I could only get down to a shutter speed of 1/20s. This was still slow enough to slow the motion down. While the fastest shutter speed was 1/4000. I did not have a tripod.
At an aperture of f2 and a shutter speed of 1/4000 the picture below is the one that freezes the action best but because of the lack of a tripod and also the shallowness of the depth of field the image doesn't seem as sharp as the shutter speed would make you feel it should be.
There is a noticeable difference in the sharpness of the following image which is at f2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/2000. The shutter speed is fast enough to still freeze the image but the gain in aperture helps with sharpness.
At f4 we are beginning to see the start of motion blur in the elements of the frame that are moving the quickest. Here, in the image below, we can see that the subject's right foot appears to blur at the heal while the rest of the image seems to fall within a degree of acceptable sharpness.
At 5.6 and 1/500 we are seeing more elements within the frame blurring. The amount of which is not such that it could seem different to focus issues or motion blur.
At f8 1/250 We see the beginings of motion blur as a creative effect. The stillness of the background, the direction and action within the frame suggest the use of the shutter speed creatively and helps enhance the perceived speed and movement within the frame.
With only a small change of less than one full stop, aperture to f9 and the shutter speed to 1/200, there is a very noticeable difference in motion blur between the image below and the previous image set at f8 and 1/250. The affect of the motion blur now adds a very definite effect which renders most of the movement within the frame blurred but still there is sharpness in the slowest elements of the image.
With the aperture set to f11 and the shutter at 1/125 we now can see all moving elements within the frame showing a level of motion blur. The effect now seems to make the image move, as you seem to anticipate the movement of the subject towards the right side of the frame.
The motion blur effect generates a dynamic sense of movement which is demonstrated in the next image, f14 shutter 1/80, which makes your eyes wonder around the image trying to fix the elements of movement in the frame which adds to enhances the sense of movement. We also start to see the moving elements of the image becoming less recognizable as a real world form and begin to take on a more abstract form within the image.
With the aperture set to f18 and the shutter speed set to 1/50, the effect motion blur has on the image below is that it makes the subject seem to have landed on the pavement. Most of the subject shows the streaks we associate with motion blur but the slower movement of the foot and the direction of the motion streaks suggesting a downward motion, giving a sense of the subject landing within the frame.
As we get to the slowest shutter speeds, the image below being f20 1/50, we start to see the motion blur created by the movement of the subject take on a more abstract form. To the point that the subject's form, although still recognizable, begins to create an image more about movement than about the subject.
At the final aperture of f22 with a shutter speed of 1/20 we see the subject in the image take on an abstract form which suggests more about movement with the motion blur than it reveals of the actual subject.
