Photography Tip: Fast Shutter Speeds

Come Sail Away

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Year: 2008
Camera: Canon 40D, 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens
Settings: ISO 100, f/9, 1/80 second, 73 mm
Support: hand held
Other: polarizing filter

Details: This photograph was taken while sailing with some coworkers in the summer (2008) in Lake Ontario. The crisp, clear(ish) air and the cooling breeze made for a wondering afternoon. The photograph helps me remember those moments (and hopefully prepare for the next time). The shot was taken on a moving boat (about 4-5 nautical miles per hour, if I recall correctly), so you will need a fast enough shutter speed to still the motion. In this case, I chose an f/9 aperture and ISO 100, letting the camera decide on the shutter speed (1/80 second). While it came out will, my photography tip here is that I could have been better served by selecting a faster speed (say 1/250 second) and having the camera select the aperture.

Processing: to help this photograph stand out more, I did some single file HDR processing with Photomatix (possible since I was using camera RAW).

HDR Photograph

















Original Photograph

Photo: Making some Lemonade

Turn A Bad Day into a Great Shot!

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Year: 2008
Camera: Canon 40D, 17-85mm f/4-5.6 lens
Settings: ISO 320, f/6.3, 1/100 second, 85 mm
Support: hand held
Other: 1 exposure

Details: Sometimes we have a desire to go out and take some photographs, but the weather isn't bright and sunny and the birds are not chipping. They may, in fact, be frozen! My advice to you is to still get out there and take those photographs. A bleak, dreary day doesn't mean a you will end up with drab pictures. Especially if you have a little help with some digital processing. :)

The first photograph below is an unprocessed shot I took of the Peggy's Cove lighthouse (Nova Scotia) when I was there in December. Not the optimal day for a shot. While the composition is decent, the photograph doesn't pop.

In this case, I got some added "pop" (second photograph) with my favourite program Photomatix. The HDR processing was based on a single shot frame (possible because I used the camera RAW format). At least to me, I find this photograph much more compelling now. The lighthouse is more intense, the red light is accentuated, and the boulders feel more powerful. This could have also been done in Photoshop by removing some saturation (colour), dodging the red lighthouse top and edges of the photograph, and enhancing the red in the light.

Original Photograph















Enhanced Photograph

Photo: New York HDR

Dusk Upon the Empire

Location: NYC, New York, USA
Year: 2008
Camera: Canon 40D, 17-85mm L f/4-5.6 lens
Settings: ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/8 seconds, 61 mm
Support: resting on a ledge at the Top of the Rock

Details: My summer trip to NYC with my girlfriend proved to have lots of amazing photo opportunities. This photo is an HDR compilation taken from the Top of the Rock as dusk was setting in. Several people have liken it to a Gotham City sort of feel, which was not my original intent but worked great.

Here are some key tips about taking this short of shot:

1. 3 Exposures or More - I knew I wanted to try to create an HDR photograph with the beautiful scenes from the Top of the Rock, so I purposely took three shots with a few scenes. If you have read my post about HDR, you know that you want to do at least 3 with a base, a +ve, and a -ve exposure adjustment. Most good DSLRs have this feature to do all three with the push of the button once. In this case I was at 0, +2/3, and -2/3 exposure value.
   
2. Manual Focus - once you have the scene composed, always set the focus to manual so that the focus won't change if you need to press the button three times.
3. Stability - I would have used a tripod for this, but they are not allowed at the Top of the Rock. Since you are taking three pictures in succession, you will need absolute stability. In this case I stabilized the shot by resting the camera on a ledge there.

Processing: I used Photomatix for processing the three photographs into one HDR photograph.

Below is the final HDR photograph.


















The next three shots are the input files for the HDR photo.

Base photograph








+2/3 EV photograph








-2/3 EV photograph