Photography 101 | The Exposure Triangle - Shutter Speed

Welcome Back

I realized that I had been writing this Photography-based BLOG, and I had not written anything about being a photographer, or sharing my knowledge and skill sets to those wanting to get into photography. I intend to correct that with posts now to inform, instruct and explain how to improve yourself as a beginner to photographer, whether its basic concepts, learning how to use your camera or helpful techniques when taking the shot. Last week, I talked about the first aspect of the Exposure Triangle: ISO; This week, I'll talk a bit about the next aspect: Shutter Speed.

Shutter Speed

The final element of the triangle, which is by far the most straightforward of the three. Shutter speed is the amount of time in which your shutter opens to allow light in and take the shot. Speeds vary from camera to camera, but typically they can range from 30 seconds to 1/2000th of a second. The faster the shutter, the less amount of light comes gets to the film or sensor, which will underexpose your shot. In the inverse, the slower the shutter, the more light is brought in, overexposing the shot. Usually, shutter speed is the main thing that gets adjusted from shot to shot, because it is the easiest setting to adjust. Typically before you start shooting, you will adjust your ISO and Aperture, based off of the environment or the desired result you want in your shoot. As you shoot, you will tweak the shutter speed to fine tune your exposure of the shots. Pretty straightforward here, and the side effect is as well.

Motion Blur

The side effect of shutter speed is motion blur, but its more than you think. Shutter speed, as I said before, is the amount of time the shutter is open to bring light in and expose your shot. The factor you have to account for with this in addition to exposure, is motion. This is a challenge that typically shows up more with sports photographers and animal photographers, where the subjects are typically in motion. The longer the shutter is open, the more motion you are capturing, which is fine when you are doing video, but in still photos, that's usually not the case, unless that's the desired result. In cases of moving subjects, the faster the shutter, the less blur you capture, making your subject more crisp and focused. Pretty straightforward, right? Not so fast.

There is an additional factor to consider, and that's you. What do I mean? Well, are you holding the camera when taking slow shutter shots? Your hand shakes naturally, especially when holding a heavy camera and lens, and pressing a button over and over, the camera moves a little bit. This movement can create blurring as well, usually unintended, which then makes your subject blurry and out of focus. Depending on what you're shooting, and you have to use slow shutter speeds, bring a tripod, it allows your camera to get crisp shots, and you don't have to hold still while the shutter is open.