I have had a couple of weekends off from the practical aspect of my studies and am so glad to be back! I have been doing lots of research online and reading magazines but it is no substitute for actively tackling the camera work.
I think I have been putting off doing this subject because I was having a slight struggle with which subject to shoot. Should I photograph moving cars, which seems to be the obvious choice? I don't really like doing the overtly obvious but generally understand that simple is best and is inevitable whilst on this steep learning curve. I also need to ovecome my shyness when photographing so if I am honest I was procrastinating a little!
Both of these issues were dealt with by asking my husband (Dave) to be my guinea pig in a local playing field. Thought was put into the shoot with the wardrobe and location. I asked him to wear red as it is eye catching and would stand out from the green background. The location was chosen for its simple backdrop of trees and neutral colour. We layed a marker down on the grass so that he knew where to cycle from and to and the line he needed to take each time, giving the exercise an element of control.
So, the shots: In this first exercise of 2 each shot was set up on a tripod, the ISO was set at 200 and the focal length was 66mm. The camera was set to shutter prority (TV) to compensate for the changes in aperture which would be needed at different shutter speeds. As I get more experienced I will look at setting these all on manual.
" Okay, I'm ready"
At first I thought it would be nice to have Dave in the shot so that I could see the blue sky. However, it didn't take too much thought to realise that the subject was Dave on his bike and movement. So I reassessed the composition to have a tighter frame.
Image 1
1/640 sec, f5, ISO 200, Fl 66mm
A fairly static image due to the high shutter speed. 
Image 2
1/250 sec, f7.1, ISO 200, Fl 66mm
This image has a little motion blur which can be seen around the top half of the wheels.
Image 3
1/30 sec, f22, ISO 200, Fl 66mm
A slower shutter speed provides much more motion blur in this shot. The aperture was opened up (by the semi automatic camera settings), allowing more light into the image which would have been reduced with the quicker shutter speed .
Image 4
1/10 sec, f29, ISO 200, Fl 66
This image show lots of motion blur here with the background remaining in focus. This highlights the movement of the subject whilst keeping the camera focused on one point as the subject crosses the frame.
Exercise 2: Panning with different shutter speeds
I found this exercise much more intuitive. The exercise was to take the same shots as previously while following movement with the camera using different shutter speeds.
Image 5
1/1000 sec, f6.3, ISO 200, Fl 82mm
As in the first exercise, this is a static image due to the high shutter speed.
Image 6
1/125 sec, f16, ISO 200, Fl 86mm
The beginnings of motion blur are starting to show in the trees in the background with this slower shutter speed.
Image 7
1/80 sec, f16, ISO 200, Fl 90mm
This image is starting to get a real feel of motion, with the background blurring well, the foreground and the spokes on the wheels blurring whilst the subject remains in focus.
Image 8
1/40 sec, f22, ISO 200, Fl 90mm
The trees in the background and the grass beneath provide a good motion blur here. There is also motion blur in the wheels which gives a feeling of movement.
Favourite images from this exercise
If I were to choose a favourite shot from each exercise they would be image 4 and image 8. Image 4 conveys a feeling of speed with the strong blurring of the subject. It looks as if he was just too fast to capture on film. Image 8 also gives a strong feeling of speed with the background, foreground and wheel spokes blurring. The subject looks almost as if he is leaning into the movement giving a further impression of speed.
Conclusion
I have learnt from this just how important it is to understand what you want from a picture before taking it. There is a strong difference between taking static images of moving objects and panning with them. I personally prefer the panning technique. I find it much more intuitive and I prefer the way the background blurs, leaving the subject to pop out. I personally don't like subjects that are blurred because I feel that I have to rub my eyes or put my glasses on to see them clearly.
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