Camera Control Exercise

Ok then.  So after getting my head around the fact that I now have to do 'homework' again for the first time in nearly a decade, I decided to head outdoors with my camera and my dad (the local Bear Grylls).  Now the task was to capture images showing narrow depth of field, wide depth of field, fast shutter speeds and low shutter speeds.

After searching around for appropriate subjects, and watching my dad wrestle a grass snake out of the local canal, I did manage to fire off a few shots.  Needless to say I had many missed opportunities due to lack of practice.

f/22 1//13sec ISO 400

This first picture was actually taken at college and (hopefully) demonstrates the wide depth of field.  The statue, trees and background are all in focus.  It was getting increasingly difficult to find a decent shot as it was getting dark pretty quickly.

Next up is my attempt at capturing a shot with narrow depth of field.  My adventures in the woods with the old man hadn't really brought anything amazing to my attention.  All the squirrels were too damn quick and wouldn't pose for me.  On the way back to the car I noticed this feather lying in a thorny bush.  There were a few more scattered about but this one caught my eye.  I did managed to blur the background but would have liked to blur some of the bush around the leaf.

I wonder where the rest of the bird is?



f5.6 1/80sec ISO 100



f/22 1/13sec ISO 100

For my slow shutter speeds pictue i ascended to the top of Pooley Pit (an old Colliery) to try and get a shot of the nearby motorway.  Armed with my trusty tripod I spent ages trying to capture cars in motion.

f/22 1/80sec ISO 100

The fast shutter speed picture proved to be a bit awkward.  Narrow boats don't move very fast and I wasn't happy with any of the pictures of traffic. To make it worse it started to rain so I had to abandon my quest.  The above shot was the best of a bad bunch.  I tried lots of different shutter speeds and aperture settings but this one came out the best.  I did blur the foreground and background while panning my camera slightly to keep the cars in shot.  It gives a nice sense of motion.

Just for good measure, heres that damn snake.

f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO 200

Anyway, thats all for now.  Im sure things will get better once I figure out what im doing.

Cheers.