Exercise 3 - Varying shutter speeds to record movement

For this exercise, I chose a Newton's cradle placed on my black cloth background, illuminated by two tablelamps.

The camera was mounted on a tripod with the same 90mm macro lens as used before. The shutter speed varied from 6" in the first image to 1/60th second on the last image. The shutter speed was varied by varying the aperture rather than the lighting or sensitivity of the camera (ISO setting). Hence the depth of field will reduce from the first image to the last.

The first image was a blur. Apart from the cradle, all the balls were unrecognisable due to movement, even the strings had largely disappeared.

In the last image, the balls were broadly frozen with minimal movement visible. It looks slightly bizarre with the end ball defying gravity, but the brain is able to work out what is happening.

Of the intermediate images, only #4 shows what I would consider to be a successful combination of movement but with the balls recognisable for what they are. This image corresponded to a shutter speed of 1/15th second.

This exercise builds on the first two by demonstrating that middle settings for focal point, aperture and shutter speed can and need to be explored to get an image which accurately captures the impression that the photographer is trying to capture.

Prior to doing these exercises, I don't believe I gave these controls the attention they deserve, limiting myself to getting the exposure 'right'. Somehow I think that even this is about to be dissected....