Intro to Shutter Speed

Please read aperture priority before reading this if you do not understand f/ or DOF.

Shutter speed is the 2^nd part of a 2 part equation for perfect exposure. The first is f/ or aperture size. The lower the f/ the faster the shutter speed. The higher the f/ the lower the shutter speed.0

Depending on your lighting source, shutter speed determines how long your sensor/film gets light. It's like a curtain behind your camera's pupil (aperture).

Imagine walking inside after a long time outside on a bright and sunny day. The room is dark and cloudy. This is because your brains shutter speed is set too fast. Your world is underexposed. After some time, your pupils dilate to compensate and the room is brighter and in better focus.

The shutter in your camera isn't as sophisticated as your brain and optic nerve signals but the concept is similar. To master shutter speed you have to master the concept of time. Much like the time you need for your eyes to adjust to a new lighting situation, the longer you have to expose your picture.

Lighting Situations:

If you are in low light, you'll need to work with longer shutter speeds and bigger apertures. The disadvantage is grainier pictures and more motion blur. If your subject is moving and your shutter speed is longer then 1/125^th of a second, there may be blur.

(“Surreal Chicken” f/2.8, shutter 1/5^th of a second)

The above image was taken in a fairly dim barn. The chicken is moving, causing motion blur. The background is blurry because I'm moving, causing camera blur.)

If you are taking a picture of a landscape, this can be equated to standing outside on a bright day squinting your eyes and shielding your eyes, with your hands, to put everything in focus. Your pupils are constricted (small aperture, large f/) and your brains shutter speed forces you to look longer to see focus in the distance. The fact that your aperture is so small to gain all the focus of the image means you have to deal with a longer shutter speed. It's time to pull out your tripod. Sure your subject (the landscape) isn't moving but you are. This is where you'll get camera shake. You are a breathing, heart beating, bundle of muscles. Any shutter speed longer then 1/80^th of a second can turn into a blurry picture without a tripod.

("The Creek", f/13, shutter speed 1/80^th of a second, I propped my camera on a railing in place of a tripod.)