September Challenge...

"Photography is a love affair with life." -Burk Uzzle

"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, with summer's best of weather, and autumn's best of cheer." -Helen Hunt Jackson

September is right around the corner which means cooler weather, and fall colors.  It is a glorious time of year.  If you have not been out taking pictures because it has been too hot, there is no excuse now.  The weather should be divine.  With this month, our challenge will be technical in nature.  We will be exploring shutter priority.  To set your camera to shutter priority, you simply have to turn the dial on the top of your camera to "S" for Nikon users, and "TV" for those who use Canon.  You will be selecting the shutter speed, and the ISO, and your camera will pick the aperture that will give you a perfect exposure for your picture...that is if nothing is blinking when you look through your view finder.  If it is blinking the you must adjust either your shutter speed or ISO to get a great exposure.

Shutter speed controls the speed your camera takes the photo.  The basic rule of thumb is if you have a fast subject, you use a fast shutter speed to freeze the subject.  Usually to stop motion, your shutter speed needs to be 1/250 or higher.

When to use Shutter priority:
1.  to stop action.
2.  if you want moving objects to look blurry...(this will show motion, so you will need to slow your shutter speed).
3. if you are using a telephoto, and do not have a tripod, you may have "hand-shake".  If you use shutter priority, you can reduce the shake-y hand syndrome.
4.  when "panning".  Panning is done by moving the camera from one side to the other (following the moving object) resulting in images that show motion.

Here are some examples of photos employing shutter priority:

 In the following photos, I wanted to stop the motion.  I wanted these little superheros (notice their capes) to look like they were jumping over a building in a single bound...

notice the shoes on the wrong feet...shutter speed: 1/200; aperture f/4.0, ISO 800

same camera setting as above

 In this photo, I wanted to stop the motion as the subject rolled down the hill...I wanted to see every snowflake, and capture the facial expression.

shutter speed 1/500

In these photos, I wanted a sense of movement.  This little boy was flitting his hands all over the place.  I wanted the viewer to see not only the facial expression, but the fun motion of the hands.  I slowed the shutter quite a bit...

shutter speed 1/60 

 I, also, wanted to show the movement in the butterfly's wings as it flitted about.

shutter speed 1/100

To show panning, I had to get pictures off the internet.  I think they demonstrate panning quite well.  It takes practice to be able to get a nicely panned picture.  I have not mastered it very well.

photo by Jose Renteria (Flickr)

Photo by Mr. Din (Flicker)

I hope these images give you food for thought to get your creative juices flowing.

The rules will be a little different for this challenge.  You may do a maximum of 3 photos, however if you choose to do 3 photo, they have to be an example of each of the methods: 1. stopping motion 2. showing motion 3. panning.  

If you choose to do 2 photos you may choose 2 out of the 3 examples, and if you do one photo, it is your choice.

The rest of the rules still apply:

• Any subject matter is acceptable: birds, animals, insects, people, etc.
• No archived photos.  The image must be taken between the August and September meeting
• Any format may be used to show your image: CD, thumb-drive, print
• Know the shutter speed at which your photo was shot

Have fun...now get out there and get clicking.