50 | PhotoPlus July 2014

Skills Exposure settings

Focal length
To capture the action from a distance youll need a
fast telephoto lens. We used the Sigma 150-500mm
f/5-6.3, which covers an effective focal length range
of 225-750mm on an APS-C D-SLR like our 60D.
As longer focal lengths accentuate movement, youll
need to use a fast enough shutter speed to eliminate
any signs of camera shake; it helps if your lens
incorporates image stabilisation technology.
Reciprocal rule
Another factor that will dictate
your choice of shutter speed is
the focal length of your lens.
If youre shooting handheld,
your shutter speed shouldnt
be slower than the reciprocal
of your effective focal length;
so, for example, if youre
shooting at a focal length of
500mm your shutter speed
shouldnt be slower than 1/500 sec.
Shooting handheld
Were shooting handheld, so
we need to ensure that our
shutter speed is fast enough
to capture pin-sharp shots;
you could optionally use a
monopod to support a big
lens and minimise camera
shake. You can also select your D-SLRs Continuous or High
speed Continuous drive mode, so that you can re off a burst
of frames to improve your odds of capturing a winning shot.
Location and weather
For our shoot we travelled to
Newquay in Cornwall to photograph
two professional surfers. For the
best results youll want to shoot
on a sunny day to capture blue skies
and colourful surf. Unfortunately,
on the day of our shoot it was grey
and overcast; however, this did
make it easier to capture balanced
exposures, without clipping the
highlights in the white water and
shadows of the surfers wetsuits.
Shutter Priority mode
To take control of shutter speed,
set your camera to Shutter Priority
mode, which appears as Tv on your
cameras Mode dial. When you
select Tv mode you can set the
shutter speed you need in order to
obtain the desired result perfectly
sharp shots or some degree of
motion blur and this wont change
unless you alter it. The camera will
automatically adjust the aperture
to capture a standard exposure.
Shutter speed
The shutter speed required to either freeze or blur
movement will depend on how fast your subject is
moving. In this instance we want to freeze the action,
and if we set a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/60
sec our subjects will be badly blurred. If we increase
the shutter speed by two stops, to 1/250 sec, our
surfers will still appear blurred we need to increase
the shutter speed by another two stops, to 1/1000
sec, to ensure that we capture sharp shots.
The need for
speed
Your shutter speed
has a bearing on how
movement is captured,
as well as on exposure