SHUTTER SPEED
THE IMPORTANCE OF SHUTTER SPEED
The function of the shutter mechanism is to admit light into the camera—and onto the digital media or film—for a specific length of time. All SLR cameras, digital or film, and most digital point-and-shoot cameras offer a selection of shutter speed choices. Shutter speed controls the effects of motion in your pictures, whether that motion results from you deliberately moving the camera while making an image or from your subjects moving within your composition. Fast shutter speeds freeze action, and slow ones can record the action as a blur.
Until now, our discussion has been about the critical role aperture plays in making a truly creative exposure. That’s all about to change as shutter speed takes center stage. There are two situations in which you should make the shutter speed your first priority: when the scene offers motion or action opportunities and when you find yourself shooting in low light without a tripod. The world is one action-packed, motion-filled opportunity, and choosing the right shutter speed first and then adjusting the aperture is the order of the day for capturing motion in your images.
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 70–300mm at 300mm, f/16 for 1/2 sec., ISO 200, tripod
Not only did the rain bring out the rich colors of this Singapore street scene, it also meant that the day was darker than a normal sunny day. As a result, I was able to use slower shutter speeds that would make some wonderful and color-filled compositions of motion.
Notice the rain-soaked bikes along the railing that borders Serangoon Road in Little India. Now let’s turn our attention to just one of those bikes, a bike that is parked directly in front of a bus stop. If my hunch is correct, we should be able to record a vivid streak of color directly behind that bicycle as the fast-moving buses head down Serangoon Road.
With my camera and 70–300mm lens mounted on tripod and with my aperture set to f/16, I was able to get a correct exposure indication at 1/2 sec. shutter speed—perfect! I tripped the shutter release on my camera with my locking cable release just as the bus zoomed past the bike, and during this 1/2 sec. exposure I recorded a streak of very vivid color. Voilà; it turned out exactly as I had envisioned. Get in the habit of shooting motion-filled subjects while focusing on a stationary subject and you will soon discover this still-untapped reservoir of compelling images.
THE RIGHT SHUTTER SPEED FOR THE SUBJECT
If ever there was a creative tool in exposure that could “turn up the volume” of a photograph, it would have to be the shutter speed. It is only via the shutter speed that photographers can freeze motion, allowing the viewer’s eye to study the fine and intricate details of subjects that otherwise would be moving too quickly. And only with the aid of the shutter speed can photographers imply motion, emphasizing existing movement in a composition by panning along with it.
As an example, the waterfall is one of the most common motion-filled subjects. When shooting them, you can creatively use the shutter speed two ways. You can either freeze the action of the water with a fast shutter speed or make the water look like cotton candy with a much slower shutter speed. Another action-filled scene might be several horses in a pasture on a beautiful autumn day. Here you can try your hand at panning, following and focusing on the horses with the camera as you shoot at shutter speeds of 1/60 or 1/30 sec. The result will be a streaked background that clearly conveys the action with the horses rendered in focus. Freezing the action of your child’s soccer game is another motion possibility. Any city street scene at dusk is yet another. Using shutter speeds as slow as 8 or 15 seconds (with a tripod, of course) will turn the streets into a sea of red and white as the headlights and taillights of moving cars pass through your composition.
I have often told my students that when shooting street photographs, they should make it a point to stay put for at least 1 hour during the course of the day. In other words, lean on a lamppost or up against a wall. Trust me; the action will come to you.
I found myself hanging out recently on a street corner in Chandni Chowk Market in Old Delhi, and soon I was setting up my camera and 24–120mm lens on my tripod and deliberately choosing to shoot motion-filled compositions of the flurry of nonstop activity that was unfolding before me. I had fired off about twenty frames when I saw the shopkeeper across the street take notice of me, and although it was obvious to anyone that my camera was pointed in the direction of his shop, he had no idea that I was shooting at really slow shutter speeds and recording a lot of blurry people. Fortunately for me, he seemed to think I was shooting his colorful shop, and so he took a seat, facing head-on into the camera, and I smiled at my good fortune. After shooting another thirty or forty frames I felt confident that I had several good shots, and this was certainly one of them.
