The (in)famous Whyphotograph's Blog

One of the things I didn’t realize about SlowShutter is it allows you to set the shutter speed. (hey, I didn’t say I paid attention..)
We were at the opening of the new East Gallery at the Grounds For Sculpture and I thought I’d take a few pictures of the new wing. The first image was using ProCamera, my normal “quickie” camera.

This is an ok image, a little static though, so I thought this would be a good time to try out SlowShutter and see if I could introduce a little motion in it.
Since I didn’t have a tripod with me, I had to try to wedge the iPhone inside the buck frame of an outside door to properly steady it.
The first image is shutter speed set to 0.5 seconds

There is a little movment on the ground but still rather static.
The next one is 2 sec.

You can now see the effect I’m after. The rush of the crowd inside the still container. This is pretty much the look I wanted but the room isn’t completely sharp (remember, no tripod..)
and now 4 sec.

and finally 8 sec.

You can see that it’s almost impossible to steady a camera for that period unless it’s firmly pressed into a flat, supporting surface. I also did a 16 second exposure but it’s not even worth seeing.
Another think you may notice is the variability in the rate people move. Crowds have a tendency to surge and stop. Once you find the correct exposure, shoot a bunch and pick the best one.

Please remember that what I’ve just showed also applies to Big Boy cameras too…

Blending several of the images together can also make for a wild composition.

Speaking of Blending… I think my next note will be on using BigLens and Blender to direct visual focus inside an image.

Why would you take the risk of deliberately introducing blur into a camera system designed to be so sharp?

In the days of olde, before apps, people crafted their images “in camera”. Through experience, looking at reams of other peoples images, disassembling them in your mind and then integrating them in your own work. Initially producing, perhaps, derivative images but allowing you to integrate the technique into your bag o’tricks to be applied at some later date when your image you were composing screamed out for it.

Ok, enough about the “good ‘old days”…

I had been looking for a way to slow down the shutter speed for a long night exposure when Teri mentioned it in “The Last Pixel Show” so I thought i’d give it a try.

I shot the first pair on the lake when I noticed the water lapping over a boulder.

The first shot was with ProCamera and shows what you’d expect, crisp water with movement patterns in it.

The next one shows the same scene but with the water smooth & dreamy. Quite a different look.

If look at the rocks, you’ll see why I recommend a tripod with this. I had supported the camera on another rock to steady it. It works fine for ProCamera but allowed just enough vibration to get through that the rocks aren’t sharp.

The next examples were shot with a tripod.

The first image is the SlowSutter version of the barn by my studio in Peters Valley. It has a different feel than the next image. There seems to be more texture and shadow detail in this very high contrast scene. There is tree movement visible especially in the middle left & the grass is a tad softer from it. Since there was a decent wind that afternoon, you’ll notice the buildings moving slightly as well.

The second image is a 645Pro one. Sharp & crisp though I think a little too contrasty causing some loss of shadow detail. I used the K14 film type which may help explain the higher contrast.

It all depends on what you want to accomplish, how you visualize your final piece.

Right after I posted this piece I remembered that I had another, rather cool, use for SlowShutter.
While at a charity thing I decided to see if I could balance the iPhone on the table and do some slow shutter exposures. Here are the results:

In my next entry, I’ll take them indoors & see what happens… Have a great day Friends…