If you are a beginner photographer, one of the most important things to learn is how the shutter speed affects your image.
So many beginners are getting blurry photos because they are not using a fast enough shutter speed to freeze movement. On the other hand – even if you are an advanced photographer you may not have tried all the creative ways to use different shutter speeds. It’s a lot of fun and may result in some of your best work so far!
Changing Shutter Speeds
The next question you will confront is how to change your shutter speed. The actual physical changing of the shutter speed is pretty simple, it’s typically done via a dial on top of your camera. The more important question is how are you to offset the change to shutter speed, assuming you are in manual mode (if you are in Aperture priority or Program mode the camera will make the change for you).
If you use a faster shutter speed, the shutter is not open as long so the camera gathers less light. So, without something else changing, your picture will be underexposed by using a shorter shutter speed. To make a proper exposure, additional light has to come from somewhere. You can add that extra light to offset the use of a faster shutter speed in one of two ways:
Open up the aperture: The aperture is the hole your the lens that allows light to pass into the camera. A larger aperture allows more light into the camera. So if you open up your aperture by one stop, you are letting in twice as much light during the same period of time. But be careful, a larger aperture also creates a shallower depth of field, which you might not want.
Increase the ISO: The ISO is the rating assigned to how sensitive your digital sensor is to light. It is adjustable, and the higher the number, the more sensitive you make your camera’s digital sensor to light. But this comes at a cost, digital noise, which increases as you increase the ISO.There are separate controls on your camera to make these changes. Use either of these methods to add more light to your exposure whenever you are shortening your shutter speed.
Stopping the Action
In times of high action or drama, you can stop the motion by using a very fast shutter speed. To do this, you will want your shutter speed to be 1/250 of a second or faster. Key for these type of shots where you are stopping the action, is to anticipate the shot. With the speeds at which modern cameras shoot, you may often want to just hold the shutter button down and blast away, this rarely works though. The decisive moment is usually only captured by anticipation and triggering the shutter at precisely the right moment.
Panning
Another way to use shutter speed creatively in times of action is to pan the subject. Panning is where you move the camera during the exposure to follow the subject. Done properly (or when you get lucky) the subject is relatively sharp, while the background is blurred and conveys a sense of motion.
Creating a Sense of Motion
Still another creative use of shutter speed is slowing it down to create a sense of motion. This is accomplished when the subject is moving slightly through the frame during the exposure. This idea is for the subject to be identifiable, but slightly blurred. Shutter speeds for this type of shot are between 1/4 and 1/10th of a second. That is virtually always too slow for you to hand-hold your camera, so you will probably need to break out the tripod for this type of shot.
Long Exposures
The final creative use of shutter speed we will cover here is a long exposure. This is where you hold the shutter open for a long time and allow certain parts of your picture to move through the frame. You will always need a tripod for this technique. Long exposure shutter speeds are between 10 and 30 seconds. Most cameras offer you the ability to go even longer by using Bulb mode, where the shutter will stay open as long as you hold the shutter button down. A remote shutter release, which is always a good idea when you are shooting from a tripod, is almost a necessity for this type of shot.
Long exposure is a great technique whenever there is moving water involved, such as coastal scenes, rivers, and waterfalls. It is also great for streaking lights in night photography.
Read the full article over at Digital Photography School
Source: Digital Photography School
