A Little Action!

Some scratches and bruises, but nothing too serious. Heh!

Get this kid a Kilt!

Spent some time with the Penberthys yesterday. We met at Ri-Ra, a little Irish pub in Bethesda. The place was nearly empty. (Perfect!) A half dozen patrons at the bar, and a small group of musicians partaking in an Irish Seisiun. Fiddle, guitar, flute, banjo and bodhran (wooden framed drum). Quite the festive atmosphere. Made all the more so by the young Talan dancing in his own Cornish/English/German/Celtic/Groovy/Breakdance way. Spinning, twirling, falling down (on purpose!), getting back up, shaking his hips. He clearly had himself a blast! And so did we all.

I used only the on-board flash for these shots. Panned a couple of times as the tiny dancer zipped past me. As usual, a 1/4 cto gel over the flash to help keep the light balanced with the interior lights. That is all.

Cheers.

Panning.

One of our earlier posts talked about being a little more selective about which photos to keep through more and better self-editing. We've also have talked about spicing up the collection of images you show others by using silhouettes. Both were about keeping your audience interested. In that same vein let's talk about panning. Capturing someone or something in motion. On the surface panning looks easy. Just follow along with your subject and click away. True to some extent but, as with everything, it does require some amount of practice. Matching the pace of your subject isn't always easy. (Direction changes, speed changes, unsteady hands.) Also, adding flash to the equation helps add a little dynamism. Here are two panned images. One with flash and one without. This first photo I captured down on the C&O Canal towpath. I noticed a rider coming along and set my camera to a slow shutter speed. As he approached I fixed a focus point on him and followed along all the while making sure that focus point never left his body. I clicked off about three or four shots before he passed. The trees make for a good background and are well blurred to convey actual motion.

This second shot is with the flash. In this case I asked John to walk past me a couple times while I photographed him. After a couple beers he is a most willing subject! Anyway, the background is underexposed by about one full stop. This helps make the subject (John) really stand out when the flash hits him. The flash also stops the action, which keeps John sharp yet the background remains blurred. Cool effect, I think!

Next time you have your camera out remember motion. Follow along as someone walks by. See a really nifty looking car coming up the road? Pan it! Watching a child's baseball game? No better opportunity to practice than when they are running down to first base. Try it out...and above all have fun!

Cheers.