Testing high shutter speeds with Fuji Superia 400 Part 1.

This is the first of my three part series for testing high shutter speeds with Fuji Superia 400. I was inspired by another photographers work where they were able to capture a scene during midday using the higher shutter speeds.

My typical shutter speed is 1/60s and the typical type of light is either diffused light or low side light. When I set about doing this test roll I also decided to test movement and blur with the high speed by having my subject move.

In this scenario, the time is around 12pm, midsummer, and the area the subject is standing has mixed light with diffused and overhead light from the sun.

Olympus Om1, Fuji Superia 400, Scanned and developed by The FIND Lab.

1/125 s 1.8f	1/125s 5.6f	1/125s 16f
1/250s 1.8f	1/250s 5.6f	1/250s 16f
1/500s 1.8f	1/500s 5.6f	1/500s 16f
1/1000s 1.8f	1/1000s 5.6f	1/1000s 16f

In my opinion, in these settings, the ideal shutter speed would be between 1/250 and 1/500 with s medium to wide aperture. This allows for the best color/light as well as shows movement through blur without distorting the subject.

I know my way of figuring out exposure is not typical. In fact, when I got my film scans back, the photo technician told me that it looked like my camera was on auto because there was a lot of bracketing inconsistencies from frame to frame. A lot of photographers will "rate" their film by exposing using a light meter. They will test the shadows to see what the light meter says which camera settings will allow those areas to be exposed properly.

Since I'm a very visual person, I want to see the minute differences from frame to frame, from exposure to exposure. Then I make notes of what I liked best and go from there. So, when I come across a scene that has the same type of light, I can look at my notes and base my settings on those. My camera does not have a working internal light meter and it is fully manual. Although I do use a light meter app, I mostly have to rely on my own senses to figure it all out. I don't have time to check my meter app for each and every frame.