 Rajesh Vaccha |
Beginner - Depth of Field and Motion Photography Hi, I am a beginner in Photography, taking a class at my University in Philadelphia. I have to do an assignment which requires me to shoot a film with Depth of Field (Aperture) and Motion (Shutter Speed) Photographs. Can anyone please suggest good subjects/objects to use for this assignment and if you know of any interesting locations in Philadelphia that will be great! More details on the assignment below: For the Depth of Field Photographs I need to find or create a subject that has a foreground, middle ground and background, and adjust the shutter speed and aperture. For the Motion assignment I need to photograph a moving object while adjusting shutter spped and f-stop. Thanks,
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robert G. Fately |
Hey, RJ - you're in the big city - what about for the DOF examples showing a street scene. View dow a street with a parking meter in the foreground, a statue or car in the middle and some buildings in the background? This way you can play with f-stops ans see that at wide apertures only the meter (or the car, or the building) are sharp while the others are defocused, while at small apertures (i.e. - high f-stop numbers) all three areas become sharper. As for motion, put the cmera on a tripod or other sturdy support and capture some moving cars - faster shutter speeds will freeze their motion. For extra credit, you can even try panning - that is, moving the camera in the direction of the car motion - while using slower shutter speeds. If you time it right, the car stays sharp but the background blurs out.
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Alan N. Marcus |
Hi Rajesh, For motion, nothing beats plains or trains. Also shot of bowling ball hitting pins. As for depth of field, you will need a small lens opening so plan a sunlit scene. A meadow is always good with flowers, insects, grass in the foreground and house or cattle etc. in background. Maybe you can go to a museum and shot one of their displays. Mount the camera on a tripod so you can use small aperture and long shutter time as the lighting will be dim.. Natural history is good, lots of things to shoot. Zoo is good and outdoors, so are amusement parks good for both speed and depth-of-field. When shooting for max depth-of-field identify the closest and furthers points, estimate their distances from the camera. Now guesstimate a mid point between them. Don’t focus on this mid point instead focus on a point more towards you. The span we call depth-of-field is not split down the middle rather it extends 2/3 further away and 1/3 back towards you. As an example say the camera is focused on the 10 foot mark. Now using a tiny aperture, say f/22, the zone of acceptable focus will be 5 feet thru 25 feet. The center of this span is 15 feet; however, to maximize depth-of-field you must resist focusing on this center point, focusing instead on the 10 foot point which is closer to you than center. Again the span always extends 1/3 back towards you and 2/3 more outlying away from you, as measured from the point the camera is focused upon. Hope you get an “A” or at least “B+”. Alan Marcus
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Christopher A. Walrath |
Yeah, preset your camera to about f22 and 1/15th. And when that turban toting cabbie guns you down on that crosswalk outside of the TJ at 10th and Spruce, before wetting yourself and fleeing for your life, don't forget to point and shoot. Oh, and 1.15th is slow, don't forget your tripod. Cheers.
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Rajesh Vaccha |
Hi, Hello All, Thanks for your quick replies, I really appreciate it. I forgot to add these following instructions from my Professor: Depth of field: 1) Shoot outside with plenty of light. 2) The foreground should be 2ft or closer from the camera 3) The middle subject should be about 4ft from the camera 4) The background subject about 10 ft from the camera Adjust the aperture from the largest to the smallest Motion (Shutter Speed): Photograph a moving object using shutter speeds from 1/8 of a second to 1/1000: 1. stop action- use a faster shutter speed (1/500) Any suggestions on subjects/locations for both the DOF and Motion pictures will be great. Thanks a lot,
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Christopher A. Walrath |
RJ, try walking down the sidewalk of Market between 8th and 13th streets. Lots of color and movement there. Alot of people as well. Or try around 20th up by the Franklin Institute. Downtown Philly has no shortcomings for places to get motion and hae lots of variety when it comes to subjects to emphasize DOF.
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Rajesh Vaccha |
Hello my friends, Thanks so much for your help...I am sure I will continue to ask plenty more questions. I have got a basic understanding of DOF and Motion, but somehow am still figuring out my camera (Canon EOS Elan II...I cant get the f-stop to go down to 2.. So, I took very basic DOF and motion photos as I needed to print the negatives and then make a contact sheet (which I did today), but the photos were terrible so I need to retake them. I think I will check out the Arb and the skating rink....its so cold though, I cannot take photos with the thick winter gloves that I have and if I remove my gloves my hand freezes in 1 min....Are there some gloves which are more suitable to photography..i.e. handling the camera? I also have to do an assignment on light...."We are looking at dramatic light and how it impacts and image....pay attention to shadows and how they also become part of the image...meter the shadows." Once again, I am just looking for suggestions on ideas, objects, places, etc. because I am new at this, I really want to learn and make the most of the two rolls of film that I will shoot. I will surely keep you all posted...I wonder if there is any way to share my images online? Thanks a lot friends, enjoy shooting!! AK
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Mark Feldstein |
Hey Rajesh. Go to an army/navy surplus store, buy a pair of wool glove liners, costs about $3 bucks cut the ends off the fingers and there ya go. Gloves to let you work your equipment in cold weather. I'm a little concerned that you're new to this and presumably you've got alot of other people in your class who are just as new to this and yet you come to us rather than them or your instructor for help. I'm wondering; are you just paying tuition for the grade rather than the instruction or just looking for a new spin on old(er) material?
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Rajesh Vaccha |
Hi Mark, Thanks for your reply. I definitely am not paying for the grade, I am a MBA student so the grade does not really matter anymore, I dont plan to go back to school! The honest fact is that I am very interested in learning the field of photography, but my instructor is not readily available apart from the once a week class that we have. He works full time as a photo journalist and is not really accessible. Furthermore, I am relatively new to Philadelphia and have a condition which has limited my movement, thus its harder for me to scout around town. I appreciate the help though and promise you that I am not looking for shortcuts, rather just looking for ideas. Creativity is something that is not my forte! Sorry for the sob story, its not meant to be! I will surely get the gloves tomorrow. Thanks a lot,
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Mark Feldstein |
One of the things I really like about being able to teach in a live classroom-type setting is the interaction with the students along with the exchange of information that isn't included in lesson plans. That's why I brought it up RJ. I was thinking you weren't really taking advantage of that aspect of your class and I wondered why. Now I got it. Thanks for the explanation. Be well. Mark
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