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 33mm, f/16 for 1/15 sec., ISO 100
At the end of the Charles Bridge, while I was waiting for the light to change, several bright red trams passed right before me and I noticed that the crowd around me was reflected in the glass windows of the tram. I also noticed the nearby traffic light, and that was when I got the idea to frame up the light on the right side of a composition and, I hoped, be able to fill up the frame with a moving train. It didn’t take me long to set up, and once in place, I was merely waiting for one of those bright red trams.
With my camera and 17–35mm lens mounted on tripod and my exposure set for f/16 at 1/15 sec., I knew I would record a motion-filled streak of color as the train passed by (literally within 3 feet of me) in addition to a reflection of waiting people in the windows of the train. As you can see here, my hunch paid off.
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 17–35mm at 20mm, f/16 for 1/15 sec., ISO 100, tripod
FREEZING MOTION
The first photograph I ever saw that used the technique of freezing action showed a young woman in a swimming pool throwing back her wet head. All the drops of water and the woman’s flying hair were recorded in crisp detail. Since the fast-moving world seldom slows down enough to give us time to study it, pictures that freeze motion are often looked at with wonder and awe.
More often than not, to freeze motion effectively you must use fast shutter speeds. This is particularly critical when the subject is moving parallel to you, such as when a speeding race car zooms past the grandstand. Generally, these subjects require shutter speeds of at least 1/500 or 1/1000 sec. Besides race cars on a track, there are many other action-stopping opportunities. For example, the shoreline provides a chance to freeze the movement of surfers as they propel themselves over the water. Similarly, rodeos enable you to freeze the misfortunes of falling riders. And on the ski slopes, you can capture snowboarders soaring into the crisp cold air.
When you want to freeze any moving subject, you need to consider three factors: the distance between you and the subject, the direction in which the subject is moving, and your lens choice. First, determine how far you are from the action. Ten feet? One hundred feet? The closer you are to the action, the faster the shutter speed must be. Next, determine whether the action is moving toward or away from you. Then decide which lens is the most appropriate one.
For example, if you were photographing a bronco rider at a distance of 10 to 20 feet with a wide-angle or normal lens, you’d have to use a shutter speed of at least 1/500 sec. to freeze the action. If you were at a distance of 100 feet with a wide-angle or normal lens, his size and motion would diminish considerably, so a shutter speed of 1/125 sec. would be sufficient. If you were at a distance of 50 feet and using the frame-filling power of a 200mm telephoto lens, 1/500 sec. would be necessary (just as if you were 10 feet from the action). Finally, you’d need a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec. if the bronco rider was moving parallel to you and filled the frame (through your lens choice or your ability to physically move in close).
If you are a fan of some truly beautiful graffiti and if you are in Chicago or are coming soon, you won’t be at all disappointed with the remarkable display of talent in the Pilsen neighborhood in that city. Among the many fun photo things I did on this particular afternoon with my willing model, Aya, photographing her “jumping” for the ball in front of a soccer mural produced the image that provided the most laughter. It may be hard to imagine at first glance, but Aya is of course the one seen jumping in the middle of the composition, wearing her dark jacket and red sweater. There are several keys to why she blended in so well to this mural, and the first of course is the correct use of a fast shutter speed that would fully freeze the action of her jump, catching her at the top of the jump. The use of the camera’s CH (Continuous High) setting also meant that during this 1/800 sec. shutter speed, the camera would fire off several frames, further assuring me that one of the three or four images I would be taking in rapid succession would be the one!
Above image: Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 70mm, f/6.3 for 1/800 sec., ISO 200
If not for the need to use the Porta-Potty, I would not have come across this part of the motocross track where the bikers were coming off a large jump, hidden behind the pine trees. There was plenty of time to set this shot up, too, since each race had as many as twelve to fifteen riders. As the first few came through, I was able to set my focus, manually focusing on the area through which they all seemed to be flying. With the camera and a 70–300mm lens mounted on tripod and with my ISO set to 200, I was able to use an aperture of f/13 and still maintain the action-stopping speed of 1/500 sec. I wanted the extra depth of field just in case my focus was off a bit, and when it was all said and done, I ended up with a number of good shots, such as the one you see here.
