very newbie question • Non-Gaming • Photography • Eurogamer.net

Deleted user 27 July 2009 20:55:54

Ok, just getting into this Photography lark, quick newb question...

How do you do effects like this(the speeding wheel effect)? I assume they are done via an art program, if so, which one is best (and cheapest!)

nickthegun 27 Jul 2009 21:04:32 87,711 posts
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Because flikr is like youtube. Full of wanky self promoters.

deem 27 Jul 2009 21:07:07 31,667 posts
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LetsGo wrote:
Ok, just getting into this Photography lark, quick newb question...

How do you do effects like this(the speeding wheel effect)? I assume they are done via an art program, if so, which one is best (and cheapest!)

It's how long the exposure is.

How long the shutter is open.

It's achieved when you take the pic, not in photoshop.

Deleted user 27 July 2009 21:08:53

Thanks frank, know of any easy to use tutorials?

Deleted user 27 July 2009 21:09:31

deem wrote:

LetsGo wrote:
Ok, just getting into this Photography lark, quick newb question...

How do you do effects like this(the speeding wheel effect)? I assume they are done via an art program, if so, which one is best (and cheapest!)

It's how long the exposure is.

How long the shutter is open.

It's achieved when you take the pic, not in photoshop.

Oh OK, thanks Derm, time to read my camera manual methinks

Deleted user 27 July 2009 21:29:42

Hmm just changed the expose on the D60 and it's made everything brighter, is that normal

?

Deleted user 27 July 2009 21:42:57

put the camera in shutter priority mode (lets you change the shutter speed & then works the rest out for you), buy a tripod so to keep the non moving parts of the image sharp, then go out at night & snap away

:edit, how long you can have the shutter open depends on how dark it is, at dusk you can normally go down to a couple of seconds, more so once the sun has set. If you just up the shutter speed in normal daylight conditions then the picture will be over exposed (to bright & washed out)

You can take long exposures in daylight by using some ND filters (basically sunglasses for your lens) these let less light in allowing longer shutter speeds.

funkstar 27 Jul 2009 21:44:00 3,280 posts
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longer exposure = more light gets in... so yes, you need to compensate for that with other settings

Deleted user 27 July 2009 21:52:20

ok ta everyone, why can't there be a 'make cool pictures effect' button ffs!!!

I have no idea what im doing, i'm in shutter mode and nothings happening and I cant find how to change the speed.

/goes back to manual.

funkstar 27 Jul 2009 22:08:22 3,280 posts
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shutter mode you should only be able to adjust the shutter speed (ie: exposure time)... you'll find that the settings will be 1/x of a second, then 1 second, then 2 seconds upwards etc... have a fiddle see if that makes any sense

Deleted user 27 July 2009 22:18:15

yeah.. found the dial which does it... seems to make things darker/lighter...

deem 27 Jul 2009 22:21:56 31,667 posts
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LetsGo wrote:
yeah.. found the dial which does it... seems to make things darker/lighter...

Dude, go on youtube and look for vids of 'camera exposure' or something, and all will be revealed.

Deleted user 27 July 2009 22:23:17

changing the shutter will make things darker or lighter, your darker pictures will be with a faster shutter speed & the brighter ones with a slow shutter speed..

where are you trying to take a photograph? Its pretty dark now, if you went outside with a tripod you should be able to get some pretty long exposure shots. Have you got a tripod? as this is pretty essential.

Lukus 27 Jul 2009 22:23:35 24,640 posts
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Man the hell up.

Deleted user 27 July 2009 22:24:07

cheers for that Dave, nah I've not got a tripod, I think I'll get one tho.

Tonka 28 Jul 2009 08:49:14 31,980 posts
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I have another n00b question.
I have a fancier point and shoot camera with shutter/aperture priority and manual etc. But I can't really get that shallow depth of field unless I do extreme close ups.
Then I had a look in a photo book and it seems as if compacts (or what to call them) handle the aperture differently than SLRs.

