A Photo Story

I mentioned a little bit about shutter speed in my Aperture post, but now I’d like to describe it a little better.  As you might remember from before: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are the variables in the equation for perfect exposure.  Be sure to scroll down to the post about aperture if you missed it or just click here.

Shutter speed is a lot easier to understand.  If aperture is the size of the hole that allows light through to the camera sensor (or to the film), then shutter speed is the amount of time that hole is open.  Shutter speed controls the effect of motion in your photograph.  Think about shutter speed when you take pictures of moving objects, like the flow of water, a car racing, or a sports star running.  The longer the shutter is open, the more blurred your action will be.  The shorter the shutter is open, the more still your action will be.

Shutter speed is shown on your camera usually in whole numbers.  You might notice that your shutter speed is listed as 60, 100, 250, and so forth.  As with aperture, these whole number shutter speeds actually represent a fraction of a second.  So, 60 on your camera would beam 1/60th of a second.  If your camera allows you to have long shutter speeds of over a second, you might notice that the camera now indicates that you are taking shots of 1″ (1 second) or more.  This of course is not a fraction anymore and is 1 second, 2 seconds, and so on.

Shutter speed is usually considered long if it is longer than 1/60 of a second.  Most photographers consider 1/60 to be the slowest speed a typical person can steadily hold a camera.  Any shots slower than 1/60 should definitely be taken with a tripod to minimize vibrations.  Long shutter speeds are used at night or in low lighting conditions.  This makes sense because if the shutter is open for an extended period of time, all the available light is being exposed on the image for an extended period of time.  This is why some night photography photos appear to be lit considerably more than you might notice in person.  The longer the length of time that light is allowed on the camera sensor or film, the brighter the resulting image will be.

Shutter speed is usually considered to be very fast if it is over 1/500 of a second or even 1/1000 of a second.  At very high speeds, motion can be stopped.  Experimentation is needed to find the right high speed to stop each different type of motion.  Experiment and practice.  With such high speeds, the light is not allowed on the camera sensor or film for very long at all.  This means that there needs to be a lot of light in order to record a correctly exposed image.

The best way to describe this is again by a few examples.  Take a look.

The shutter speed in the left picture is slow at 1/20 creating a smoother look in the water blurring the motion of the waterfall.  The shutter speed in the right picture is 1/800 freezing the water in position.  You can see the big difference shutter speed makes in the creative aspect of the photo.

The top photo has a slow shutter speed of 1/4 seconds blurring the motion of the baseball pitcher.  The bottom photo has a shutter speed of 1/500 seconds freezing the baseball catcher in position as he moves quickly to tag out a runner.  Sports photographers usually use fast shutter speeds to stop action and create crisp, clear photos of the ball players.  However, you can also see that using a slower shutter speed can creates interesting abstractions in sports.

This photo was taken at night after the sun was down.  In order to make the photo appear so bright, and the sky so blue, the shutter speed was set to 4 seconds allowing as much light as was needed to correctly expose the photograph.

This photo of the beach was taken in what appeared to be darkness to the eye as well.  However, when the photo was correctly exposed at a shutter speed of 25 seconds long, the light of the moon above reflects on the ocean and the light of a street light brightens up the sand.  With such a long exposure, the waves are blurred and the stars shine through as well.

At a shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second in very bright light, the motion of the wave and water is frozen in time and you can see the individual water droplets.

So, shutter speed, as well as aperture can create interesting and unique aspects to your photos.  Next time you take a photo full of motion, think about what type of photo you want to achieve and what shutter speed will achieve that vision.

How do I set the shutter speed on my camera?

Point and Shoot Cameras:

You don’t have very many options on your camera for controlling the shutter speed.  However, most cameras have different shooting modes.  The sports or action mode will set the camera to the fastest speed that the lighting allows for.  If you are taking photos at night, first be sure your camera is on a tripod and then use a night mode on your camera to set the camera to the slowest speed possible.  Some cameras allow you to change the mode with a dial on the top of the camera, and others allow you to change the mode by a series of buttons on the back.  Take a look at your camera and see what yours can do.  Next time you take a picture, use one of these modes to get a more creative look at your subject.

DSLRs and cameras with a manual mode:

If your camera has an shutter-priority setting (usually depicted by an S on a settings dial) or is a DSLR, you are in luck.  You have the ultimate creative control of your photos.  Try shooting a few pictures in shutter-priority.  What this allows you to do is set the speed that you want for the most creative photo, and then the camera will determine what the aperture needed in order to obtain the correct exposure.

Remember that cameras usually depict shutter speed as whole numbers instead of the fractions they actually mean.  So if you are taking a shot at shutter speed of 100, this means 1/100.  At speeds of more than 1 second, there should be a symbol such as the ” symbol following the number to depict that you are taking a photo in increments of more than 1 second.  When you take photos slower than 1/60 of a second use a tripod to avoid camera shake blur.  Your camera might have a B or Bulb mode as well.  This allows you to hold the shutter in the open position for as long as you deem necessary to capture the shot.  Take a look in your manual to see how to use this setting on your camera.

As always, use the comments section of the blog to ask your own questions and I will dedicate a blog post to your question.