Nikon D3X, Nikkor 70–300mm at 240mm, f/13 for 1/500 sec., ISO 200
I knew this brightly lit house in Italy would make for a very graphic and colorful exposure if I could persuade one of my fellow photographers to take to the air like a young and limber Mary Poppins. With the aid of a colorful umbrella for contrast, I was able to get the very talented photographer Susana Heide Schellemberg to do this.
Since the action would be going up and down, a shutter speed of at least 1/500 sec. would be necessary. With my shutter speed set to 1/500 sec., all that remained was to set a correct exposure for the late-afternoon frontlight that was hitting the colorful wall. I metered off of the wall and adjusted my aperture until f/10 indicated a correct exposure. I was now all set, and within a minute or so, the resounding applause from the students who had photographed her jump confirmed that 1/500 sec. was the action-stopping speed we needed.
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 120mm, f/10 for 1/500 sec., ISO 200
One of my favorite setups to shoot falling objects is in the great outdoors, out on my deck, taking full advantage of midday light. Yes, I shoot during that god-awful time of day called high noon. You can get some really cool studio flash-like exposures when shooting at midday, and you can work on your tan while doing so. Now that’s some darn good time management!
In the first image, you will see my setup for shooting falling food photographs. Along with a simple glass vase filled with bubbly mineral water that is sitting atop a small table and an open reflector, silver side up, I have added a seamless blue backdrop (nothing more than a large piece of colored poster-size paper that can be found at any art supply store). My camera, along with the macro lens, is mounted on tripod, set to focus close on what will soon be fruits falling very fast through this water (strawberries in this case). With an ISO of 800, I am able to record a correct exposure at f/10 at 1/2000 sec., a shutter speed that is just fast enough to freeze the action of the strawberries as they move quickly through the water
Once I was all ready to go, I asked my daughter Sophie to drop a single strawberry into the water, and after a few minutes of repeating this task I discovered that I had recorded too many images in which the strawberry either was not far enough into the composition or had dropped too near the bottom of the composition, but by golly, in and among all of these missed opportunities, (eighty-seven to be exact), I found several jewels, one of which you see here.
Right image: Nikon D3X, Micro Nikkor 105mm, f/10 for 1/2000 sec., ISO 800
PANNING
Unlike photographing motion while your camera remains stationary (as described on the previous pages), panning is a technique photographers use in which they deliberately move the camera parallel to—and at the same speed as—the action. Most often, slow shutter speeds are called for when panning: from 1/60 sec. down to 1/8 sec.
Race cars, for example, are a common panning subject. To shoot them from your spot in the grandstand you would begin to follow a race car’s movement with your camera as the car entered your frame. Next, while holding the camera, you would simply move in the same direction as the car, left to right or right to left, keeping the car in the same spot in your viewfinder as best you could and firing at will. You should make a point to follow through with a smooth motion. (Any sudden stop or jerky movement could adversely alter the panning effect.) The resulting images should show a race car in focus against a background of a streaked colorful blur.
The importance of the background when panning cannot be overstated. Without an appropriate background, no blurring can result. I’m reminded of one my first attempts at panning years ago. Two of my brothers were playing Frisbee. With my camera, a 50mm lens, and a shutter speed of 1/30 sec., I shot over twenty exposures as the toy streaked across the sky. Twenty pictures of a single subject seemed almost nightmarish to me back then, but I wanted to be sure I got at least one good image. Unfortunately, not a single image turned out! With the Frisbee against only a clear and solid-blue sky, there was nothing behind it to record as a streaked background. Keep this in mind; panning is a good reason to take note of potentially exciting backgrounds.
I use a tripod frequently, but when it comes to panning, a tripod can be a hindrance. (I can hear the roar of thunderous applause!) But keep in mind that since you’re panning moving subjects, you must be free to move, so do not lock down the tripod head—keep it loose so that it is free to move left to right or right to left as the case may be.
