Assignment three.

[Snappers]

Well, I braved the cold and went out today to practice my assignment three. I got some very strange looks I must say and one of my pictures I have a nice lady in a car giving me a two finger salute!

Ah well, I did enjoy my time out today but got very cold. I've started to have a look through the pics tonight but my head was hurting after looking at all the blured images and so I've given it a rest until tomorrow.

I think I may well be going out again very soon though to take some more pics as I'm not entirly sure I have got my head around it yet. I also want to change my lens and see if that makes any difference.

How have other classmates found assignment three?

[Snappers]

The main difficulty I found was trying to pan (steadily) at the same speed as the car. Not sure how others found this technique, I'd be interested to hear if it is just me having problems or if others found it difficult.

Practice makes perfect though, so I'll be hitting the streets again soon for some more strange looks:)

The crazy thing is that when I was in the town centre taking my pics of people walking past for that part of the assignment, I didn't get any strange looks at all, infact, I dont think anyone noticed me, but when I was stood there taking pics of the cars going by I got loads of strange looks. Perhaps they thought they were going to get tickets for speeding:p

[gjtoth]

I'm currently on assignment three. You're right... it's not as easy as it sounds. I'll get it but, it will surely take a while to get it right.

[Snappers]

Surly, Gary and I are not the only ones who have done Assignment three???

What do other people think of this Assignment?
What have you enjoyed about it and which part if any did you find difficult?
Were you surprised at your results?
Any funny stories you have whilst standing on a street corner taking photos??????

[jonrayner]

I am on Assignment 3.
Due to work commitments, I have struggled to get out. I managed to get out this weekend, however i did have a 2 year old to 'entertain' at the same time. Needless to say I was very un-productive!
Will try again soon!!

[Snappers]

I am on Assignment 3.
Due to work commitments, I have struggled to get out. I managed to get out this weekend, however i did have a 2 year old to 'entertain' at the same time. Needless to say I was very un-productive!
Will try again soon!!


No wonder you had difficulty if you had a 2 year old running around at the same time.

[janine]

hehehehe - i have meant to for ages now!!! just been pregnant and too lazy! no excuse really - can i add that its been raining! i would love to see the photo of the little old lady giving you a 'wave' bet that was a classic!! heheheheh

here is to hoping i get out there soon! will defo post my comments as soon as!;)

[Snappers]

61There you go. You'll have to zoom in to see the fingers, it took me a while to spot it, but I did have a laugh when I saw it. It is much clearer in the full picture size file. I'll see if I can't crop a pic and zoom in.

This was not my best attempt at this lesson, but like you say, it has been raining since and I havn't had chance to get back out there and have another go.

[janine]

o! i think thats very good!!! cant see the fingers tho. hahahahaha

[janine]

actually, i think i might my @£$ into gear and go do this thing next week. my brother is coming to visit us from sa so i can tag him along and show him the town...good excuse! i should stop being so lazy! heres to hoping i succeed!:o

[Snappers]

Hope it warms up a little for you Janine.

[Snappers]

o! i think thats very good!!! cant see the fingers tho. hahahahaha

There you go, the cropped version. However, it is poor quality:(

[janine]

thats funny!! heheheheheheheh:)

[Snappers]

Best of it was, I never even noticed until I was looking at the photos on the pc at home. I did have a giggle to myself.

[LensBaby]

It sure is funny the things you can find in a photo after it is taken. I have a photographer friend who puts his camera around his neck, goes downtown and takes pictures without peoples knowledge and he caught a drug deal on one of his photos. (Of course he can't use them because he doesn't have their written approval, but he was explaining different ways to get cool photos of people on the street. He has some awesome photos also!! (Funny he just clicks away at the camera while it is hanging down around his neck)

[Snappers]

It is indeed funny what you can capture when out and about. The funniest thing I noticed with Assignment three was that whilst I was stood at the side of the road taking pictures I got some very strange looks (as you saw) from both drivers and people walking along the street however, when I went into town to take the pics of people walking by, I dont remember anyone looking at me once whilst I was taking pictures. Strange that.

[LensBaby]

Yeah that is funny/

[Snappers]

At first I felt a bit awkward, I thought I was bound to get some strange looks and possibly get asked what I thought I was doing. But then as time went on, I sort of just merged into the background. Perhaps people were too busy concentrating on their christmas shopping.

