When I first set out on this exercise I wasn't sure what the task required. I think this was to show movement using the background as blurred and panning with the subject. The text suggested that the technique of following a subject and keeping it in the middle of the frame (panning) would come easy to most people. Panning did not come easy to me as you can see from the below shots.
I found a busy area in central Cambridge and took shots of people walking, cycling and driving by. Judging the speed and course of people whilst trying to keep them near the centre of the frame was difficult.
Photograph 1:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 24.0mm, f/14.0, 1/25s, ISO100 |
I think this was what the exercise was trying to achieve. The cyclist is in fairly sharp focus and the background is blurred suggesting movement. I think I prefer a photograph that has a little movement (blur) within the subject (is this too much perhaps?).
Photograph 2:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 28mm, f/13.0, 1/25s, ISO100 |
I think this photo shows more movement as the bike to the left of frame is blurred whilst the the bike in the centre of the frame is reasonably in focus.
Photograph 3:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 28mm, f/16.0, 1/125s, ISO100 |
Even though the subject is not in the centre of the frame I have included this photo because I believe it shows movement of the blurred car leaving the frame and the cyclist is in focus.
Photographs 1-3 are all shot at 1/25s and all produce slightly different amounts of blur suggesting different amounts of movement.
Photograph 4:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 35mm, f/11.0, 1/30s, ISO100 |
I think this shot depicts movement really quite well. The middle of the car is in focus with the front blurred and a blurred background.
Photograph 5:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 60mm, f/10.0, 1/40s, ISO100 |
This photo has less background blur and more of the image is in focus. I still think it depicts movement but is slightly less abstract than at the previous shutter speeds.
Photograph 6:
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| EF24-105mm f4/ L IS USM lens, 32mm, f/8.0, 1/60s, ISO100 |
This photography is almost static with little or no blurring and therefore suggesting little or no movement.
This and the previous exercise has made me think that when photographing moving objects I need to think what movement am I trying to depict and how to achieve the best results.