So an f2 isn't an f2 but something else.

Do any of you know what I'm talking about?

Deleted user 28 July 2009 08:57:11

I wasn't aware of aperture being handled differently on compact cameras. Is it possible that the book was referring to older compact cameras where you couldn't really alter the aperture? If you've got one of the newer models that gives you all that control, it would be odd to not make it so you'd actually get the same results as an SLR with those controls, as that would be the reason you bought it.

Assuming they are actually similar, a shallow depth of field is much harder to detect when you're really wide. So if you're zoomed out, you won't see it so much unless you're focussing on something that's considerably closer to you than the background is, in which case you really should see a difference.

When you zoom in you exaggerate the depth of field effect - so that makes sense that you can see it on close ups.

What are you shooting, what are the camera settings, and where is everything positioned relative to each other?

Tonka 28 Jul 2009 09:08:05 31,980 posts
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That explains a lot. I'm so happy with the wideness of my new camera that I use it fully zoomed out most of the time. It only does 2,5x zoom anyway. I will play around with it some more.

The camera is a Panasonic LX3 and I'm loving it. I'm new to manual settings so I'm reading a lot of tutorials at the moment and trying to get to grips with things. I'll see if I can find the quote that described the differences between compacts and SLRs.

Deleted user 28 July 2009 09:12:08

Ah, the LX3, I was watching some reviews aboutt hat the other day. Nearly bought one to take on holiday instead of my D700 but then I thought that would be daft!

Yeah, it definitely does aperture properly - it's designed to replicate the creative control a DSLR gives you. You're not seeing the effect as pronounced as you'd like because you're shooting using a wide angle. and the subject isn't far enough away from the background, or close enough to your lens. Zoom in a bit, or bring them closer to you, or both.

Deleted user 28 July 2009 09:14:36

I imagine the difference between compacts and SLRs will be to do with the sensor size. I forget the science bit, but the compact sensor is absolutely tiny and the lenses are producing smaller image circles than SLR lenses, so there's something different going on with lens zoom and '35mm equivalent' and all that. You should still get a depth of field effect though, it just may not be exactly the same as that on an SLR at similar lengths.

mrharvest 28 Jul 2009 09:33:48 5,718 posts
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Post deleted

Nexus_6 28 Jul 2009 09:50:13 6,169 posts
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Caspar_Esq. wrote:
More interestingly, why is every Flickr comments thread full of people spamming their groups?

Hi!

I'm an admin for a group called 'Wanky Self Promoters Who For Some Reason Want To Make Different Collections Of Photos From The Same Photo Sharing Website Collections In A Pathetic Attempt To Increase Our Collective Self-Worth And Bask In Some Sense Of Reflected Glory' and we would really like to add your image to our group.

Whenever i see the messages I can't help but imagine a really serious committee type group of cord wearing, coffee drinking wankers sitting around in a circle reviewing all the great photos of whatever that they need to make into a new collection.

Xerx3s 28 Jul 2009 09:53:06 23,970 posts
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Post deleted

Tonka 28 Jul 2009 10:21:54 31,980 posts
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MrED209 wrote:
I imagine the difference between compacts and SLRs will be to do with the sensor size. I forget the science bit, but the compact sensor is absolutely tiny and the lenses are producing smaller image circles than SLR lenses, so there's something different going on with lens zoom and '35mm equivalent' and all that. You should still get a depth of field effect though, it just may not be exactly the same as that on an SLR at similar lengths.

I just remembered I read about the difference between compacts and SLRs in "Understanding Exposure" (I borrowed it from the library after someone on here recommended it). It was definitely something along the lines of what you are talking about.

I'll definitely start playing around more with zoom etc.

Deleted user 28 July 2009 10:31:00

Tonka wrote:

I'll definitely start playing around more with zoom etc.

Out of interest what were you taking photos of where you experiencing the 'problem' (as it were)?