Shutter Speeds

This exercise is to demonstrate the effect of shutter speed when taking a picture of a moving object whilst the camera is held still.

The photographs were taken in Dubai on the bridge that connects Palm Jumeirah to the mainland.  At weekends, there is an endless stream of boats that travel along the coast and therefore under this bridge.  The view from the bridge is something that I have been driving past every day and meaning to photograph, the moving boats were what made me choose the location for this exercise.

As it turned out, the vantage point is not the best for taking a panoramic photograph, here is one that I took separately to the exercise.  I think the position is too high and sadly, I seem to have arrived on the spot when most of the boats were moving away from me.  The light is a nice orange as it is getting close to sunset, to catch the boats coming towards me, I may need to come earlier in the day.

General View of Scene

The place was however a good place to capture the movement of the boats. 

In this sequence of shots, I a managed to photograph the same boat that is coming towards me and therefore travelling at the same speed.  The majority of the change related to shutter speed can be seen most when zooming in to the water that is splashing around the front of the boat.  Viewing them in sequence, the change between each photograph is minimal but if the first in the series (the fastest) and the last (the slowest) are compared, then there is quite a difference in the way that the water looks.  

These first three pictures were taken with shutter speeds of 1/1240, 1/640 and 1/320.  For all of them, even zoomed in, the churning water around the boat is frozen, individual pieces of water can be made out.

1/1240

1/640

1/320

At 1/125, the boat is still reasonably sharp but the water has started to become a smoother white.  It is still possible at present to see some detail in the water:

1/125

At 1/60 and 1/40, the boat has a tiny bit of blur and the water is now more creamy again:

1/60

1/40

By 1/15 and 1/10, the water has now become merges into a single white creamy mass.

1/15

1/10

Form these shots, the transition from frozen water to a state where there is movement to be seen happened around the 1/125 setting.  Zoomed in, at the slowest speeds, the movement of the boat is also causing a small amount of blur.