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Hurry up…It's time to slow down
By Jeff Cable
www.jeffcable.com
It seems like we are surrounded by the allure of speed. Our cameras can shoot faster, auto focus can lock in faster, memory
cards are up to 300x and card readers can download at amazing speeds. As we look at the world around us, we see people moving
at a frantic pace. With smart phones and email everywhere, it seems as if all of us are addicted to "instant gratification"
and find it hard to slow down or wait for anything. I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to living a fast-paced life,
constantly traveling all over the world.
Well…maybe it's time to slow down a little. We tend to see more details when we slow down and really look at our surroundings. I
remember taking a "Reef Teach" class at the Great Barrier Reef and they taught us that the best way to snorkel was to stay in one
place for a long time and really see the sea life. I was amazed at how many incredible living things surrounded me. There were so
many amazing details that I would not have seen if I had been swimming from place to place in my normal "Type A" way.
Sometimes it is nice to just slow down. This is true when you are shooting, too.
In past articles I have talked about capturing the high-speed movement of swimmers and racecars by using a fast shutter speed. But,
slowing the shutter speed can yield some really nice effects too.
There are many images of waterfalls and rivers with the beautiful blur of the water, mostly captured at a shutter speed of less than 1/8th
of a second. This helps accentuate the motion of the water and is very pleasing to the eye. When people look at these types of images, they
usually are mesmerized by the smooth flow of the water, even though they don't know how the photographer shot it. This is the difference
between a snapshot and a true photo.
However, you don't need a waterfall or river to capture the flow of water. Even the ocean can be transformed into a misty, almost ghost-like,
flowing pool. This image was taken at 6 a.m. on the island of Maui in Hawaii. Leaving the shutter open for 6 seconds, this image shows the
action of the water over this length of time. What makes this so interesting is that it is not something that the human eye can create. We see
the wave come in and go out, but we can't average this in our minds to create this scene.
So, where else can we use this technique to give the viewer a different perspective?
When photographing people or animals in motion, why not let the viewer see that motion in your image? If you slow the shutter of your camera, you
can add a sense of speed or movement to an otherwise static shot.
This image of a hummingbird was shot at 1/250 and would not be nearly as interesting if I had shot it at 1/2000 and frozen the wings in place.
I really wanted people to see the amazing speed at which the hummingbird's wings move. This is what I was trying to convey when I took the
photograph. The motion is the "subject" of the image. In this particular image, it was critical to get the beak and eye perfectly in focus,
while at the same time showing the movement of the wings.
Sure, we have all seen thousands of pictures of New York City, especially Times Square, and many of them look the same. For this image, I had my
camera on a tripod and left the shutter open for 2 seconds to show the movement of the people and cars. New York is a fast-paced city and there
is no better way to show this than capturing the activity at the blurring pace of the city. Notice how the taillights of the cars draw your eye
from one end of the photo to the other. Again, this adds motion to an otherwise static image.
So…relax and slow down-both yourself and your shutter-to capture life as it whisks by. You will get some great shots and have fun along the way.
Articles by Jeff Cable:
- Take a closer look - The fun of macro photography
- Don't stop shooting now - It's "The Golden Hour"!
- What is the difference between a $300 lens and a $2000 lens?
- Shooting Underwater Photography on a Budget.
- The Sport of Photography
Visit www.jeffcable.com
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