Shutter Speed

KitchenGoddess

KitchenGoddess

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George
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Shutter speed is one thing that really confuses me. I've read the info leaflet that came with the camera, several online pages and DSLR's For Dummies but I still don't get it :amstupid:

Please can one of you kind folks please explain how to adjust the shutter speed to catch something in motion e.g. pouring of cream over a pudding so that the action is crisp (i.e. not blurry).

:thankyou:
 
Sorry to be a little off topic but most of your close ups of food on your blog seem to be out of focus or you missed the focus point.

Are you using a tripod? You need steady and in focus shots for food, the backgrounds can be out of focus (bokeh).

What mode are you using with the 50D, are you using any light form other than natural?

Answers to some of these questions and the lovely peeps on here will fall over themselves helping you because they love looking at food.

Your shots are nice but OOF (out of focus)

The top dial on the 50D is where you adjust shutter speed, left to decrease and (you guessed it) right to increase.

If you are hand holding you need to have at least the same shutter speed as your focal length to try and eliminate camera shake. Don't forget that the 50D is a crop sensor of 1.6 so you should multiply your focal length by 1.6 to give you a fast enough speed for handheld shots.

I hope this helps, do not be afraid to ask more questions.

I like your blog and I have subscribed. :thumbs:
 
basically for that situation you want the shutter to open and close very quickly.

There is a guideline rule that says your shutter speed should be the recipricol of your focal length. so for example if you had a 70-300mm lens on and you were shooting at the 70mm end, your shutter speed should be set to 1/70s or faster.

If shooting at the other end of the lens range (300mm), then your shutter speed would need to be 1/300s or faster.

So maybe try setting camera to Tv mode, and setting shutter speed to be at least 1/focal length or faster and work from there

As tiler65 mentions some say to take into account the crop factor of the camera body when working out the shutter speeds, so for the 2 examples above:

70mm
1/focal length * crop = 1/(70 * 1.6) = 1/112s - so setting shutter speed to be at least 1/112 or faster

300mm
1/focal length * crop = 1/(300 * 1.6) = 1/480s - so setting shutter speed to be at least 1/480 or faster

hope this makes some sense

Gary
 
Forgive me if you understand this bit, but to add to what has already been said, remember that shutterspeeds under a second are measured in fractions, therefore, 1/500 is quicker than 1/250 - I know that sounds obvious, but I do know someone that was completely confused by it and assumed it was the other way round. To freeze pouring cream you need a quicker shutter speed, but because that is the case, you also need a good source of light, so perhaps do it by a window and you need to make sure the camera is focusing on the cream. A tripod will help you no end too, as some of your blog shots do seem to have some evidence of camera shake as if handholding at too slow a shutter speed as well as the focusing issue tiler has already mentioned.
 
KitchenGoddess said:
Please can one of you kind folks please explain how to adjust the shutter speed to catch something in motion e.g. pouring of cream over a pudding so that the action is crisp (i.e. not blurry).
Click to expand...


In this case (After the standard guides above of hand holding speeds) you need to think of the shutter speed as needing to exceed the speed of the poured cream. (So it opens and closes faster than the movement.) ...any slower and the cream will blur.

Depends on how thick your cream is but start from around 125th for a test shot. :thumbs:

Edit ... late post. Yvs just said.
 
Without checking the exif on your website pics I would suggest you have the camera in auto which has resulted in a slow shutterspeed. To "freeze" motion you need a faster shutterspeed. Raising the shutter will mean opening up the aperture which will give you a shallow depth of field which is also in evidence on some of your images. To compensate either raise the ISO to a higher level or put the objects in a lighter/brighter setting, use external flash setup. You may need to experiment a few times to get it right but shouldnt take long.
 
Thank you all for your help.

Are you using a tripod? You need steady and in focus shots for food, the backgrounds can be out of focus (bokeh).

Yes I am now using a tripod. Many of my earlier shots on the blog were handheld though.

What mode are you using with the 50D, are you using any light form other than natural?

I've been using aperture priority setting. For light I'm using natural only but am using sorting out a reflector and after some advice here on TP.

