motion blur for band shots

[amy_c1]

hi everyone,

 

i recently took some photos of a band in their practice space (color

and b&w). the photos came out pretty good, but the few i tried to

slow the shutter speed down to show the motion didn't really blur. i

used available light only and a shutter speed of about 1/30 and

1/15. unfortunately, i did not have a tripod with me, so i felt that

if i used any slower shutter speed the whole photo would have

blurred due to camera shake.

 

i am returning to take a few more photos next week with tripod in

hand, and would like to focus on capturing motion. does anyone have

advice for a shutter speed that will adequately portray motion blur?

i am using a nikon n80 and 50mm1.8 lens in low light.

 

thanks so much!

amy

[frank_skomial]

You are on right track:

 

1. use tripod and 1/8 or 1/15 sec speed.

 

2. Get a VR lens, no tripod, and use again slower shutters.

[Spearhead]

Maybe there wasn't enough motion. This is a live performance, at 1/30:

 

<p>

 

<center><img src="http://www.spirer.com/stceagle/images/stc38.jpg"><br><i>Sorrowtown Choir, Copyright 2004 Jeff Spirer</i></center>

[400bpm]

I'm with Jeff on this. They may not have been moving dynamically enough to register motion well on film at those shutter speeds.<p>

 

You can also go the flash route and use bulb exposure. The long Bulb shutter will get you a lot of "motion" blur and the flash will stop the subject for a clear exposure. Just make sure you don't overexpose the ambient light to the point that the flash exposure gets overwhelmed by it.<p>

<center>

<img src="http://www.400bpm.com/Cinemechanica/IMG_5603-Joel-Bryant.jpg"><br>

<i>Cinemechanica @ 40 Watt - <a href="http://www.400bpm.com">400bpm.com</a></i>

</center>

[chulsmith]

if your camera has a slow sync flash setting, you can use that in the aperture mode. it balances the flash image with the ambient light. the results look much like brian's photo. some cameras also allow you to set the flash so it fires as the shutter closes instead of firing when the shutter opens.

[amy_c1]

thanks for all of your responses so far, they are very helpful and i really appreciate the input!

 

frank -- i will definately bring a tripod and try some shots at 1/15 and 1/8. thanks.

 

jeff -- it is very possible that there was not enough motion to be captured well. i think they were being more reserved with me there. this time i will tell them to rock out and try some shots at 1/30 handheld.

 

brian -- i like the look of using the bulb exposure with flash. i was wondering if you could give me a little more info, i.e. about how long to keep the shutter open and how to factor in the ambient light with the flash? thanks.

 

chul -- my camera has a slow sync speed of 1/30. it also has rear-curtain sync that fires the flash when the shutter is closing. do you know if they would both produce the same effect? thanks for your help.

[400bpm]

Amy, all I can offer is an insight or two. It's not something I can easily distill into words.<p>

 

Technique: 2nd Curtain shutter will cap your subject at the end of the exposure, making your subject appear to be in "normal" motion, while 1st curtain shutter fires the flash at the beginning of the shot exposing the remainder of the scene - thus you get a "backward" motion appearance. It often doesn't matter as the aesthetics of the photograph are subjective. Heck, I've done without a sync cord often enough to shoot in Bulb mode and fire my strobe manually in the middle of the exposure. It's a cliche, but this technique is more of an art than a science. And that reminds me - don't shoot with your on-camera flash! Get your light source off of the camera; I shoot handheld with mu strobe usually around arm's length away from the lens.<p>

 

Exposure: set your aperture to give you correct exposure based on the flash's output and then set your shutter exposure accordingly. Often setting the shutter to give you normal ambient exposure will overexpose the scene and give you a muddy shot, so adjust your shutter time to underexpose ambient light by a stop or two. You'll still get good motion trails and a solid subject exposed by the strobe. Be careful that you don't allow light sources or bright background objects to draw over or bisect your subject when the flash exposes him/her and renders the shot.<p>

 

Good luck. Experience and experimentation will eventually yield predictable and consistent results in your photographs. Play with Bulb exposure to get a good estimate on your shutter times (this is easy to say if you've got a DSLR). I've had bad luck with sync cords so I've been forced to use Bulb exposure in critical situations and I find it's an excellent learning tool. Most of all, have fun!

[amy_c1]

thanks brian!

[chulsmith]

amy - sorry about the long delay in response.

 

when shooting bands, the normal setting on the slow sync flash will be better because the motions are so dynamic and unpredictable that you'll be able to better time when the subject's face (or whatever you're trying to capture) is in view. also, it will give you the nice shiny lines from the reflection of the flash.

 

if you set your camera to rear sync, the motion will look like a trailer - it's where the subject was. so if you take a shot of a runner, the image that's frozen is where that runner ended up (whereas if you have it set normally, the image is frozen where the runner started).

 

sorry about the long winded answer. hopefully it makes sense. have fun! chul