[Snappers]

Well, I finally managed to get back out into the cold today to practice assignment three. I am still finding it very difficult to pan at the same speed as the car, this is going to take some getting used to.

I did find it easier shooting in manual focus though rather than auto. This is my latest attempt at this assignment.

Peter gave me some advice after my first attempt i.e.
shooting in Manual rather than auto focus and keeping your feet still and rotating your body.

It does seem very hard but I guess with practice it will come.

I had two funny stories from my outings today though, one was a lorry which was speeding down our road (Its a 30mph speed limit) and when he saw me taking photos all's you could see then was the brake lights for the next 500 yrds :D:D:D

The second one, was not really funny but there were two cars which came past me, I was taking a picture of the first car, but the second car was too busy looking in his rear view mirror to see what I was doing that he had not noticed the car in front of him turning. He had to brake very hard in order to miss running into the back of the other car!:eek:

Ah well, can't wait till I'm out next time to see what happens then.

Has anyone else had chance to get out and do any more with assignment three?

[Snappers]

As an additional note on this one, I also found that it helped if you could stand further back away from the pavement. This gives you more chance to pan with the car.

[LensBaby]

I have not had time yet to do lesson 3. I wish I could find some time. Maybe at the end of this week, because things will slow down a little for me. I can't wait. I am like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to photography.

[gjtoth]

Well, I finally managed to get back out into the cold today to practice assignment three. I am still finding it very difficult to pan at the same speed as the car, this is going to take some getting used to.

I did find it easier shooting in manual focus though rather than auto. This is my latest attempt at this assignment.

Peter gave me some advice after my first attempt i.e.
shooting in Manual rather than auto focus and keeping your feet still and rotating your body.

It does seem very hard but I guess with practice it will come.

I had two funny stories from my outings today though, one was a lorry which was speeding down our road (Its a 30mph speed limit) and when he saw me taking photos all's you could see then was the brake lights for the next 500 yrds :D:D:D

The second one, was not really funny but there were two cars which came past me, I was taking a picture of the first car, but the second car was too busy looking in his rear view mirror to see what I was doing that he had not noticed the car in front of him turning. He had to brake very hard in order to miss running into the back of the other car!:eek:

Ah well, can't wait till I'm out next time to see what happens then.

Has anyone else had chance to get out and do any more with assignment three?

'Fraid not, Andy. Busy getting ready for out-of-state trek and now, no camera until tomorrow. Soooooooo... probably after the hussle of the season.

[jonrayner]

Looks like I am going to have to wait until after Christmas to carry on with assignment 3, too much going on at the moment. When ever I seem to get any time, it has gone dark!! Rubbish Winter, bring back Summer......

[LensBaby]

I like winter for about 1 or 2 weeks and then I am ready for it to leave.

[gjtoth]

I like winter for about 1 or 2 weeks and then I am ready for it to leave.

I like it for about 1 or 2 HOURS... that's it! heh

[LensBaby]

So what is the weather like there today?

[gjtoth]

So what is the weather like there today?

Bluddy COLD! No snow, THANK GOD! Just cold. High of only 35

[LensBaby]

It is freezing here. At least the snow stopped (for now)

[Snappers]

They have forcast possible snow for here over the weekend. Perhaps we will get our white christmas after all.

I dont so much mind the winter, I love the change of the season with the colour in the tress etc, but when you get that bitter wind, ohhhhhhh it is cold!

Now if we could have winter without the cold, that would be a different story.

Our summer here in the UK this year has been soooooooooo bad though that some of our winter days have been better than our summer days:(

[LensBaby]

Wow I went out today and tried lesso three. Its harder than it sounds that is for sure. The only one I could get right is when I didnt have it on a tripod, but the shutter speed was so slow, that I dont think the photo turned out that good. I need to redo this assignment that is for sure!

[gjtoth]

Wow I went out today and tried lesso three. Its harder than it sounds that is for sure. The only one I could get right is when I didnt have it on a tripod, but the shutter speed was so slow, that I dont think the photo turned out that good. I need to redo this assignment that is for sure!

That's exactly what I'm running into. I think is slow reaction time, though. I'm old. heh

[LensBaby]

This is what is turned out like.

[Snappers]

That looks pretty good to me.