The streets of “old” Dubai are quite colorful, and nothing will add more to a successful panning shot than a colorful background. Fortunately for the students in this workshop, we had a willing model to simply walk down the street while we panned her. In fact, Fatina was gracious enough to walk back and forth until all the students were satisfied with their panning attempts. I purposely chose this particular wall for Fatina to walk in front of because of the background of painted murals of models wearing similar clothing.
Handholding my camera and 24–120mm lens and with my shutter speed set to 1/20 sec. and with my camera in Shutter Priority mode, I made several exposures as Fatina walked from left to right as she passed in front of the wall of painted models.
Of the three images that I shot, this one is the sharpest and most effective.
The reason I chose to shoot in Shutter Priority mode was simple. The light was even throughout this scene, and there were no excessively bright or excessively dark areas that might fool the light meter.
Above image: Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 100mm, f/18 for 1/20 sec., ISO 100
Once again I found myself in Chandni Chowk Market in Old Delhi, and over the course of one hour, I shot more than several hundred shots of bicycle taxis as they traveled down this very colorful street. Successful panning relies not only on a steady hand and fluid motion but also a colorful background for contrast. Of the more than two hundred images I shot that morning, fourteen of them were keepers. The remaining images all suffered from an absence of sharpness that resulted from my not being steady or moving too fast or slow as I tried to follow the subject. So why keep “soft” images? I have a hunch that there may come a program that will sharpen up images that are just a wee bit off in their initial sharpness. Yes, I know about sharpening images in Photoshop, but using that sharpening tool assumes that your image is already in focus. I did recently see a camera phone that will sharpen an otherwise blurred subject, so why not bring this technology to the DSLR? Maybe it’s already on the way. We’ll see.
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 50mm, f/22 for 1/25 sec., ISO 100
IMPLYING MOTION
When the camera remains stationary—usually on a firm support such as a tripod—and there are moving subjects, the photographer has an opportunity to imply motion. The resulting image will show the moving subject as a blur, whereas stationary objects are recorded in sharp detail. Waterfalls, streams, crashing surf, airplanes, trains, automobiles, pedestrians, and joggers are but a few of the more obvious subjects that will work. Some of the not so obvious include a hammer striking a nail, toast popping out of the toaster, 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 the lake, windblown hair, and even a rustling field of wildflowers.
Choosing the right shutter speed for many of these situations is often a matter of trial and error. If ever there was a time to embrace the digital camera, this would be it. Unlike in years past, the cost of trial and error is no longer almost prohibitive because of film processing prices. Digital camera LCD screens offer another advantage, since they instantly show the results of your shutter speed choices.
If slow shutter speeds can work for water, why not for industrial sparks? This past spring I was afforded the opportunity to shoot some blue-collar workers in Dubai, something I had never done before.
With my camera and lens mounted on my tripod and at a focal length of 300mm, I chose a 1/2-sec. shutter speed—the same speed that has worked so well for waterfalls and streams over the years. As the pipe lay on the track, the man would bear down on the cutting handle, and that would send the sparks flying! It was all over in about eight seconds, but this was his job for the next eight hours, so I didn’t have to wait long for him to start cutting another section of steel pipe. It is important to mention that I set my exposure off the light reflecting from the man’s shirt and before sparks started flying. This assured me that the man would have the correct exposure yet the sparks would be a bit overexposed. If we only saw sparks, how could we account for them?
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 70–300mm at 300mm, f/11 for 1/2 sec., ISO 400, tripod
There are certainly some general guidelines to follow for implying motion, and if nothing else, they can provide a good starting point for many of the motion-filled situations that abound. For example, 1/2 sec. will definitely produce the cotton effect in waterfalls and streams. An 8-second exposure will reduce the headlights and taillights of moving traffic to a sea of red-and-white streaks. A 1/4-sec. exposure will make hands knitting a sweater appear to be moving at a very high rate of speed. A wind of 30 mph moving through a stand of maple trees, coupled with a 1-second exposure, can render stark and sharply focused trunks and branches that contrast with wispy, windblown, overlapping leaves.
