Suggestion for a future contest

[NV Whino]

We've talked about a motion contest, and here's and idea along those lines.

1/8th of a second.

I just went to a show by Terence Ford this weekend with that theme. Wonderful stuff. He shot rodeos and Indian dancers primarily, but there was some other stuff as well. This sounds like a fun project to try.

And for those of you who don't know who Terence Ford is: he is a.) a wonderful photographer; and b.) brother to Harrison. And in my humble opinion leaves Harrison, who I love, in the dust when it comes to looks.

[F.Gordon]

1. This Terence Ford?

http://www.terenceford.com/catalog/index.php

His motion work is very nice but I really like a couple in his personal B&W stuff. Didn't look at everything though...

I love motion snaps but I think most people would be scratching their head if you ask them to snap at 1/8 second. Or, are you just suggesting that a "motion" theme be called "1/8 second", that those that can figure out how to snap at 1/8 sec..... do so?

[NV Whino]

2. I'm suggesting that 1/8th of a second

be the qualifying factor. But, of course, we put it up in a poll and see if anyone is interested first.

I searched for some samples of Terence Ford yesterday and couldn't find any. Thanks for the link.

[F.Gordon]

3. Found him (the link) in a list of Wedding Photographers

I have no problem with doin' a 1/8 sec thing. Maybe it'd be a good thing. Those that use digie point & shoot cameras can learn what the "S" is on that funny looking dial on their camera. For that matter... those with their fancy dancy DSLR's can learn to snap in shutter priority as well.

[jhain]

4. and those of us who don't know what an 1/8 th is??

I keep confessing here- I am a true point and shoot type. Might have a good eye but NO techincal stuff shall ever be able to clutter my brain...it slides out.

[F.Gordon]

5. It's really simple......

A Car leaves Chicago for St. Louis at exactly 6:08am. There are 7 people and 8 Tuna Fish Sandwiches in the Car. The Car stops in Peoria to get 24.8 gallons of gas. While filling the Car 5 of the 7 people get out of the Car and do to whatever it is you do when you get out of the Car at a Gas Station.

While the 5 people are out of the Car the other 2 people eat all 8 Tuna Fish Sandwiches. Exactly 125 miles out of Peoria the 2 Tuna Fish Sandwich eating people are raptured and in their place 7 Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches and 1 Tuna Fish Sandwich appear. The 5 other people are very high at the time and only notice that there is just 1 Tuna Fish Sandwich.

Does that make sense?
:shrug:

[jhain]

6. well..No

But, it made me hungry.

[NV Whino]

7. 1/8 of a second

is how long the shutter stays open on your camera. Go to the link and take a look at the motion shots. It is those shots I saw in the show.

Leaving the shutter open for a length of time like that, is a way to produce motion blur. If you look at Terry's photos, you will see that most of them were done at night or dim light with ambient lighting. Leaving the shutter open also allows more light in, allowing you to do night shots, for instance, without flash.

I haven't a clue how he got the magnificent Mexican Rodeo in bright sunlight at 1/8 of a second. The Indian dancer is a pretty typical result.

There are other ways to create motion, but I think having a restraint such as the 1/8 of a second shutter speed would be a good challenge.

[jhain]

8. I may be blond but....

I did know that much. ;-)

Just don't want to take the time to figure out how to make the camera DO it.
More lazy than blonde, I guess. Thanks for tryng to help me get it.!

Now, I need someone to download the owner's manual for my camera and give me step by step directions.

Kidding.kidding!!

Husband did take some great night sky shots so I know it can be done with this camera.........

[Eurobabe]

9. Oh hell, I haven't read my manual yet....paging BLUE, ALASKA!!

What was the name of that Canon 20D DVD again? LOL.

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Introduction to the Canon 20D Digital SLR

A training video for new to intermediate camera users. (Blue Crane Digital).

It's very helpful. :)

[priller]

10. I think that's a great idea!

That would be quite a challenge, plus it's something I haven't done before. I like that idea.

The only problem will be the digicam users in the forum that don't have Shutter Priority or any other way to set a specific shutter speed on their camera. Of course, I don't know how many that is, since a lot of people here seem to have DSLR's or more full-featured digicams, so maybe it's not that big of an issue?