I found the one where I had the camera on the tripod the easiest, but the panning one the hardest.

[LensBaby]

Hey is there a way to find out the info on a photo here ...is it Exif? I dont know much about that, or how you find that info. I know you guys told me how to do it on Flickr and I still couldnt find it on there!!!! I really am not an airhead I promise. Thanks for your help!

[gjtoth]

Hey is there a way to find out the info on a photo here ...is it Exif? I dont know much about that, or how you find that info. I know you guys told me how to do it on Flickr and I still couldnt find it on there!!!! I really am not an airhead I promise. Thanks for your help!

You should be able to find it Photoshop, Susan. Try right-clicking on it and see what it brings up.

[Snappers]

Yeh you can see it in photoshop, if you open the picture in photoshop and then go to file, file info and then click on camera data 1, this will give you some of the info and Camera data 2 will give you some more but it is mainly camera data 1

[admin]

Hey is there a way to find out the info on a photo here ...is it Exif? I dont know much about that, or how you find that info. I know you guys told me how to do it on Flickr and I still couldnt find it on there!!!! I really am not an airhead I promise. Thanks for your help!


When you upload your photo in your gallery at Proud Photography it'll show you your photo's EXIF too. You can upload full sized photos, gallery will resize them for you.

[LensBaby]

Great. Thank you for your help (everyone)

[jonrayner]

That panning shot looks great Lensbaby, I would be pleased with that result. I am looking forward to getting out to do mine, still either too cold, wet or dark!! Soon though!

[janine]

yeah, i think your photo looks good love!

[jonrayner]

Woo hoo, I managed to get out and start assigment 3's practical task. I managed to do the first part where you use the shutter speed from the fastest possible right the way down to, well I stopped at a 2 second shutter speed as I figured that was enough. It was good to be able to see the results from start to finish, almost like seeing day break. unfortunatley I did not get to to the panning shot as it started to rain, and I am most definetly a fair weather photographer!! Well I am nearer to starting the next lesson!

[gjtoth]

Woo hoo, I managed to get out and start assigment 3's practical task. I managed to do the first part where you use the shutter speed from the fastest possible right the way down to, well I stopped at a 2 second shutter speed as I figured that was enough. It was good to be able to see the results from start to finish, almost like seeing day break. unfortunatley I did not get to to the panning shot as it started to rain, and I am most definetly a fair weather photographer!! Well I am nearer to starting the next lesson!

I could probably do that part of the assignment here if I could focus on ONE snowflake whipping by at lightspeed near perfect horizontal! IF I could stay outside longer than 3 minutes without freezing to death. Not too good for the camera either!

[welmoed]

I'm on this lesson as well... I hope to set up my camera sometime next weekend and see what develops. I live out in the 'burbs of Washington DC, but the road by my house isn't going to work (not enough sight distance), so I'll set up elsewhere. Just wanted to let y'all know that there IS someone else on this part of the class!
--Welmoed

[Snappers]

There are quite a few on lesson three at the moment, the weather has put pay to many people progessing beyond this part at the moment.

[Zero]

Im on lesson 3 aswel now. I thinking about heading out to the racetrack (drags) to complete this assignment.

[Snappers]

That sounds a good idea Mark.

[jerryph]

I did not read all 5 pages of this thread, but I was at a local race track this fall watching a friend practice and getting to know he track before a ace the following week and I had a chance to play a lot with panning shots.

One of the things that gave me the best results in terms of getting a clear car travelling at over 100 MPH through a tight turn was to make sure that my camera was set to "Continual Focus". This means that as the car tracked through the curve, it readjusted focus from the moment I pressed the shutter down half way until I pressed it down all the way to take the picture.

Using this, the car always came out sharp and depending on shutter speed (from 1/500th to 1/125th) I varied the amout of background blur to whatever I wanted. If I dropped under 1/125th, the car itself would start to blur due to the speed of it's motion.

I am sure that street cars are a little easier to take as they are moving a lot slower, but panning takes a lot of practice. My first 20 or so attempts to do this atthe track, I had very poor results.

One of the hints was already mentioned (stand back a little further away from the curb), but yes the farther you are away from the moving car, the less of a visual motion blur you will get, unless you zoom in (this is the best/safest way... do it from a distance, especially at a race track).