Silver Falls State Park in Oregon continues to be one of my favorite locations for waterfall shooting, and the two best times are late spring and fall. Waterfalls are perhaps the most sought-after motion-filled subject among amateur photographers. In this image, there are a few things working in my favor to get that slow shutter speed. With my tripod-mounted camera, I have chosen a viewpoint to include foreground leaves. This means that for depth-of-field reasons, I will be using the smallest aperture of f/22. Interestingly enough, f/22 assures that I’ll record the slowest possible exposure with my setting of ISO 100. (The smallest aperture number in use will always guarantee the slowest possible shutter speed.)
Additionally, the heavy overcast conditions meant it would be dark in the woods, which further supported my need for a long exposure. Finally, I am a big believer in using a polarizing filter on overcast/rainy days (to reduce, if not eliminate, the dull gray glare off the surface of the water and surrounding flora), and I knew that the 2 stops of light reduction with the filter would also force a much slower shutter speed. The resulting long exposure accounts for the soft water, and f/22 accounts for the front-to-back storytelling sharpness. (During this 2-second exposure a slight breeze came up; this is why the “softness” of the leaves is evident in a few of the branches.)
Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–85mm at 35mm, f/22 for 2 sec., ISO 100, tripod
EXERCISE: MOTION WITH A STATIONARY CAMERA
Shooting movement while the camera remains stationary relative to the subject offers an array of possibilities. Try your hand at this exercise the next time you visit the local playground or amusement park. I promise it will help you discover many more motion-filled subjects. At a playground, find a swing set with a stand of trees in the background. As you sit in the swing with your camera and wide-angle lens, set the shutter speed to 1/30 sec. and point and focus the camera on your outstretched legs (preferably with bare feet). Then adjust the aperture until a correct exposure is indicated by the camera’s meter. All set? Start swinging (keeping both arms carefully wrapped around the chains or ropes of the swing, of course). Once you get a good swinging action, press the shutter release. Don’t hesitate to take a number of exposures. The results will be sharp legs surrounded by a sea of movement—an image that says, “Jump for joy, for spring has sprung!”
Next, move to the seesaw. Place the camera so that its base rests flat on the seesaw about a foot in front of where you’ll be sitting. Focus on the child or adult sitting on the other end with your shutter speed set to 1/8 sec. and then adjust the aperture. Then begin the up-and-down motion of the ride—keeping one hand on the camera, of course—and shoot a number of exposures at different intervals while continuing to seesaw. The end result is a sharply focused person against a background of streaked blurs.
At an amusement park, walk over to the merry-go-round and hop on. Wait until the ride gets moving at a good pace, and with the shutter speed set to 1/30 sec., focus on a person opposite you. Adjust the aperture and fire away. The end result is once again a sharply focused person against a background of swirling streaks. Would that make a great advertisement for Dramamine or what?
If there is one tool that can truly change the way the world looks, it would be what is often referred to as the Big Stopper, which is a very dark filter that allows you to record substantially longer exposure times. Normally, one would have to wait for dusk to shoot 30-second or 1-minute exposures, but with any 10-stop neutral-density filter, you can start shooting long exposures at high noon. Once this filter is threaded onto the front of your lens, you will have trouble seeing anything. That is why it is vitally important that you first set up a pleasing composition, determine the slowest possible exposure without benefit of the filter, have the camera in full manual exposure mode, have your locking cable release hooked up to the camera, and set your shutter speed dial so that B is showing. If it isn’t obvious, you also need to put the camera on a tripod.
At a “normal” exposure and without benefit of any filters, the slowest exposure I can record of the Chicago skyline with an ISO of 50 is f/32 at 1/15 sec. With the 10-stop filter in place, I must now “add” ten stops of exposure; f/32 at 1/8 sec. (+1-stop), f/32 at 1/4 sec. (2-stops), f/32 at 1/2 sec. (3-stops), f/32 at 1 sec. (+4-stops), f/32 at 2 sec. (+5-stops), f/32 at 4 sec. (+6 stops), f/32 at 8 sec. (+7 stops), f/32 at 16 sec. (+8 stops), f/32 at 32 sec. (+9 stops), and f/32 at 64 sec. (+10 stops).
