Photographing fall scenes

By Rex Dolby

The Van Wert Area Photography Club will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Thursday, November 10, at 7 p.m. The location will be 114 South Race St. in Van Wert.  Fall Scenes will be the theme of the competition that evening. Photographers may enter as many as 4, 4×6 prints, or slides on a jump drive to be projected, for $1.  Non competitors will put a dollar in the No-Show cup. Be sure to be ready to tell about the camera settings and shooting conditions for each picture.

The business portion of the meeting will include a report on the efforts of the officers to relocate club assets at the request of the Civic Theatre, and plans for the club’s future and activities.

Changing the subject, what comes to your mind when motion and photography are linked?   I would guess for some, it is a picture spoiled by camera shake, wind, or vibration of some sort.  None of which is a good thing.  On the other hand, it may be the wispy flow of water, movement of a bird’s wings while in flight, or the action during a sporting event.  All of which may be a good thing. Okay, let’s see what we can do to “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative”.

Some ways to reduce the chances of motion blur are: Make sure the camera’s image stabilization is on, you brace yourself and/or the camera against something rigid, use a tripod, select a shutter speed that is at least equal to the focal length of the lens, (An example of this would be setting the shutter no slower than 1/50th of a second when using a 50 mm lens) and timing the shot when the player is at the top of his jump shot, at the top of a spring for a dive, or a pitcher at the end of his wind up.  How fast the subject is traveling and at what angle to you it’s moving will also determine the choice of shutter speed. Shutter speeds can be slower for motion at an angle, but faster as the subject passes in front of you.

The website, www.slrlounge.com, offers the following  action to shutter speed chart in seconds. Person walking is 1/125-1/250  Person running 1/500-1/1000    Sports 1/500-1/2000   Flying bird 1/800-1/2000   Car (30-35mph) 1/1000-1/2000 and Auto racing 1/1000-1/8000

We’ll talk about blurring motion next time.