Zoom Burst

Sounds a bit like an ad for Opal fruits (now called starburst), but it is actually the title of my photography project.

Zoom burst technique involves zooming while the shutter is open with a relatively slow shutter speed, generally below 1/60th of a second. For this reason low light or small apertures are required.

Photographs taken with this technique are characterized by blurred streaks emanating from the center of the photograph. The effect is nearly identical to a motion blur image in which the camera is traveling towards the subject. For this reason the zoom burst is typically used to create an impression of motion towards the subject.

An example of what I was trying to achieve is something like this amazing shot by Steve Corey. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecorey/2689477580/in/set-72157616490602004/


I love the way he has managed to get the front cyclist beautifully in focus with the feel of the rest of the picture speeding towards you. My efforts are no where near as accomplished, but practice makes perfect.
I really enjoyed this project and was surprised by the different feel of the pictures according to the subject.
With hindsight I should have done motion and motion blur as a topic first, but it is all a learning curve!




These flower photos (camelia and Aconites) give an interesting bleed effect and the motion feel is almost gone






I surprised myself with this one! I was looking for something bright to put at the centre of the zoom. Purely by accident you can almost hear the alarm ringing!





I think this one really does capture the motion effect I was originally looking for.



This is a bit like a hangover.


These last two were my first attempts which I found interesting, but they were not what I was trying to do!












My next project will probably be motion and motion blur.

white-colour balance

Seems appropriate subject with all this snow around!

Thanks everyone for your lovely welcoming comments. I didn't really believe that anyone would read this.

WHITE COLOUR BALANCE
I didn't know there was such a thing until last week.
But white balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic colour casts, so that objects which appear white in person, look white in the photo. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, however digital cameras find this harder.

Normally on the Auto setting my camera does this automatically (very well!), but my first project is to take a few pictures, playing with the white colour balance to affect the colour/mood of the photo.

I have 6 different Auto WB settings on the camera:

Tungsten
Fluorescent
Daylight
Flash
Cloudy
Shade

I took 3 different pictures (nothing special) using all the auto white-colour balance settings on the camera on the same early frosty morning.



I must admit I was quite surprised how much difference there really was. I thought it would take a really well trained eye, to spot the difference, but it is actually quite obvious especially when side by side.


SET 1

I wanted to give the impression of coldness so I wanted to choose a setting that brought out the blue in the picture without making it look too false. I have chosen 41 (worst 38)

42 Flash

41 Fluorescent (first choice)
40 Tungsten
39 Cloudy
38 Shade (worst)
37 Daylight
36 Auto












SET 2 again I wanted the impression of cold so I have chosen 34 (worst 31)

35 Flash
34 Fluorescent (first choice)
33 Tungsten
32 Cloudy
31 Shade (worst)
30 Daylight
29 Auto












SET 3 I wanted a feeling of the warmth of the sunlight in the tree so have chosen 24 (worst 26)

28 Flash



















27 Fluorescent


















26 Tungsten (worst)




















25 Cloudy



















24 Shade (first choice)




















23 Daylight




















22 Auto

That was a lovely easy project to start on.

I have learnt in very simple terms that I might possibly remember..........

.........that using Fluorescent WB gives a cold feel (without making it look too unreal)

and Tungsten WB gives a warm feel.

First pics

Here are my first pictures taken in the snow just before Christmas.

I don't claim to know anything about photography, but I will make a few comments on my own photos.

1.

I like the way the lightgives a warm glow to the rose hips on the trellis



















2.

I took two pictures of the scene, one with the houses in focus and one with the snow in focus. I prefered the one that really showed off the snowy 'pipecleaners' on the hedge'








3.

I liked the orange of the willow aganst the white of the snow and the branches 'pointing' at the 2 blackbirds sittng in the bare tree.















4.

I liked the incongrousness of the toy car in amongst the box ball hedges. (shame about the chair distraction).










5.

I couldn't resist the Marge Simpson hairstyles on these rosehips










6.

I liked the textures and the light












7.



I was surprised that I liked this one, but there is something about the glow of the brickwork in the house and the light from the bottom of the picture pointing towards it.

8.

I changed this one to black and white because I found the green hedge in the background distracting to the stripey shapes.












I am also reading a book about 52 photography projects so my next post will be about my exploration of white-colour balance.

First post - New camera

I got a new camera for my birthday.

My 1st SLR camera. I have had it for a month and have already filled up my hard drive with pictures. I got a field guide to go with the camera. I have read the guide from cover to cover, but probably only stored 10% in my brain!

This blog will follow my life with this new camera. It is a canon EOS 500D.

I have had so much fun. I have been really enjoying the freedom of a digital camera, to take any shot without worrying about wasting film. I love seeing the world as potential photographs. I am appreciating my surrounding much more already, from the beautiful foggy sunrise across the snowy landscapes, to the reflection in a clock.

The recent snow has been a great subject, as are my family (as always).

I will post some pics soon.