Shutter speed at public markets

[Redbriars]

Does anyone know a rule-of-thumb for setting shutter speeds to freeze action at events like public markets, where people are are moving randomly, talking, gesticulating, etc? I would think that street scenes would be like this also.

No-one would be running, no active sports. The fastest movement would be walking, I would think.

I would want to set shutter-priority and then adjust the other exposure components accordingly.

And while I am here, any thoughts on shutter speed for birds at a bird feeder?

Thanks . . . Alan

[dubaiphil]

It all depends on your focal length, Alan, and what's acceptable to you.

I'd prefer to stick in Aperture priority for markets and the like, using Auto ISO to maintain you preferred minimum shutter speed. You have more control of your depth of field that way. 35mm or 50mm on full frame and I'm generally shooting at around 1/160th at the slowest if there's lots of random movement.

[Manfred M]

It depends on the focal length I am shooting at to some extent. I generally find that 1/500th sec is a pretty good starting point, but I tend to shot longer focal lengths and get close to individuals as my style is more along the lines of environmental portraiture or head shots than street photography.

That being said, I tend to shoot at base ISO and fairly narrow depth of field.

[Shadowman]

Is it an open air market or the type set up in warehouse style enclosures, usually having open bay doors and overhead lights? I ask because if it is an open air market then just follow typical shutter speeds for movement towards, parallel, or away from you. An enclosed market is more of a challenge because there could be mixed lighting, more atmospheric interference (dust, streaks of light through windows, etc.).

[Mike Buckley]

I would like to reiterate the effectiveness Phil suggested of using Aperture Priority combined with Auto ISO. There are lots of different methods that can produce effective results, but I find that a lot of people aren't familiar with the effectiveness of Auto ISO, especially at controlling the minimum shutter speed.

[dubaiphil]

It's relatively underused but I find it invaluable, especially when moving around areas where light levels can differ dramatically and you don't want to risk missing a shot or exposing poorly.

Here are a couple of examples where I wanted a certain DoF or effect and used Auto ISO to take care of the minimum shutter speed and ISO - sharpness isn't the be all and end all, after all:

1. 35mm, 1/320th, f2, ISO720 - hand held, relatively stationary subject, could have gone slower but was using settings for faster moving subjects and ISO720 wasn't a killer




2. 50mm, 1/320th, f5.6, ISO4000 - hand held, candid and from the waist so I stopped down a bit and manually pre focused - 1/320th was as slow as I could go as I was also moving, so I fired a burst




3. 35mm, 1/13th, f16, ISO800 - hand held and 1/13th was as slow as I dared go, only having one go at the shot and wanting to emphasise the stall keeper standing still while everything else was moving around him

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Alan,

I looked back through some of my bird table/feeder shots and I'm rarely happy at less than 1/500s, even at twice that, you'll sometimes get wing blur, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I am assuming you'd be shooting at say 450mm focal length (FFE) - I use 300mm on a 1.5 crop camera.

That's not to say that I haven't necessarily taken an awful lot of (mostly wasted) shots way down at sub 1/100s at times, due to poor light.

BTW, It is far better to organise a branch to shoot them just before they go to the feeder, because most feeders do not look good in a photo and many may introduce even bigger problems such as; nasty bold colours, specular reflections, etc.

Welcome to the CiC forums, Dave

[dje]

Hi and Alan

I'm another fan of using Aperture Priority mode and Auto ISO to control the minimum shutter speed for this situation. You just need to check that your camera supports the user setting of minimum ss in auto ISO. Some of the lower end DSLR's don't.

As for what speed, I'd probably be looking for 1/500 if possible, depending on light conditions and what max ISO you are prepared to use on your camera.

Dave

[William W]

As a general comment for any one particular camera format, my “Rules of Thumb” for appropriate Shutter Speeds to freeze Subject Motion are predicted on three factors:

> Subject Framing
> Direction of the Subject Movement relative to the lens’s axis
> Speed of the Subject Movement

I find that thinking of the shooting scenario in (only) those three factors is the simplest.
It is the same way as I think about Depth of Field – it is all about the FRAMING, thus the Focal Length becomes irrelevant.

Also note that ‘people walking’ have parts which are moving in different directions.

***

For Market Scenes I wouldn't use Shutter Priority Mode. I typically would use Manual Mode, but that's mainly out of habit and difficulty breaking it. Not all my cameras have Auto ISO, but on the ones that do, using Auto ISO and setting a limit on the Shutter Speed it is something I have forced myself to use and I am glad I have, because it is very useful and works a treat.

***

Typically I would want to be at 1/125~1/250 or faster for most street work where people are walking and flapping arms and moving their hands - but that's mentioned with a lot of leeway, because movement blur is not necessarily all bad:


'Triptych' Palm Cove, Queensland 2005

WW

Image © AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2015, WMW 1965~1996

[dje]

Typically I would want to be at 1/125~1/250 or faster for most street work where people are walking and flapping arms and moving their hands - but that's mentioned with a lot of leeway, because movement blur is not necessarily all bad:


'Triptych' Palm Cove, Queensland 2005

WW

Image © AJ Group Pty Ltd Aust 1996~2015, WMW 1965~1996

Love the image Bill, no movement blur there, everything has perfect clarity.

Oh to be young again !

Dave

[William W]

Ta.

I thought it was cute: as I was walking around, typically it was the blokes making 'claim' on their girls... but this young woman certainly was not letting her man get away . . . and yes - that had perfect clarity!

WW