motion blur

The Pier Trolley warp through St. Petersburg

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On The Pier Trolley in St. Petersburg Florida - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm lens @ f/11 ISO 200 10 sec on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseThe results of this photograph were a complete surprise.  After the ten second exposure when the image popped up on the back of my DSLR I said, "wow."  I was in the middle of teaching a DSLR Photography Lesson at The Pier.  The student and I were up on the top of The Pier making long exposure night cityscape shots.  We came down to wait for the trolley and prepped to make light trail shots once we got back to Beach Drive where there were more cars.  While on the trolley I just casually stood my tripod up.  I decided to push the shutter on the cable release.  The above shot was the result.  

Photography Tip:  make a shot when you would never think to

If I had collapsed my tripod legs and had it and the camera leaning up against my shoulder as I normally would have when on the trolley, this shot would not exist.  If I had not thought, "what the heck, I'll just push the shutter and see what happens," there would be no shot like this.

Now, on my own time I will return and take the trolley and on purpose try to make even better shots than this as I think the results are super cool and I am sure with a few improvements in technique and settings it can be done.  Once I do that I will post again detailing the technique I used.  I cannot wait! 

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    • Carnival rides motion blur at night St. Raphael Festival Snell Isle Florida

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    Carnival rides intersecting motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable release

    I feel lucky to live just a few hundred yards from a field that is home to an annual carnival.  Where do the come from?  Where do they go?  I do not know.  For three days and two nights they bring their rides, their prizes and their deep fried Oreos (delicious!) and delight this small island community.

    Concentric circles ferris wheel motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet, the cost of enjoying the carnival to its fullest is too expensive for me.  Each ride is about $5.  There is the option of buying an unlimted ride pass for . . . $30.  I did not go on a single ride.  Each food item, likewise, is basically $5 or more.  I could not resist a huge sign declaring, "DEEP FRIED OREOS."  They were not what I expected.  Basically funnel cake batter surrouned a very warm Orea cookie that loses all of its crunch in the frying process so it warmly dissolves in your mouth leaving the familiar Oreo aftertaste.  If they were not $1 a bite, I would have eaten ten!

    Fiery Ferris Wheel reflection - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 5 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSince I could not enjoy the carnival in its intended purposes, I instead had to appreciate it only for its night photography opportunities, of which there were many.  I stood at the east edge of my apartment complex in complete darkness before my tripod pointing my lens at the lights just across the water.  I felt like an astronaut observing an alien world.  Mine was dark and silent, theirs filled with dazzling light and laughter.

     The time machine conductor - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseThe pilot of the ferris wheel remains stoic as carriage after carriage passes through time and space.  Who knows what speed they pass by?  

    like a spool of colorful thread - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/4 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseYet the ferris wheel almost seems a snail in comparison to this machine which lifts its subjects into the night sky spinning so fast that one appears to be a constant at once everywhere and only there.  

    Night Over Carnival motion blur - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/16 ISO 200 25 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseSurely when one visits Mars the view from outside of town mirrors the one above.  Hopefully they have deep fried Oreos on Mars as well.

    Ride first, eat second - Nikon D300 with Tamron 17-50mm @ f/8 ISO 200 1 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseIn the warped world of the carnival, food is the only constant.  Everything else flirts between dimensions.

    Tilt A Whirl motion blur - Nikon D300 with Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/16 ISO 200 15 sec mounted on Induro CT214 tripod with cable releaseHaving no Martian technology the semi truck in silhouette is like the octogenarian observing the child with today's digital devices removing one from the present.  For me, I will remain with the truck on the outside, as always only the observer.

    Photography Tip - creating motion blur for car photography

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    Example of motion blue with main subject frozon - SETUP: Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D @ f/2.8 ISO 800 1/10thIf you have never manually controlled the shutter speed on your DSLR to create motion blur, then you are missing out on a lot of fun!  Using a slow shutter speed and a steady panning technique can transform a mundane photo of a car driving down a road into an image showing a vehicle seemingly cruising at warp speed.  

    SETUP FOR THE ABOVE NIGHT SHOT: 

    • Nikon D300
    • Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D
    • manual exposure mode
    • f/2.8  ISO 800  1/10th  AF-C (AI Servo)  single focus point 

    TECHNIQUE FOR CREATING MOTION BLUR: 

    • find a car driving towards you (driving away just produces a rear end shot)
    • start tracking it through your view finder while it is still some distance away
    • twist your body at the hips panning at the exact same speed as the vehicle
    • wait for the vehicle to pass in front of a background with the most lights possible
    • press the shutter all the way, but still keep panning (like follow through in a tennis swing) 

    If you can maintain a focus lock and match the car's speed with your panning speed the car will appear sharp while the background elements will all be blurred.  The shutter speed needed will depend on the time of day and ambient light.  The suggested settings above can be a starting point for night shots.  

    DSLR Photography Lesson with Natasha at Tyrone Mall

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    Motion blur with flash practice inside Tyrone Mall during our 3rd DSLR photography lessonFor out third of four lessons Natasha (1st, 2nd) wanted to practice getting the correct white balance and exposure when photographing under indoor lights.  So we took a much welcomed break from the increasingly hot Florida spring and headed to the air conditioned oasis of Tyrone Mall in St. Petersburg.  I have used this location before for a lesson and was very pleased with the relative freedom we had to do photography within various places in the mall.  I find the TV section of Sears on the second floor particularly friendly!

    Natasha is still limited to using her Canon XT 's pop-up flash, but we made the most of it eliminating early all shadows from portraits on both light and dark backgrounds.  Over the course of this third lesson I got to learn some more interesting stuff about Natasha herself.  She has second language skills and will perhaps someday work abroad for Gallup!

    We ended the lesson with a little motion blur practice.  We were in far from ideal conditions to do it, but I shared with Natasha what techniques and settings I have used in the past.  The key is getting just the right shutter speed, and just the right flick of the camera as you push the shutter to create the blur, but freeze the subject.

    Natasha will be helping out on a wedding photography shoot this upcoming Saturday, everybody wish her luck! 

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    • Photography Tip - change dimensions with a tripod and slow shutter speed

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    Pane Rustica restaurant - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 10 sec tripod mounted & cable releaseThe above shot was not an accident, but one I made on purpose.  The birthday party I was hired to photograph had not started in earnest yet.  The room was mostly empty, but the guitarist was already playing.  My DSLR was already mounted to my tripod for some wide shots of the party space, so since I had the time and opportunity . . .

    The room was crazy dark, so I knew I could keep the shutter open a good long time (10 seconds) without overexposing everything.  The guitarist was not exactly rocking out, but even with his slight moving and strumming over 10 seconds it was enough to make him look unrecognizable.  Of course everything else remained still in the frame creating what I call an "out of phase" look for the subject (the guitarist).  

    A lifetime ago I was studying computer engineering at USF, and even before that getting my first taste of physics in high school.  I became and have remained fascinated by how vibrations basically keep us in this dimension.  If we could engage a phase shift, then could crossing dimensions be possible?  In my imagination at the time of making this shot, the guitarist was going through just such a phase shift.  

    Thus, tripods and cable releases are not just for taking landscape photos.  They are great fun to experiment with and possibly reveal other dimensions.