The second hint is stance. I stand tall, feet planted about shoulder width apart and twist the torso without twisting the neck to get the shot. If I am using a monopod, the bottom leg is placed between and about 6 inches in front of my feet and the ball attachment is loose enough to permit a light swivel without letting the camera move back and forth.

[dkippen]

Jerry -

Will you be posting your shots? Sounds like they turned out very well, can't wait to see them.

[jerryph]

I was not given permission to do so by the car owner/driver, I'm afraid, and I asked. He is just paranoid about putting anything on the internet.

[dkippen]

Jerry -

That's too bad - would of been really cool to see those photos. It will just give you an excuse to go out and practice this new skill and then post pictures.

[Snappers]

Sound advice Jerry. I too would have like to have seen the results but as you say, you have to respect the drivers/owners wishes.

[jerryph]

Jerry -

That's too bad - would of been really cool to see those photos. It will just give you an excuse to go out and practice this new skill and then post pictures.


I suppose I could easily enough find the time this weekend to do a few panning shots in the name of "practice:. :)

[Zero]

I did not read all 5 pages of this thread, but I was at a local race track this fall watching a friend practice and getting to know he track before a ace the following week and I had a chance to play a lot with panning shots.

One of the things that gave me the best results in terms of getting a clear car travelling at over 100 MPH through a tight turn was to make sure that my camera was set to "Continual Focus". This means that as the car tracked through the curve, it readjusted focus from the moment I pressed the shutter down half way until I pressed it down all the way to take the picture.

Using this, the car always came out sharp and depending on shutter speed (from 1/500th to 1/125th) I varied the amout of background blur to whatever I wanted. If I dropped under 1/125th, the car itself would start to blur due to the speed of it's motion.

I am sure that street cars are a little easier to take as they are moving a lot slower, but panning takes a lot of practice. My first 20 or so attempts to do this atthe track, I had very poor results.

One of the hints was already mentioned (stand back a little further away from the curb), but yes the farther you are away from the moving car, the less of a visual motion blur you will get, unless you zoom in (this is the best/safest way... do it from a distance, especially at a race track).

The second hint is stance. I stand tall, feet planted about shoulder width apart and twist the torso without twisting the neck to get the shot. If I am using a monopod, the bottom leg is placed between and about 6 inches in front of my feet and the ball attachment is loose enough to permit a light swivel without letting the camera move back and forth.

Great post Jerry, thanks for the advice on the focus setting. This would probly come in handy for other sports or fast moving objects.

[Zero]

Managed to get some free time today to have a go at Assignment 3. (could'nt wait for the drags!) I think it turned out OK, background was'nt the best. But I tried to pick a spot where I woul'nd freak out to many motorists!

http://www.proudphotography.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=801531&g2_serialNumber=2

[kimapali]

I wanted to take a picture of my daughter runnin towards me since she tends to have the biggest grin on her face. Do I just set the camera to a higher ISO? Since I can't follow her with the camera because she's coming vertically instead of horizontally, I'm not really sure how to get that focus on the subject but blurred background shot!

[finepix36]

I should have been doing this course years ago, as my husband raced oval track and I tried and tried to get good shots of him on the track but just couldn't get it!! :o

I can't believe the driver/car owner didn't want their car on the web! Every racer I know of wants their sponsors names out there any time they can! :D

Oh well, he's building a road racing car now, so I'm sure I'll have plenty of chances still to come to try out lesson 3 from now on! LOL

[jerryph]

I received an email, and found out why. They have a professional photographer doing their car already and he did not want to cause any conflicts between my pics and theirs. This photohrapher uses his car as part of his professional portfolio.

Thats ok, I'll be going to the track a lot and doing it to many cars who won't mind me taking their pics at all this spring and summer.

[Snappers]

That sounds fair enough Jerry. I'll be looking forward to your pictures later in the spring/summer

[jerryph]

I wanted to take a picture of my daughter runnin towards me since she tends to have the biggest grin on her face. Do I just set the camera to a higher ISO? Since I can't follow her with the camera because she's coming vertically instead of horizontally, I'm not really sure how to get that focus on the subject but blurred background shot!

Increase DOF but make sure that your shutter speed is fast enough that you do not get motion blur.

Does your camera have a focus setting that permits the focus to adjust continuously as you press the shutter button down 1/2 way and point it towards moving objects? That would help a lot.