Post by dareneaton on Jun 21, 2020 8:45:22 GMT
A few tips for showing movement in photos of propellors and rotors
So we can all take sharp photos of airplanes and helicopters but if we use to high a shutter speed the subject can look static in the frame , that's not a problem with jets as there isn't much moving in the picture anyway but for propellor driven planes or helicopters it just looks a bit odd
So the challenge is to use as slow a shutter speed as you can but still get sharp images .
Now i don't know about you but my handhold technique never gives the results I like , its either me being unsteady , me being heavy handed with the shutter release or I'm just not smooth enough but hand held I struggle much below 1/200th with the long end of my 200-500 zoom
For me extra support is a must whether that be a monopod or a tripod and gimbal . Both have advantages and disadvantages
Monopod is lightweight easy to transport and give pretty good support , the tripod is much better as long as long your subject isn't moving to far ( when I have to pan a long way around with tripod I nearly always trip over the legs . So where I can I use the monopod
I know lot of people have or have tried using a monopod and cant get on with them and yes they do restrict your freedom of movement but sometimes its worth percivering and try to master using it
The next challenge is to work out what shutter speed to use and what affects the final image , so as I said earlier ideally we would use a very slow shutter speed but as the subject is moving we need to compromise . Too slow and the subject will be soft and too fast and the props wont have sufficient blur . Also the speed the prop / rotor is spinning makes a big difference
Two examples of this are an Extra 300 which you can get a full disc at 1/125 but a Chinook you need to be down to 1/8th which I can tell you without support is almost impossible
The other factor is focal length of lens you are using , the shorter the lens the easier it will be to use at lower shutter speeds but if you are too close the perspective will change in the shot while panning . On the other hand if the subject is miles away and you are using a long focal length the shutter speed will need to be higher and panning effect passing the background will be reduced
The last thing that can sometimes but not always help is vibration reduction , its a case of trial and error with your own lens . Some VR systems work ok while panning some don't seem to work at all . An example of this was an 80-400 lens I had a few years back with supposedly brilliant 4 stop VR which was great I could take a photo of a static subject at 400mm at 1/15th and get sharp results but as soon as the subject moved the VR couldn't cope and I was still getting soft images at 1/200 . So if you have VR try it for yourself and decide
The final most important thing to do is get out and practice , I'm lucky I only live 4 miles from Shuttleworth so in the summer I'm over there most weeks just trying different ideas and it does help
Here is one of the Newport replica I took yesterday at 1/80th at 500mm which I'm quite pleased with
Replica Nieuport 17 N1977 by Daren Eaton, on Flickr
I hope this helps
Daren
So we can all take sharp photos of airplanes and helicopters but if we use to high a shutter speed the subject can look static in the frame , that's not a problem with jets as there isn't much moving in the picture anyway but for propellor driven planes or helicopters it just looks a bit odd
So the challenge is to use as slow a shutter speed as you can but still get sharp images .
Now i don't know about you but my handhold technique never gives the results I like , its either me being unsteady , me being heavy handed with the shutter release or I'm just not smooth enough but hand held I struggle much below 1/200th with the long end of my 200-500 zoom
For me extra support is a must whether that be a monopod or a tripod and gimbal . Both have advantages and disadvantages
Monopod is lightweight easy to transport and give pretty good support , the tripod is much better as long as long your subject isn't moving to far ( when I have to pan a long way around with tripod I nearly always trip over the legs . So where I can I use the monopod
I know lot of people have or have tried using a monopod and cant get on with them and yes they do restrict your freedom of movement but sometimes its worth percivering and try to master using it
The next challenge is to work out what shutter speed to use and what affects the final image , so as I said earlier ideally we would use a very slow shutter speed but as the subject is moving we need to compromise . Too slow and the subject will be soft and too fast and the props wont have sufficient blur . Also the speed the prop / rotor is spinning makes a big difference
Two examples of this are an Extra 300 which you can get a full disc at 1/125 but a Chinook you need to be down to 1/8th which I can tell you without support is almost impossible
The other factor is focal length of lens you are using , the shorter the lens the easier it will be to use at lower shutter speeds but if you are too close the perspective will change in the shot while panning . On the other hand if the subject is miles away and you are using a long focal length the shutter speed will need to be higher and panning effect passing the background will be reduced
The last thing that can sometimes but not always help is vibration reduction , its a case of trial and error with your own lens . Some VR systems work ok while panning some don't seem to work at all . An example of this was an 80-400 lens I had a few years back with supposedly brilliant 4 stop VR which was great I could take a photo of a static subject at 400mm at 1/15th and get sharp results but as soon as the subject moved the VR couldn't cope and I was still getting soft images at 1/200 . So if you have VR try it for yourself and decide
The final most important thing to do is get out and practice , I'm lucky I only live 4 miles from Shuttleworth so in the summer I'm over there most weeks just trying different ideas and it does help
Here is one of the Newport replica I took yesterday at 1/80th at 500mm which I'm quite pleased with
Replica Nieuport 17 N1977 by Daren Eaton, on FlickrI hope this helps
Daren
