Another great episode of “OnSet” by Adorama TV with Daniel Norton reveals how to use a shutter speed creatively. Combining slower shutter speeds and movement, Daniel and his gorgeous model Stephanie show you how to get creative with some simple window light and adds a bit of flash to refine the image in the end.
For this setup Daniel uses one strobe light ProFoto B1x with a rectangular soft box. The background is simple white, and is chosen on purpose – since we are catching the blur of motion, on a black background those see through blurry movements would not translate on a photo otherwise.
At first Daniel uses natural light only, which gives him somewhat decent results. However, without a strobe the image lacks the punch. So using artificial light from the same side as natural light turns out to be a great idea.
Daniel uses what seems to be his favorite medium format camera Hasselblad X1D-50c with 90mm Hasselblad F/3.2 XCD lens . He shoots at whooping F20, with ISO 200. His shutter speed is constantly changing, since we focus on its creative element. Different shutter speed gives different density or length of motion blur, so it is a really hit or miss situation and requires experimentation.
He starts with 1/60 of a second:
The result is good although the blur effect is not that pronounced.
Then Daniel slows his shutter to a drastic 1/2 of a second.
Although 1/2 shutter speed brings much better, vivid blur, now the image lacks the pop. So It is time to turn on the strobe.
After setting a proper exposure, Daniel sticks with 1/4 shutter speed for optimal results.
This episode teaches us of how creative photography might get by even changing something as boring as shutter speed.
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