what doesn't work will ultimately lead you to what DOES work.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Shooting in MANUAL
2. For each set of shutter speeds I want you to shoot at LEAST 10 frames. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO SHOOT MORE.
2.5 You will need to shoot at least four different sequences. Twice using slow, twice using fast.
3. Focus on manual.

For your blog...

I want you to upload two examples of using a fast shutter speed and tell me what you shot and why it worked to shoot it with the fast shutter speed.

I want you to upload two examples of using a slow shutter speed and tell me what you shot and why it worked to shoot it with the sloooowwww shutter speed.

DEPTH OF FIELD:

This assignment will show me that you understand what depth of field is. I want you to show me several examples of the following:

1. Extreme depth of field
2. Very narrow depth of field

I want you to demonstrate to me that you can direct the viewers attention to specific parts of the image. I also want you to show appropriate use of extreme depth of field and narrow depth of field. When it is appropriate to show everything in focus? When it is appropriate to show very little in focus?

From here on out you should only be using manual exposure AND manual focus.

For the blog:

1. Show me a photo with wide depth of field.
2. Show me a photo with narrow depth of field.
3. Show me a photo with near object in focus.
4. Show me a photo with far object in focus.
5. Show me a photo that is so sharp it hurts!

Due by Wednesday, October 19th.