Canter

[dubaiphil]

Not my usual style of photography, but I wanted to try something different and had a finished look in my mind.

Using a 3 stop ND I got my shutter down to 1/15th at f8, 70mm and ISO200.

Normally I process my black and white scenes to maximise the sharpness I've captured, but here I wanted something a little different. As the image looks potentially retro I used a digital emulation of Tri-X 400ISO film which helps with the grain and contrast.

C&C more than welcome

[binsurf]

Cool shot! I like the motion blur, it really makes the shot dynamic. The subject is nicely centered and the background is not distracting. Good work on this!

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Jim

Camels are not the most graceful of runners in the Animal Kingdom - only I lag behind! It took a few shots to get the rider acceptably un-blurred which was key really, along with good camel leg positioning

[binsurf]

Well, good for you! I imagine it wouldn't be easy.

[Maritimer1]

What a great shot! Of course, I thought it was going to have some horses, but this is even more unique from where I sit. It's really interesting in that it seems to be panning (when looking at the rider), but then you have the motion blur in the camels's legs. Now you've got me wondering how this might translate into skating...

[dubaiphil]

Thanks Myra! This has been sat on my hard drive for 4 months now - just reviewed and processed last night...

[Sergio M.]

This is different for you, Phil, but still a great shot. As others have stated the motion blur really makes the image for me, and your post processing sure adds to the retro look. The more I look at it the more I like it.

[AB26]

Hi Phil,

Accept this as positive and a learning curve for myself.
If you want the grainy effect, is it not achievable by pushing up the ISO to whatever it takes, narrow down on the aperture to keep the shutter speed slow.
I would have tried to get the riders face in focus and sharp by panning on his face. IMHO something in every image has to be in focus and sharp.

Must say, I think it is a big challenge and I like the idea. Good shot.

[dubaiphil]

Hi Andre

It was quite early in the morning when I shot this (06:15) but still there was good light. Without a 3 stop ND filter I would have been at 1/125th and f8 at ISO200. Adding the 3 stop ND gave me 1/15th.

Now if I increased the ISO in camera to get a grainy effect I'd have to push it to ISO3200 or ISO6400

ISO3200 at f8 with the 3 stop ND would have given me 1/250th. ISO6400 at f8 would have given me 1/500th. Getting my shutter speed back down would have required stopping down further. At ISO3200 f11 would give me 1/125th, f16 would give me 1/60th, f22 would give me 1/30th and f32 would give me 1/15th - I don't think my lenses stop down that far!

I was quite happy with the pan for this shot and got what I wanted - i.e. the blurred flurry of legs and sense of motion. Camels 'lollop' along, throwing the rider with them - panning to try to get the rider in sharp focus is nigh on impossible, and would require very accurate undulations during the pan, if you know what I mean!

[Plumcrak]

Phil, that is one heck of a challenge that I think you handled very well.

[Bobobird]

Excellent shot.