Yv I have read that several times but it didn't 'click'. Has done now. Thanks :)

Oh and I've only had the 50D for a few days ... Only the most recent post uses it.
 
surely the advice about focal lengths and shutter speeds isn't really relevent at these ranges.and it meant to reduce camera shake.

if you're on the kit lens kgoddess then you have a 18-55 IS lens...which means you can zoom in a bit.

you have to balance several things out.
imagine pouring paint on to a sheet of A4 through a tap...
the aperture is the size of the tap opening and the speed which the paint can pour
the time you have the tap open...that's your shutter speed.
the sensitivity of your film? the ISO, that's how quickly the paint sticks to the sheet..so higher ISO/sensitivity, you can get away with the tap being on for a shorter time.

all these things need to be balanced...you can make the tap spout smaller but you need to have it open for longer.

However, let's get rid of ISO. stick your camera on 400ISO or automatic ISO for now.
if you have a lot of light coming in, then you can have more freedom with your other settings
so get out your tripod, focus on the cream spout manually for now. use the wheel on the top of the 50D to set it to Tv (which prioritises shutter)
then roll the big wheel at the top until you get something like 1/100th on the top right of the camera, short shutter speed.

then click and experiment., if you have a larger aperture (smaller F number) then you will get that nice blurring effect in the background.

hope that's not too patronising and maybe a little helpful
 
Not at all patronising and very helpful indeed. I'm not using the kit lens though (I didn't buy it). Instead I have a 50mm 1.8 lens and a 60mm 2.8 macro lens. 55-250mm lens on the way too now.

I have to pour some cream this evening so will test out some snaps ... If I get anything I'm remotely pleased with I'll post it for C&C.
 
KitchenGoddess said:
Not at all patronising and very helpful indeed. I'm not using the kit lens though (I didn't buy it). Instead I have a 50mm 1.8 lens and a 60mm 2.8 macro lens. 55-250mm lens on the way too now.

I have to pour some cream this evening so will test out some snaps ... If I get anything I'm remotely pleased with I'll post it for C&C.
Click to expand...


Forget posting snaps send us the goodies instead to critique.
 
the 60mm macro lens will be a great choice for this and the 50mm f1.8 is a nice buy

you were given good advice I think when purchasing.

the f2.8 or even f1.8 will let you blur out the background nicely, so get the macro lens on there if you can keep the aperture between 2.8-4 perhaps, experimentation is the key
you can set this by using Av mode and then rolling the finger wheel as mentioned before.
 
Just added you as a contact in flickr and looking at the EXIF data of some of your new shots with your 50D. I would say that there is probably a couple of possibles why the subjects are not as sharp as they could be.

1. DOF (depth of field) - I think your aperture settings could be too big f/4 and so you are only getting a very shallow DOF. Without additional light or a tripod and cable release it may not be possible to use smaller apertures i.e. f/8, f/11, f/16.
2. If you are hand holding the camera the shutter speed 1/4sec may mean you are getting some camera shake. Its not a lot by the way so I wouldn't worry too much just something to be aware of.

Hope these points give you something to work to as I am very impressed with the blog.... so much info ..... where do you find the time to cook, photograph and blog?

Keep going it will all come good with practice. :thumbs:

Paul
 
Hammerhead64 said:
Just added you as a contact in flickr and looking at the EXIF data of some of your new shots with your 50D. I would say that there is probably a couple of possibles why the subjects are not as sharp as they could be.

1. DOF (depth of field) - I think your aperture settings could be too big f/4 and so you are only getting a very shallow DOF. Without additional light or a tripod and cable release it may not be possible to use smaller apertures i.e. f/8, f/11, f/16.
2. If you are hand holding the camera the shutter speed 1/4sec may mean you are getting some camera shake. Its not a lot by the way so I wouldn't worry too much just something to be aware of.

Hope these points give you something to work to as I am very impressed with the blog.... so much info ..... where do you find the time to cook, photograph and blog?

Keep going it will all come good with practice. :thumbs:

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks Hammerdead, I've added you to my contacts on flickr too - you have some fabulous pics.

I certainly will continue, I'm having too much fun not too - tbh I've just been 'playing' with the various settings to see what I can/can't do.

My trusty tripod is in use all the time for food pics now :) I've also worked out how to use live view to my best advantage (with the grid lines) which is really beneficial.

How do I find the time? Ahh now that is something I often ask myself too. My blog is actually running a little behind schedule, I need to get some writing done. Writing for the book is actually taking up most of my time and driving me crazy too - feels a bit like I'm getting nowhere fast but I must grit my teeth and get on with it.

Going on hols soon so will have plenty of time for non foodie photography too, give me a chance to see what my camera and I can do.
 
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