[matthew]

Generally assignments fall into two categories. There are theme assignments, where the photographer seeks to express an idea, and there are subject assignments, where the photographer has a specific object to interpret.

There's a third style of assignment, one that I particularly enjoy, where the purpose is to use a particular technique. This is one of those.

We can over-value freezing the subject (and photographer) and documenting the past. Photography is unique among the visual arts in its ability to capture the passage of time. For this assignment, you should capture the world in slices one-sixtieth of a second long. Be willing to relax the rules a little and catch some of the movement around you.

For those without cameras that can be fixed at 1/60 second shutter speed, try lowering your ISO setting until you get a camera-shake warning. If your camera doesn't have a shake warning... well, go out and take photos anyway.

Have fun, and share your successes and surprises in this thread.

[matthew]

Just a couple of snapshots from today...

[shuttertalk]

Interesting challenge Matthew...

I'll remember to set my camera on shutter priority the next time I go out shooitng...

[Irma]

I went yesterday to Luebeck. It is a big city and I thought I could get something for the assignment... I did it. I set my camera in S and 60 and I took some pictures... but I didn't get anything similar as your pictures... They are not that blurred...
I will try again...

[matthew]

I set my camera in S and 60 and I took some pictures... but I didn't get anything similar as your pictures... They are not that blurred... I will try again...

Don't worry about how they look; 1/60s is a state of mind as much as a result. The speed requires good technique and discipline, but is still flexible. It can be hand-held with good sharpness, if you want to shoot wide, so you have the choice of blurring subject motion, the entire frame, or keeping it sharp(ish). As with everything photographic, it's just a matter of choosing how you want to interpret your chosen subject.

...and, even if they didn't come out the way you wanted, share your favourites -- or your least favourite. Other people may see them differently.

I took some yesterday with my 80-300 lens; I'd shoot a frame at 1/500 and then throttle down to 1/60s. I haven't looked at them yet, but I'll post what I can.

[shuttertalk]

If you're shooting with a wide to standard lens, you might have some trouble blurring at that speed (general rule = 1/focal length). But with telephoto, you should be able to...

Either that, or pan while taking your photo!

[matthew]

This is an example of something that didn't work: I wanted to capture some motion blur on the excavator as it swung around.



Taken at 1/60s and 135mm (35mm equiv) just didn't do it. The subject needs to be moving reasonably fast for it to show, especially with it swinging toward me.

On the other hand, the version of this that I took at 1/500 didn't work, either. This one is iso200 and f6.7; the 1/500 is iso800 and f4.5. The lower noise and greater DOF makes the 1/60s exposure the sharper of the two, at least for Web use.

[shuttertalk]

Oops, sorry, I meant general rule = 1/focal length (for sharp photos).

So you need to shoot quite a bit under that speed for blurry photos...

[Toad]

Very cool. I like it.

[Irma]

Thanks ST, Matt for your advice....

Here is the one I think is the best one... I like a lot the effect in the water...

70mm, f16, 1/60s, ISO 320

[Toad]

Nice composition! I wonder how it would be with the flotsam cleaned up... I find the clarity of the ripples is reduced a bit by the floating particles - but maybe that's just me...

[muzza]

Here is one of my ideas....not perfect (especially the framing) but shows you where I am going with this one.



I wanted the reeds to be out of focus to add to the motion blur...

Does it work?

[matthew]

Does it work?

I like the idea and the presentation, but 1/60s doesn't seem slow enough to show the reeds motion blur, but they seem too slight to show up if they're blurred any more. Maybe it would work better on a windier day with a slow-sync flash?

[matthew]

Here's where I'll be tomorrow:



and those little white flecks is snow.

and speaking of snow:



snow route

who says summer's over?