Meath Gardens is a wonderful little park in Tower Hamlets that overlooks Regents Canal. At first I had intended to go there as part of the project on ‘Fitting in the Frame’. I happened to find a railway bridge next to the footbridge which leads to the park. The footbridge was a perfect vantage point from where I could shoot the trains as they sped past. The static backdrop of Canary Wharf was distinctive, and would hopefully be a nice contrast.
At 1/250 second: This turned out to be a boring shot. I thought the motion had been stopped but I should have increased the ISO to increase the shutter speed since I was on maximum aperture of f4.
At 1/160 second the movement of the train becomes a little more interesting. The graffiti on the bridge also adds some static interest.
1/125 second: the motion has become more blurred and is beginning to look a little more exciting.
At 1/30 second, the motion has a nice, effective blur. The background and particularly the people under the bridge are starting to show motion blur. Perhaps a tripod would’ve come in handy.
1/30 secs
1/30 second
1/10 second
1/10 second: the cyclist’s motion is blurred, which creates a nice contrast to the aesthetically pleasing blur of the train. The slow shutter speed also helps create a streaking effect.
1/10 second
1/10 second
1/10 second: The 24-105 lens used has image stabilisation built-in, which has helped to reduce camera shake. However a tripod would’ve certainly eliminated any blur due to camera shake and allowed for lower shutter speeds. Having said that, these pictures are at the smallest aperture of the lens, so an ND filter would’ve been needed.
OCA Photography 