With my stopwatch engaged at the moment I click the shutter with my locking cable release, and with my shutter speed dial set to B, I release the shutter and 64 seconds later I have recorded the movement of the clouds overhead.
Both images: Nikon D800E, 24–85mm at 85mm, ISO 50, tripod, (left) f/32 for 1/8 sec.; (right) ND filter, f/32 for 64 sec.
Using this filter is not limited to clouds, and so I recommend that you head out the door and try these long exposures the next time you are in the woods or even Times Square—your 1- to 2-minute exposures could turn Times Square into a sea of colorful motion! But this is not a filter to call upon when you are shooting star trails. In fact, you don’t need any filter when shooting star trails at night. It’s already dark enough!
With my camera and 70–300mm lens on tripod and with only an added polarizing filter, I was able to record an exposure time of 4 seconds on this very stormy day of wind and rain in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. I had come across a tree farm, and the timing could not have been better since many of the trees were full of fall color blooms and the windy condition also meant I would record some “painterly” effects as the leaves were being tossed about by the wind during the 4-second exposure. This was certainly one of my favorite images from that day, and it bears repeating: Inclement weather should be embraced with zeal, for it allows us to achieve some very creative exposures and compositions that a “perfect” sunny 75-degree day just can’t offer.
Right image: Nikon D800E, Nikkor 70–300mm at 220mm, f/32 for 4 sec., ISO 50 (LO 1.0), tripod, polarizing filter
IMPLYING MOTION WITH STATIONARY SUBJECTS
How do you make a stationary subject “move”? You zoom in on it or otherwise move the camera during the exposure. In other words, you press the shutter release while zooming the lens from one focal distance to another or while moving the camera upward, downward, from side to side, or in a circle.
Zooming the lens while pressing the shutter release will produce the desired results, but not without practice. Don’t be disappointed if your first few attempts don’t measure up. For those of you using a point-and-shoot digital camera, you may feel your patience being tried. Unless you can figure out a way to override the motorized zooming feature on your camera (and you’d be the first to make this discovery, by the way), you’ll be unsuccessful in your attempts. The biggest reason for this is that these cameras won’t let you change any settings (this includes zooming) while the exposure is being made.
With my camera and 24–85mm lens on a tripod, I first composed the lone tree you see here at a focal length of 24mm. Directly behind this tree was a wall of colorful pipes, and it was a welcome background! With my aperture set to f/22, I adjusted the shutter speed until 1/30 sec. indicated a correct exposure and shot the first composition (top, left). But let’s have some fun and start making some e-motion-filled images!
With the aid of my polarizing filter I was able to render an exposure of f/22 at 1/8 sec. (The polarizer reduced the intensity by 2 stops, so I have to recover those 2 stops by adding 2 stops more of time to my shutter speed: f/22 at 1/30 sec. to 1/15 sec. (1 stop), 1/15 sec. to 1/8 sec. (2 stops). In terms of their quantitative value, both exposures are still the same, but look what I can do when I quickly zoom the lens from 24mm to 85mm during this 1/8-sec. exposure!
Case in point: The first shot I made of the tree and the colorful wall is sharp and correctly exposed, and it’s a good shot but perhaps a bit ho-hum. But when I handhold the camera and simply move it in an upward direction while pressing the shutter release, do I produce art (bottom, left)? Well, how about this next trick?
This is a rather simple technique, but you will want to call upon your wide-angle zooms first and foremost and your polarizing filter.
Remember that when we are creating these abstract works of art, we are calling upon the polarizing filter primarily to decrease the intensity of the light, thus allowing us to use slower than normal shutter speeds while maintaining a correct exposure. With my 24–85mm set to the focal length of 24mm, I rotated the camera in a right-to-left circular motion as if drawing a circle, and at the same time, with my left hand, I zoomed the lens from 24mm to 85mm. Keep in mind that all of this took place in 1/8 sec., so you are right to assume that one must be quite fast in turning the camera in that circular motion and zooming at the same time. The spiral effect that results (top, middle), as if water is going down a drain, is not something you do in Photoshop but right here in camera! Are we having fun or what!?
