[07-11-2024] Various forum updates made.
Quote from: pablofe on January 04, 2018, 10:10:29 PM
I wanted to leverage some of my photos from the recent Naval Air Facility El Centro photocall to provide examples of the usefulness of slower shutter speeds (slower than 1/200th of a second). For Canon cameras, this means shooting using Tv (Time Value, instead of Av, Aperture Value). For Nikon cameras, it is the S setting (versus the A setting). The value one would set is for example 200. For this photocall I intentionally pushed myself to use slow shutter speeds, as well as to try out some portrait compositions (likely a future posting on this).
The photocall presented a variety of aircrafts, including multiple helicopters towards the end of the event. For helicopters and prop planes, photographs look more natural when shot with a slow shutter speed, thereby getting prop or rotor blur.
Slow Shutter Speeds Use Cases
Here is an example of what I consider a bad image, where the shutter speed was too high (shutter speed is 1/8000) and thus the rotors look frozen and unnatural:
In contrast, this other photo looks more natural, with the rotors being blurred and having a more pleasant look (shutter speed is 1/125):
Beyond props and rotors, slower shutter speeds are useful to convey a sense of movement, while at the same time highlighting the main object in the photo (similar to using wide focal apertures, like 2.8, but with the benefit of also conveying movement). Thus, slow shutter speeds are useful for jets as well in this context, especially when shooting the runway at El Centro with all the distracting structures and bales in the background.
Here is a photo with a fast shutter speed (1/8000) and wide aperture (2.8 ). The Growler looks sharp, but one can not tell that the airplane is moving, and the background, even if soft, is distracting:
Also note how the wheels are "frozen".
Now, let's compare with this other photo, shot at a shutter speed of 1/160:
In this photo, the background is soft and blurred, conveying movement, and even the wheels are spinning, while the airplane still looks nice.
Technique
Shooting at slow shutter speeds is challenging. One needs to be careful to pan with the subject as it moves. This may require not only quite a bit of practice but, for fast moving subjects, proper positioning of your feet so that one has a stable stance as one tracks the subject and turns the upper body to follow it. Also, it is important to pre-select the focus point (composing the photo before shooting) as a focal point towards the back of the airplane versus the front will cause the focus on the front to be very soft (a lot more noticeable than when using a fast shutter speed). Finally, if you are shooting prop and jet planes at the same event, one has to remember to switch between the aperture and time settings, specially when using multiple cameras.
Other Uses
When there are no background elements and no moving parts, I prefer to shoot with high shutter speeds and get very sharp photos like this one:
But, slow shutter speeds are useful even for car racing, birds in flight and commercial jets, where the engine blades are visible, to give a small hint of movement as we can see in this shot of an A380 at SFO:
Hopefully this post was useful and provided some new ideas of things to try on your next photo outing.
Feel free to post your questions, feedback, and comments.
-Pablo