PHOTOGRAPHY- 32

 PHOTOGRAPHY- 32

Strobe light and capturing movements

By around 1985 or so, American photo industry brought out a new genre of flash light named STROBE LIGHT.  These were  provided with  ic –based circuits . Once triggered, the flash would go off several times in quick succession with in 1/ 60 of a second [the recommended shutter speed for flash lit sequences]. It means that on a single frame, an action is frozen as distinct continuous images due to several independent flashes of light, each flash beam accounting for a particular step  in action.

Such strobe lights were indeed a boon to photographers who were handling assignments like dance performance, martial art and other similar events where the performer carries out several actions in a continuum; there is no way of making the artiste pose for a photograph or requesting him /her to offer ‘poses’ for making pictures . Such ‘posed’photos do not convince any one  of genuine action appropriately  pictured. Instead , if the varied actions are’arrested’ by the sheer rapidity of freezing the steps, all steps are brilliantly showcased  by successive lights repeated in quick intervals. So strobe lights’ revolutionized ‘  the technique of stage lighting through application of strobe. But, strobe cannot come in handy whensome action has to be frozen in broad daylight with the key object rapidly changing positions in a track or field.

 HIGH SUTTER SPEED Vs PANNING

An age old method of freezing action has been o employ high shutter speed like 1/500 or above sothat for that time the moving object apparently holds a position that is captured. Typical examples are Racing Horses, Motor Cars or Athletes dashing off to the winning post.On most such occasions the object involved is presented as if it was static. This kind of freezing the action looks rathe ra  formidable skill of the photographer to the photo viewer; honestly the camera does it! At best the choice of aperture to support the shuter speed is to the credit of the photographer. The shutter based –aperture selection is a sensible approach in arresting the pole-vault athlete in a floating plane against the blue sky . Photography is just not recording images; at times it has to cater to thrill that suggests rapid action in front of the camera.

Let us again go to the earlier scenario of race [ Car/Horse/ Athlete]. This time we desire presenting the component mightily rushing in a grand effort to relrgate other competitors. At that  state action must look rather fierce as all other elements appear as rushing streaks while the Man/ Car/ Horse is clear but in swift cruise such that other objects are mere lines running across.

How it can be done? 

The effort includes chasing the object through the camera on hand ; the act is called ‘PANNING’ While panning , a few precautions are essential.  The photographer does two things together. S]He MOVES THE CAMERA IN THE SAME DIRECTION AS THE OBJECT MOVES  and releaes the shutter as the object is near the centre of ‘camera’s view’. The panning movement should match the speed of the moving object. If you require some help to understand the idea, recall how in movies the camera keeps track of the object moving at a distance- say a car / jeep / hot chase of villain by hero. All other objects stay in place while the camera actively pusues the action.                                                                                                                                                         One has to mentally tide over ‘left- right reversals’ in viewfinders of TLR Cameras.

So at times more than mere ‘picture taking ‘ has to be in the kit of your work skill to stay in reckoning for long.

More to follow.

K.Raman