Lesson Four: Shutter Speed

Welcome back to the DSLR mini lessons! This week we will be talking about shutter speed, which is the third major setting that you will need to understand in order to fully shoot in manual mode. Before we dive in to today’s lesson, I highly encourage you to work through the previous mini lessons, if you haven’t done so already. You can find those lessons at the link below!

Shutter Speed: what you need to know

Simply put, shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open, exposing light to the camera sensor. This can either freeze or blur motion. Let’s chat more about some important points regarding shutter speed:

• Slow shutter speed (the longer the shutter is open), the more light will be let in.

  • This is helpful in low lighting situations, but only if your subject stays still.

  • This will blur motion (on accident or intentionally).

  • If you purposefully want to blur motion (like a waterfall, for example), using a tripod would be really helpful so the camera can be held as still as possible. The longer the shutter is open the more sensitive it is to camera shake, which will cause unwanted blur in your photo.

• Fast shutter speed (the less time the shutter is open), will freeze action and let less light in

  • This is good for children or subjects that are playing, sports photography, or any other scenarios that involve movement.

• Shutter speed is measured in seconds

• Here are examples of shutter speeds and what it could capture:

  • 1/8000– you can freeze a bullet

  • 1/250– about as low as you can go to freeze action

  • 1/125– you can freeze SLOW motion (not always) 

  • 1/50 or lower - you can blur movement (such as water, action, or capture low light scenarios); However, your own movement will cause blur so it’s important to use a tripod if possible

Let’s take a quick look at a set of photos and the difference shutter speed made in each photograph. For these photos, I asked my son to run back and forth. I began with a very slow shutter speed, which you will see resulted in a very blurred image. I then bumped my shutter speed up to a faster speed, which froze the action much better. However, there was still some blur. I adjusted the shutter to an even faster speed one more time to see what difference it would make, which you will see below.

Remember, the faster your shutter speed, the better able you’ll be able to freeze motion. However, if your subject is moving, you may get parts of your photo in focus but other areas may be out of focus because of their movement. See the photo below, taken with a 1/250 of a second. You will see that most of the photo is in focus. However, since he was jumping and moving quickly, you will notice that his feet are blurred. If I raised my shutter speed higher (perhaps to 1/500) then that area of the photo would have been more in focus.

The photo below is similar to the above photo. He was jumping quickly but I used a faster shutter speed (1/500), which resulted in a more crisp photo.

The photo below was taken with a slower shutter speed (1/125), which you’ll notice by the sand falling out of the cup that my daughter is holding.

When shooting in full manual mode, you will be controlling ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Therefore, if you change the shutter speed, it’s likely that you may have to adjust one or two of the other settings to get a correctly exposed photo. I understand this can be a bit confusing so don’t worry about that right now. We will go more in detail about that in a future lesson. I’ve got good news, though! There’s a much more simple way to practice shutter speed without being in full manual mode. Phew!

Over the last couple of weeks you practiced aperture by using the AV (aperture priority) mode of your camera.

This week, you’ll practice shutter speed by putting your camera in the TV (shutter speed priority) mode of your camera. In this mode, all you’ll have to do is choose your ISO and shutter speed and your camera will take care of the rest (detailed instructions for how to do this will be given in your homework assignment. :)

Before talking about your “homework” for the next couple of weeks, go ahead and watch the short video below about shutter speed. If you are more of a visual/audio learner, I highly recommend searching youtube videos to learn more about shutter speed. There are so many great resources out there!

*Homework time!

Like I previously stated, there is a much easier way to practice shutter speed than jumping into full manual mode. You will set your camera to TV mode and practice using different shutter speeds to capture a variety of subjects and movements.

1. Set your camera to TV mode (shutter priority mode) - refer to image above

2. Set your ISO - Ask yourself, what kind of lighting do I have? Is it bright? In the shade? Indoors? Set your ISO accordingly (refer to last week’s lesson if you need help with this).

3. I would suggest first trying this outside, if possible. That will ensure you have plenty of light to work with. Choose a subject and ask yourself - are they moving or standing still? If they are standing still, you can start with a slower shutter speed (1/125 perhaps). Take a look at your photograph - is it all in focus? If not, then use a faster shutter speed (perhaps 1/250). If the motion in your photo is still blurred then continue to increase your shutter speed. Play around with this using the same subject and same movement.

4. Once you get the hang of adjusting your shutter speed, start practicing with different subjects and/or movements. Ask your subject to jump up and down, run around, swing or go down a slide. You could also try photographing water coming out of a faucet or hose, a sprinkler, or creek or waterfall. The options and ideas are endless!

Just remember to ask yourself first and foremost - “what type of movement am I photographing?” If it’s fast and you want to freeze the action, make sure you start with a fast shutter speed and you can adjust from there. Remember, if the image is too dark then you can increase your ISO. If the image is too bright, you can lower the ISO.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this lesson! Remember, the more you practice the easier it will get. Challenge yourself to stay in TV mode and photograph different subjects and movements. The more you adjust your shutter speed according to different situations, the more you’ll understand and be comfortable with shutter speed. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you may have!