A to Z Challenge - S

Shutter speed is the third major exposure setting that a photographer can adjust on his/her camera. Shutter speed, boils down to the amount of time your camera's blades (or eyelids) are open and therefore allowing light in to effect your picture.  The longer the shutter is open, the more light that gets in. The less time its open, the less light that gets in...pretty simple.

But what does that mean for your photographs?

In general, you want to use a faster shutter speed. The reason for that is the longer the camera's eyes are open, the longer the camera has to notice movement (both in the subject and in the hands holding the camera).  But there are cases where you would want to slow your shutter speed down...if you want to see the blue of movement, someone running by or water flowing, for example. You may also find that you are shooting in a very low light situation and slowing the shutter speed may enable you to pick up some extra light (of course, there are other ways to do this using aperture and extra light/flash, but maybe they won't work for other reasons).

Remember talking about quick-release platforms for tripods the other day? Well, this is why you need to use a tripod! If you lower your shutter speed and the shutter stays open longer, suddenly the camera is picking up the shake in your hand-held camera and your picture comes out blurry! Bleh!! By using a tripod, you are able to slow the shutter speed and still get the picture you want (whether a non-blurry, low-light photograph or an intentionally blurred shot).