In the last post on photography, I shared a few simple tips to take good close-up shots. In that post, I mentioned that the shutter speed was the least important parameter. Here, I am going to provide some examples of dynamic photography, where the shutter speed is pivotal.
I took these photos during a whale-watching tour in Terceira Island (Azores). In this context, the challenges are the oscillations of the boat and the speed of the animals (sea birds and cetaceous).
Let's start from a photo where the dynamic effect is minimal. The flight of the Cory's shearwater (Calonectris borealis) is clear and elegant. To get such a clear photo, I had to use an intermediate aperture and a very high shutter speed. To prevent the picture from becoming excessively dark, I increased the ISO value up to 1000.
Nikon D7200, 300mm, f/8, shutter 1/6,400.
Although the photo is almost frozen, it gives the feeling of the flexibility in the wing movements. You might want more than this. A possible solution would have been to use a technique called spanning. You have to follow the movement of the animal with the camera to give the sensation of the movement (you have to adapt your speed to the speed of the animal). However, spanning works best when the subject is parallel to the camera, and with a sea bird flying up and down, and left and right, it is arduous.
The Cory's shearwater can only start its flight from a cliff or the sea. This makes them a bit slower when they start taking off. Because I did not want the photo to be frozen, I slowed down the shutter speed to 5000. As you can see the feeling is already very different.
Nikon D7200, 300mm, f/7.1, shutter 1/5,000.
With the cetaceous, the situation was a bit different. Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) are big animals, usually relatively slow and calm when they swim. To take this photo, I took several shots in a row hoping to catch the right moment. I was lucky.
Nikon D7200, 210mm, f/9, shutter 1/2,000.
We also encountered a pod of young dolphins who were playing. They seem to enjoy following the boat and jumping out of the water. They were pretty fast so I increased the shutter speed to 8000. The challenge with them was to focus on only one individual without being tempted to photograph another one. According to the Murphy's law, when you choose an individual the other one next to him is doing some incredible exhibition a few meters from where the camera is focusing. And by the time you switch the attention to it, it is now the turn of the individual you were previously following...pick one and keep faith!
Nikon D7200, 300mm, f/8, shutter 1/8,000.
I wish you good luck with your dynamic photos.
Comments