Weekly Photo Contest: October 19 to 26 - Motion

Weekly Photo Contest: October 19 to 26 - Motion

Welcome to this week's photo contest thread!

Theme: Motion

Capturing still images that clearly depict motion can be a challenge. Two common techniques to convey motion require that we slow that shutter down just enough to create the perfect amount of blur to tell the viewer that our subject is in motion.

One technique is to pan your camera following your subject so that your subject is in sharp focus and your background is nicely blurred.

Another technique is to keep your camera still and use a shutter speed that results in a nicely blurred subject and a background in sharp focus.

If done properly, the amount of blur should reflect the speed of your subject's motion. The greater the amount of blur - the faster it's moving.

Rules:

1. Be creative and have fun.

2. Please submit only one photo per contest.

3. Please do not comment on photos until after the judging has taken place.

4. The contest runs for exactly one week, starting NOW! (see time/date stamp at the start of this thread)

5. At the end of the week, The Judge (last week's Winner - me) will choose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place photo, providing as much feedback as possible. (Judge has 24 hours to make decision)

6. The 1st place Winner will start a new thread with the topic/theme of their choice, and act as the Judge for that contest. (Winner has 48 hours to create new theme)

To see all of our past contests please see the sticky thread https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/580184/

Wow...some really great shots. This will be tough.

The contest is now closed. I'll be back.

Standard disclaimer here that my thoughts are based entirely on an opinion as opposed to any level of skill or knowledge on my part.

mtbdudex: Great shot Michael that fits the theme perfectly. I’m guessing 2nd curtain flash sync. Love the expression on the young lad’s face. My only nit is that I would have cloned-out the red and blue flag in the left rear area and possibly the structure beside it as well – I find them distracting.

anotherscotsman: Great colours and great idea to capture a carousel this way. I think this would nail the theme with a slightly faster shutter speed as I think there’s a little too much motion blur. A faster shutter speed may have also captured the riders entirely in frame. Either that or a nudge to right to prevent them from being cut-off.

Schtumple: Not much I can say about this shot other than “extremely well done Schtumple”. This shot just oozes dynamic motion. Weird…I swear I can hear the guitar and feel the energy.

kenoh: What a beautiful girl Ken. This shot is so close to being perfect but I think it missed the mark with the portrait orientation. Don’t know if the orientation was done at the time of the shot or a crop in post but to me the thing missing is more of the blurred background to emphasize her motion on the roundabout. If it was done in post, I’d like to see a landscape orientation. I also would have liked to see all of her hands and the post she’s holding so tightly.

butch10x: Excellent shot that’s very well executed and that fits the theme perfectly butch10x. I’ve been trying to figure out how you did it. A shot like this from another car at a matching speed wouldn’t bee too difficult but it looks like the camera is over a grass shoulder. So please do tell and share how this was done.

My only nit (just personal preference from years of wildlife photography and avoiding butt shots) is that I would have like to see the shot from the perspective of the front of the car as it’s coming towards me. Well done.

pmexperience: Light trails from cars at night are very cool and I like the low level perspective you used here. However, I do think these shots work best if there are light trails from more cars and when the trails are continuous (unbroken). I’m also not sure if the people caught at mid frame add or detract from the shot. I suspect it would be better without them.

Elbert C: This is a really nice shot that captures a calm sense of movement. The colours and details of the ice are very good. I can practically hear the trickle of the water. Well done Elbert C.

Hughmac: I love these shots, have done them and know how tricky they are to capture. One suggestion for next time Hugh – try taking the shot with the waterline level (front to back) with the horizontal plane of your lens so that you don’t see the see the waterline just the splash and the berry. Keep working on it as it does take lots of practice.

kingalexthe1st: Lots of character in the shot and I like the contrast between the man on the phone (maybe a travelling businessman) and the local man on the bicycle. The motion blur doesn’t work for me in this one though as it appears to be from a vertical up and down type of vibration. Still…a very good shot.

fitshaced: Nice clear shot that, without doubt, conveys motion. The only thing holding this shot back just a bit is that I would really like to have seen the perspective centered between your hands on the handlebar but very cool.

Miguueeel: Honestly, to me this looks like a result of photographer motion more than subject motion. I think there should be some element in the shot that’s in focus to put it into perspective.

imac wannabe: Lots of fun and well done. I hadn’t thought of multiple exposures for this theme but it does work. Interesting timing that captured each with one heal up. Too bad that there is a slightly larger gap between images at dead center. One suggestion I have is to crop this one in a wide format rather than original aspect ratio. This would eliminate some of the grass and the trees that don’t seem to contribute to the composition.

fireman32: Good shot with great colour and a nice sky. Two things here…I would straighten the shot as it looks like the ride is listing to the right and I think your shutter speed was too high. We know in our minds that the people and the ride are in movement because of our experiences – it’s a ride in motion as we know. However, the shot doesn’t convey motion. If you have never seen something like this and had no idea what is going on, the people could be hanging and suspended at weird angles from this lit contraption but not moving. Does that make sense?

MacRy: Well done. Great composition with a very nice sense of movement. Interesting thing here is that I know you think tripods are for wimps so was this hand-held? If so, you’ve got great technique going there MacRy. I’ve tried this when I’ve been too lazy to set-up a tripod but have never been able to pull it off. Cool!

Just a very small thing – I think I would have cloned-out the small signs towards the rear left third.

JDDavis: There’s a look of determination! Nice shot but like fireman32, I think that your shutter speed was a bit too high (that ball is frozen in mid flight). Or…the critical moment was a fraction of a second after this when the swing of the bat may have created a nice blur through the arc of his swing.

Parkin Pig: Well done PP but interesting that you mention taking a shot of the graffiti because to me it is the graffiti that is so clearly the dominant subject of the shot regardless of the cyclist. I know it’s all about luck of timing with something like this but I think it would have been a better capture if the bike and rider were just entering into the frame on the right. Very nice shot though PP.

charpi: I like the title and the shot - it leaves me feeling a sense of confusion and contrast between the speed of the hustle and bustle of a busy city and the sedate and deliberate pace of the old man. Well seen and well captured.

Apple fanboy: A very nice waterfall capture AFB. I think you nailed the shutter speed to capture just the right amount of blur in the falling water. These shots can be very difficult to get from the perfect perspective as you have to contend with the very elements you’re there to capture. With waterfalls, I think the critical area of the composition is the point where the falling water hits bottom and hopefully splashes in the calm water of a pond. In this case, that point is obstructed by the protruding rock to the right. I’m also thinking the shot is leaning quite a bit to the left as there are two spots where the water appears to be pooling at the bottom but on an angle.

Good job with your first waterfall AFB.

OK a late comer needfx: Wow…this is just plain creepy. I’m definitely feeling motion as I want to flee from this scary looking individual (it’s the dead eye space) but I’m not seeing a lot of motion as I think your shutter speed was a tad too high causing her hair to be frozen in motion. Still…well done needfx.

The winners (according to my humble opinion) are:

3rd place: mtbdudex
2nd place: butch10x

1st place goes to: Schtumple

Well done people and now over to you Ben.

~ Peter