How much movement is too much in a shot?

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

08/13/2004 04:18:39 PM · #1

Greetings all,

In my never-ending quest to experiment and shoot what I haven't done before, I was trying to capture the dynamics of surfer's moment.
When is too much movement too much in a shot? Some shots work very well with a lot of motion depicted, some don't.

Is this too much?

I'll go back to my seat in this classroom now...

Message edited by author 2004-08-13 17:28:11.

EL-ROI

Canon EOS-450D Rebel XSi

08/13/2004 04:23:11 PM · #2

I believe this is too much movement. In my opinion, the surfer out to be in focus while the ocean ought to depict the motion.

suemack

Canon EOS-20D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

08/13/2004 04:37:30 PM · #3

Would like to see at least the surfer's face to be in focus. Certainly captured the dynamics of surfer movt in the pic though.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/13/2004 04:41:06 PM · #4

Originally posted by suemack:

Would like to see at least the surfer's face to be in focus.

I got kind of close to that in this picture if Isaac on the Tilden Park Carousel.

I was on Auto settings, but with manual control I'd set a fairly slow shutter speed (to blur the BG) and try a motion-pan on the surfer's face.

Message edited by author 2004-08-13 16:42:29.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

08/13/2004 04:50:49 PM · #5

Brad, I absolutely love the motion (& colors!) of the water here, but I agree there is too much motion of the actual surfer. I was about to comment on the centered composition, but actually I like the way this composition works, and don't think I'd change it much.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

08/13/2004 05:11:09 PM · #6

Thanks for the feedback so far.
Though know there was too much movement in the surfer's body, there are times when it does work in an abstract way. The dividing line is very thin there.

In a clearer shot, details are a bit better at 1/80 sec:

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

08/13/2004 05:15:31 PM · #7

Originally posted by BradP:

Thanks for the feedback so far.
Though know there was too much movement in the surfer's body, there are times when it does work in an abstract way. The dividing line is very thin there.

I think for it to work in the more abstract sense, it would need to be even more blurred - right now it looks in that no-man's land of 'is it jst a bad shot?' rather than deliberately blurry. Panning could be interesting too.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

08/13/2004 05:16:21 PM · #8

That's good; in the lower surfer, you can see his upper body still and in-focus as his legs twist the board around.

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

08/13/2004 05:49:25 PM · #9

Originally posted by Gordon:

Hi Gordon,
Actually that was a pan shot. These are tough subjects to shoot at the end of the day, when the sun is starting to set. That was an 1/8 sec, F2.4 & ISO 80. I hate using ISO 160 or 320 on the Olympus E-10 as the noise is just plain terrible.
No PS work done, other than basics.
Thx

Kavey

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

08/13/2004 06:02:23 PM · #10

Depends.

This is one of my favourites and has rather a lot, don't you think?

:o)