The Sense of Speed

Joey nabbed this shot of the Downhill course creek jump. The motion blur really makes the shot. Believe it or not, this shot was taken with a point and shoot digital camera by using the aperture priority mode. Most folks just use these point and shoot cameras on full auto and let the camera make the shot. It doesn't have to be so. Most point and shoot digital cameras nowadays offer a lot more options than the vast majority of users know how to use.

So how did Joey do it? He set his 6+ megapixel Kodak camera to aperture priority. Set the aperture to f/2.8 because we were under heavy cover by the trees, so he needed all the light he could get. In turn, he got a shutter speed of 1/90 of a second and some killer motion blur as a result of panning the rider.

Still a little confused? Want to know more? I've read a couple of books by Bryan Peterson that I'd recommend to anyone: Understanding Exposure and Understanding Digital Photography. I've read both and still frequently refer to them. There's a little overlap, so if you've just got a digital camera give the Digital Photography book a go. Either one is a great intro into the basics of photography that makes terms like f-stop, aperture, and shutter speed easy to understand. No matter what kind of camera you use or what kind of pictures you take, Bryan's books may be the best $15 investment in photography you ever make. What's a $500, $1000, or $2000 camera setup if you don't know how to use it. Happy shooting - and email Cycling Shots your shots and stories!