Assignment 3

SHUTTER SPEED

The purpose of this assignment is to provide a visual understanding of how to use shutter speed to either blur or freeze action.

SET 1

FOCUS ON A SPINNING OBJECT

1/15s (f26 ISO 400) 1/30s (f36 ISO 400) 1/60s (f25 ISO 400)

Lens: 17.0-70.0 mm (EFL 70 mm)
Newton’s Disc, or Disappearing Color Disc. Taken in Brookline, MA, on Friday, October 2, 2020
Photo by Marie von Kampen

1/125s (f18 ISO 400) 1/250s (f13 ISO 400) 1/500s (f9 ISO 400)

Lens: 17.0-70.0 mm (EFL 70 mm)
Newton’s Disc, or Disappearing Color Disc. Taken in Brookline, MA, on Friday, October 2, 2020
Photo by Marie von Kampen

SET 2

FREEZE THE SUBJECT MOTION WHILE BLURRING THE BACKGROUND

Ride the MBTA.
1/20s (f16 ISO 200) Lens: 17.0-70.0 mm (EFL 40 mm)
Taken in Brookline, MA, on Saturday, October 3, 2020
Photo by Marie von Kampen

REFLECTION

I found this shoot challenging because of the fluctuation of the timing of the vehicles. The variations of speed between vehicles meant that while one set worked for a particular car, it did not work for the one following. I also tried traffic going east and west, and I found the traffic going west was more comfortable to observe and capture. The traffic going east was physically closer to me, and I couldn't get the timing and shutter speed to line up without blowing out the photo. I did find it rewarding because the photo I submitted was the one that I had wanted to capture, and the timing and settings worked out. I think it was the fifth photo I took out of 50, so I found it was interesting that my photos got worse as the time when on because I think I was starting to overthink my methods.