Shutter Speeds

This setting was a bit of challenge for me.  I had a hard time figuring out how to set it on my Nikon D90.  I’m supposed to be able to turn my setting to S mode and use the back dial to alter my shutter speeds.  However, this was not the case.  I set the mode but the shutter speed was not changing when I turned the dial.  I changed to the P mode and tried the same thing to no avail.  I finally googled my issue and felt relief when I found others were having the same issue.  I found two forums that helped immensely.  One responder said pushing the shutter release button half way down resets or unlocks the dials.  Another said pushing the live button worked as well.  I opted to use the second option.  It was easier for me at the time as I was chasing my son around our back yard while him and his dad played lacrosse. 

I started in a high shutter mode and everything seemed to freeze in time.  I started with 1/500 and my son is running towards me.  Everything is in focus and seems it as I have pressed pause on a video.  It seemed to do this at /180 and 1/125 as well.  I can see more of a difference as I get to the 1/90 setting.  The movement of their lacrosse sticks is blurry or in action.  I learned to pan last semester and this worked well with this setting.  The shot of them running is, I tried to be as smooth as possible and move with Hiram (my son).  I captured what I set out to do, which was to get them in focus but show their movement across the lawn.  I went down to 1/60 and this seemed more of a challenge to keep still.  The more I focused in on a specific subject that was still was the only thing to stay in focus.  The more I dialed down, the more I had to stay still.  I was quite proud of the image that is at a 1/6 setting and I managed to get Hiram’s face in focus while everything else is in motion.  The more I went down the more frustrating it was to keep my subject in focus but once I did, it felt great to be able to manipulate my camera. 

I tried to challenge myself by telling Hiram to jump in the trampoline while I shot in the lower settings.  This was very difficult because I could not stay still.  The constant shake from the trampoline was too much for my amateur skills especially at a setting of 1/4.  The setting that worked the best for me was the 1/90.  I was able to capture the shots in motion but still keep what I wanted in focus which is a big feat for me.  When I did this assignment similar to this one last semester, I am positive I had the ISO and the shutter speeds confused because of the setting on my camera.  Instead of changing the shutter, it changes the ISO so I was under the impression I had been changing my shutter speeds.  I am I figured this out, I tend to get confused when I am shooting and everything is happening so fast in front of me. 

In real life, this lesson has been very helpful.  Hiram plays lacrosse and does not sit still.  I almost always have to chase him to get a picture.  I like the effect of the motion the shutter speeds give a picture.  This will also help at work, we just put in a water wall and I am looking forward to getting some good water splashing shots of the kids.

The examples I have attached show the difference between a slow shutter speed that smears or blurs things together and a fast shutter speed that freezes everything and shows great detail.