All images: Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–85mm, (left, top) f/22 for 1/30 sec., tripod, (all others) f/22 for 1/8 sec., polarizing filter
Are you looking for a surefire way to create some truly dramatic backgrounds the next time you are called upon to shoot a portrait or even a still life? Good, because I have just the solution. Head out to the fabric store and purchase some really colorful fabrics and then enlist the help of your children, friends, coworkers, or that neighbor you’ve wanted to talk to but couldn’t come up with a good enough reason.
With your helpers holding the fabric, tell them to start shaking it in a random up-and-down and side-to-side motion, quickly!
Before your “model” shows up, shoot this moving background at a shutter speed of 1/30 sec. and see what kind of “hurricane” results you are recording. You should be seeing some exciting compositions of streaked colors and textures at that 1/30-sec. shutter speed; if you are not, your helpers are shaking the fabric too fast or much too slowly.
Now bring your model into the scene and tell him or her to hold still and just smile (or not) and again fire away at the 1/30-sec. exposure.
As you can see in the example here, we made a pleasing portrait of one of my Dubai students, in a parking lot no less!
Top image: Nikon D800E, Nikkor 24–120mm at 120mm, f/16 for 1/30 sec., ISO 100
MAKING “RAIN”
The “rain” effect that I have been shooting for years is easy to achieve. Whether you choose to set up your “rain” in the early morning or the late afternoon, it is important that you use an oscillating sprinkler since it is best at making realistic falling rain, and you must place it in an area of the yard that has lots of unobstructed low-angled sunshine, and you must face in the direction of the sun when you shoot, or, as we call it in photography terms, shoot your subjects backlit. If you try to do this when your subjects are frontlit or sidelit, you will not record much rain at all since it is the backlight that creates the contrast that allows the rain to stand out. Now grab some props, including some cut flowers or a bowl of cherries, strawberries, or in this case red roses, and you are almost ready to produce the look of falling rain, but you must adhere to one simle rule: You can make rain only at 1/60 sec.!
The first thing to do is set your shutter speed to 1/60 sec. and for sure use an ISO of 100 to 200. Now all that remains is to get the correct meter reading, and the best way to do that is to move in close so that the backlit flowers or fruits fill most of the frame before you turn on the water. Now you simply adjust your aperture until the light meter indicates a correct exposure. Move back a bit and frame up your overall composition and, with the camera on tripod and your exposure set, fire up the sprinkler. The falling rain must be cascading down across the entire flower or fruit area; if this is not happening, move the flowers or fruit so that they are completely covered by the falling rain. Finally, you will probably have a bit better results when you use a reflector, too. 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 reflector that is 10 inches in diameter while stored in its zippered pouch opens up to a 30-inch-wide reflector (and it weighs almost nothing by the way).
When you aim this reflector into the sun’s light, it acts in many ways like a mirror, bouncing this light right back toward the sun. However, it is not the sun you want to reflect light back into but the subject that is facing you. So in effect, it is like having two suns: one that backlights your subject and one that “frontlights” your subject.
Now that everything is perfect, simply start firing away when the sweeping arc of the oscillating sprinkler begins to fall just behind and then onto the flowers.
A quick trip to the grocery store or florist and you have your roses, and now all that is needed is a small vase to put them in. Fire up the lawn sprinkler, and presto, at 1/60 sec., you now have your very own custom-made wedding invitation!
With my camera and lens on tripod, my ISO set to 100, and my lens set to 300mm, I set my shutter speed to 1/60 sec. and then moved in close so that the frame was filled with the backlit flowers (before turning the sprinkler on). I then adjusted the aperture until f/11 indicated a correct exposure. I moved back a bit, recomposed, opened my reflector, turned on the water, and fired away.
Nikon D3X, Nikkor 70–300mm at 300mm, f/11 for 1/60 sec., ISO 100