Beginner - Depth of Field and Motion questions

[rvaccha]

Hi,
I am a beginner in Photography, taking a class at my University in Philadelphia.

I have to do an assignment which requires me to shoot a film with Depth of Field (Aperture) and Motion (Shutter Speed) Photographs.

Can anyone please suggest good subjects/objects to use for this assignment and if you know of any interesting locations in Philadelphia that will be great!

More details on the assignment below:

For the Depth of Field Photographs I need to find or create a subject that has a foreground, middle ground and background, and adjust the shutter speed and aperture.

For the Motion assignment I need to photograph a moving object while adjusting shutter spped and f-stop.

Thanks,
RJ

[misschuff]

Hi RJ,

I'm a beginner too but a thought come to mind immediately that will satisfy both DOF and Motion - a train station.

You can stand on the end of the platform or on the overhead bridge.

Now what about flowing water - a river, water over rocks or it that's not available where you live the storm water drain?

Going on about these again what about a road with a bend in it, you again get the DOF and Motion, espeically at night with long shutter speeds and the 'blurred' action of the lights?

Go well,

Carlita

[sheila]

That somewhat of a big ask! But I can direct you to an excellent website on photography, which has tutorials on many subjects - depth of field is here

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutor ... /dof.shtml

Here is a shot of pegs on a clothes line which is a good example of a shallow DOF


You will get this effect by using a long telephoto lens - in this case, my Canon 300 f/4L taken at f/4.

Cheers
Sheila

[jypsee]

DOF
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutori ... -field.htm
there's some examples in there; I'd go to any church or other building with a row of columns and use that as you DOF subject; a row of trees...etc. I'm assuming you need to make several examples of the same subject to express your adjusted shutter speed and aperture?
I have a couple of examples in this gallery
http://www.pbase.com/jypsee/vantage

For moving subjects, I like to set up a tripod and focus on one point while using a slow shutter speed to draw attention to the motion blur of anything that moves through the frame; however, your assignment only says photograph the subject adjusting your shutter speed and aperture so you could be freezing action... see this gallery, all exif is there
http://www.pbase.com/jypsee/gallery/time

[jdepould]

Anything macro-like will yeild noticable DoF, sports events might allow for panning, depending on the sport. Not sure what winter sports you have. Cars anywhere allow for motion. I usually use 1/90 or 1/125 to capture motion without excessive blur, sometimes down to 1/60 depending on what it is.

[rvaccha]

Hi,

Hello All,

Thanks for your quick replies, I really appreciate it.

I forgot to add these following instructions from my Professor:

Depth of field:

1) Shoot outside with plenty of light.

2) The foreground should be 2ft or closer from the camera

3) The middle subject should be about 4ft from the camera

4) The background subject about 10 ft from the camera

Adjust the aperture from the largest to the smallest

Motion (Shutter Speed):

Photograph a moving object using shutter speeds from 1/8 of a second to 1/1000:

1. stop action- use a faster shutter speed (1/500)
2. blur action- use a slower shutter speed (1/30 or slower)
3. pan action- create the illusion of, or accentuate movement by moving the camera with or against the moving subject. Start at 1/30 and experiment.

Any suggestions on subjects/locations for both the DOF and Motion pictures will be great.

Thanks a lot,
RJ

[jdepould]

Does the Prof. want deep depth of field (high f/ number)? Or shallow depth of field (low f/ number, blurred background)?

[rvaccha]

Hi,

The professor has asked us to vary the aperture from the largest to the smallest while changing shutter speeds.

I am just a bit confused as to what would be a good subject to photograph, because he has suggested distances between the subject, foreground and background.

I guess I am really excited about learning this wonderful art!!

Thanks a lot,
RJ

[pinemikey]

Hi, RJ ...for the depth of field, I take it the professor wants three images with the same foreground, middle and background but each three focusing on a separate portion. I went to Wilkipedia and found this link to the Centennial Arboretum right there in Philadelphia. It shouldn't be too hard to set up three displays to get what you want.

For the moving object photos I would think that an outdoor sport or joggers in the park might work. It would be easy to suggest that you go to any busy street corner and take some shots but (and this is just my opinion) I would think the pictures, while okay for that portion of the assignment, would be boring. People on an outdoor skating rink would be ideal I should think. Google helped again and I found Blue Cross River Rink.

Hope this helps.

[jdepould]

Bump for an update, how are the assignments coming?

[rvaccha]

Hello my friends,

Thanks so much for your help...I am sure I will continue to ask plenty more questions.

I have got a basic understanding of DOF and Motion, but somehow am still figuring out my camera (Canon EOS Elan II...I cant get the f-stop to go down to 2.8 ). So, I took very basic DOF and motion photos as I needed to print the negatives and then make a contact sheet (which I did today), but the photos were terrible so I need to retake them.

I think I will check out the Arb and the skating rink....its so cold though, I cannot take photos with the thick winter gloves that I have and if I remove my gloves my hand freezes in 1 min....Are there some gloves which are more suitable to photography..i.e. handling the camera?

I also have to do an assignment on light...."We are looking at dramatic light and how it impacts and image....pay attention to shadows and how they also become part of the image...meter the shadows."

Once again, I am just looking for suggestions on ideas, objects, places, etc. because I am new at this, I really want to learn and make the most of this experience.

By the way, I am not trying to get an easy grade or be lazy.... I am a MBA student so the grade does not really matter anymore, I dont plan to go back to school!

The honest fact is that I am very interested in learning the field of photography, but my instructor is not readily available apart from the once a week class that we have. He works full time as a photo journalist and is not really accessible.

Furthermore, I am relatively new to Philadelphia and have a condition which has limited my movement, thus its harder for me to scout around town.

I appreciate the help though and promise you that I am not looking for shortcuts, rather just looking for ideas. Creativity is something that is not my forte!

Sorry for the sob story, its not meant to be!

I will surely keep you all posted...I wonder if there is any way to share my images online?

Thanks a lot friends, enjoy shooting!!

RJ

[jdepould]

What lens are you using? It might not stop down to 2.8.

[ghsmith178613]

guys, this is a standard college first semester photo assigment. i give the same assigment to my students in Texas. coincidently, i have given it this week. a big difference is, my classes are really small, so i go out and shoot with my students.

purpose: the student will demonstrate an understanding of the mechanics, function, relationship between the shutter, aperture, lens focal length and distances between the film plane and the subject(s).

product: b/w film, contact sheet, number of specified prints demonstrating the purpose or digital RAW files presented in PSCS2.

subject material: can be anything that is easily photographed, posed or staged.

assigment due: 1-2 weeks from day given for film, 1-3 days for digital.
background: this assignment has been preceeded by 6-8 hours of lectures, visual presentations, and other aids, so that the student clearly understands the assigment.

the student must use imagination and initiative to complete this assigment.

this is part of the PAD discipline - get out and shoot something - all of us have already done.

students... we don't give a degree in this work without a lot of work.

BRAVO and many thanks to all for helping!!!