[NV Whino]

11. Well, we can check it out when the time comes

I liked this idea because I wanted to do a motion contest, but there are so many ways to do motion I'd probably wear myself out trying to figure out which way is best. This way you can focus (geez, did I say focus?) on one way to do it and experiment with subject matter.

[BrightKnight]

12. too exclusive but time might work

That would probably exclude anyone without an SLR camera.

I don't think that many point and shoot cameras let you configure shutter speeds.

Some people might find it too technical. Long exposures can require calculating reciprocity failure. I doubt that there are many weekend photographers that know how to do that.

----------------

1) A photo contest about time might be interesting. This could involve time exposures, multiple exposures, or multiple images.

2) I would also like to see a photo series or photo essay contest.

3) Documentary photography is politically useful and not well represented here. A documentary contest might be fun. People could vote on links to locked threads with multiple images.

[RagingInMiami]

14. This was shot at 1/6th of a second

[xiamiam]

17. i LOVE this photo...great..nt

[Blue_In_AK]

21. That's still one of my favorites, Raging.

[RagingInMiami]

15. I shot these over the weekend at an Arlington Memorial they had set up on South Beach

They were shot at 1/3rd of a second and 1/2th of a second respectively, which is what I needed to capture the candlelit cardboard gravesites. But I also used a flash to capture the pedestrians. But because of the long exposure, it gave them a ghostlike appearance, which I really like.

I would have loved to have captured an actual uniformed veteran walking up through the grave sites in this manner.






The picture in the above post of the girl walking was without flash, but lately I've been experimenting with flash and long exposure.

Here are a couple of photos I took a couple of weeks ago on South Beach using second shutter curtain flash or whatever it is they call that function where the flash goes off right before the shutter closes instead of right as it opens. I wish he would have been standing against a wall or something because the background is too distracting for me. They were taken at .8 and .6 of a second.





Now check out this slideshow I did where I combined flash and slow shutter speed in some of the photos.

I'm going to use some of these photos in a story I plan on pitching to some travel magazines and newspaper travel sections.

http://www.magiccitymedia.com/WebGalleries/Coconutgroverickshaw/

[F.Gordon]

18. Hey stranger... playing with rear sync stuffaroo, eh?

Very nice. I haven't try that yet. Love your Flash Gallery. Some great "stock" photos there that definitely look print-worthy.

It's not worth trying to take a break and leave for awhile. They will hunt you down.

Just glad to see ya' stopping by. Hope your visits are more frequent.

On Edit: How's the 5D workin'? Do you like it?

[RagingInMiami]

19. There's a famous quote in Godfather III

It comes out of Michael Corleone's (Al Pacino) mouth after realizing he is being dragged back into a mafia war after years of semi-retirement. The quote goes:

"Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in."

That's how I feel about DU. I succeeded in withdrawing for a few weeks, actually becoming much more productive, but I could not resist the urge to check back in. And now it's hard to leave considering we are all celebrating the dems victory.

But if I find myself getting immersed in the same old arguments that do nothing but use up precious hours of my day, then I'll have to withdraw again.

The 5D is great, but I did have to send it back to the company within a week of having bought it because something fell out inside, rendering it useless. But it is truly an amazing camera as far as speed and noise-reduction go, not to mention a full-frame, which I absolutely love.

[F.Gordon]

20. "Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in."

:rofl:

The arguments are always the same. Has been since I first found DU. There was an attempt at civil discourse on complex issues but it didn't last long.

This place is killing me, but I just like hangin' here. It's a nice diversion and the people are great. But... I have a couple major thingaroos that I have to launch in 60 days and I shouldn't be "hanging" anywhere right now.

I had found some picture style "codes" for the 5D. I'll see if I can dig them up for you. Now, did I save them as a doc... a bookmark...
:dunce:

Edit? You don't want to know. This "word" stuff gets complicated.
:crazy:

[RagingInMiami]

16. Here is another one I shot at .8 of a second with no flash.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. Raging, I'm not seeing that one.

[RagingInMiami]

23. Did you try right-clicking and "view image"?

I'm just seeing an icon, but I am able to see it if I right-click. I don't know why it's doing that.

[Blue_In_AK]

24. No, it's not working for me. :-(

[RagingInMiami]

25. How about now?

[Blue_In_AK]

26. Yesssss!!

That is very, very cool. Love it.