Taking images of the waves as they flowed towards me would not have shown the movement required by panning. The waves were therefore taken from rocks near Whitby pier, to enable the movement to be seen in this way. Taking images from the rocks was in itself no mean task – the access is difficult and the weather dictated that I was there on a rising tide, so I couldn’t waste any time and after the shoot I had to jump with my camera equipment on my back – definitely a reminder to watch the tide times and plan a little better. However, the results seem to be worth it.
Again, I used the Nikon D300s with the Nikkor 18 – 200 mm VR lens. All shots were taken without a tripod. The camera mode was ‘shutter priority’ with an ISO of 200. The focusing mode was set to ‘continuous’
Taken with lens at 120 mm, f/5.3, 1/1000 sec. At this speed the panning is almost non-existent. The individual water droplets can be seen clearly and the lines in the water are purely from the undertow.
Similarly, at f/7.1 and 1/500 sec there is still no discernible evidence of panning – the movement in the water is still ‘frozen’.
With the lens at 82 mm, f/9, 1/250 sec the detail in the breaking wave is starting to decrease, but there is still no discernible motion due to panning.
At 82 mm, f/14, 1/100 sec the water other than the breaking wave is now showing more distinct lines of motion due to the panning – the focused breaking wave is beginning to look as though it’s moving – the ‘frozen in motion’ look is disappearing.
With f/22 and 1/50 sec the impression of movement has increased – the undertow in the water has horizontal lines which suggest the breaking wave is moving over it.
With the lens set at 95 mm, f/25 and 1/30 sec the wave now looks as though it’s racing to the shore. There’s no time to see the individual droplets. The breaking waves have real energy.
The effect is increased at 95 mm, f/32, 1/25 sec. It’s becoming difficult to hold the wave in frame, particularly with the strong wind and precarious stance on the rocks, but the sense of motion in the water is getting much better. The majority of the image is blurred, but that adds to the image.
Still at 95 mm, but with the exposure pushed one stop to enable 1/20 sec at f/32 the sense of motion increases further – see how the water droplets are now forming trails as the wave races forward.
At f/36, 1/15 sec the image has become more fluid and almost not resembling breaking waves – it’s more like foam on silk. I took several images at this shutter speed, but many were unusable. I think this is my favourite image from this shoot. Very little is in sharp focus, but there’s an excitement about this picture. It’s got such a feeling of speed and energy. I couldn’t stop any longer, or I’d have been calling for the lifeboat and feeling rather foolish!!
So there’s another element to think about when taking images. We’re getting quite a lot.
This gull was taken at 200 mm, f/25, 1/30 sec – again, not in tight focus, but the impression of speed over the water is there.
I’ve really enjoyed this exercise.
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