Saturday, January 11, 2020

Photo Tip #4: Shutter Speed



Swing batta batta swing!  


This fourth dimension we’re going to goal our give-and-take of “the exposure triangle.”  We’ve already covered aperture in addition to depth of champaign inwards business office 1 in addition to inwards business office 2 nosotros talked nearly ISO in addition to lite sensitivity. 


The 3rd side of the triangle is shutter speed.




The triangle is simply an analogy–a agency of trying to simplify the mystery of exposure.  Granted, some are nearly every bit comfortable alongside The Exposure Triangle every bit they are flight into The Bermuda Triangle…but no worries.  I hope you lot won’t acquire sucked into the time/space vortex—or wherever it is that those planes receive got ended up!   


On to shutter speed:   Imagine you’re inwards the living room.  Heck, perchance you lot ARE inwards your living room. What produce I know?  But anyway.   You are inwards the living room.  Open in addition to unopen your drapes.  Really fast.  No.  REALLY fast!  Like, inwards 1/125th of a second.   


That’s what your camera’s shutter is.  It’s the curtains opening in addition to closing.  Light comes inwards through the shutter–which industrial plant similar a laid of curtains–and hits your camera’s sensor.  Or film, if you lot all the same shoot film.   Aperture is how broad you lot opened upwards the curtains……”Shutter speed” is how long you lot exit the curtains open.    


Short durations, or fast shutter speeds, allow you lot to freeze motion, similar inwards the softball shot above.  I don’t receive got the metadata for that shot handy but the shutter speed was in all likelihood at to the lowest degree a thousandth of a second.  I chose that setting hence that I’d endure able to freeze the ball correct before it striking the bat.  I wanted a slightly blurry background, hence the aperture is in all likelihood nearly f/8.


Remember. To freeze action, run a faster shutter speed.  Meaning…a shorter duration.  1/1000th of a mo is faster than 1/125th. 


I piece of employment alongside my photographic boob tube camera on aperture priority most of the time, because inwards the journalistic materials I shoot, depth of champaign is unremarkably what I am most concerned about.  I desire to telephone phone attending to for sure subjects.  One agency to produce that is past times using selective focus….and I produce that past times controlling the depth of field. So, aperture priority. 


The exception is when capturing motion, or illustrating motility using selective blur, is to a greater extent than of import than depth of field.   Then I switch to shutter priority. 





Perhaps you’ve seen our dogs Mocha in addition to Abby on SRFD.  

They’ve had several cameos over the years. 


Anyway, the shot inwards a higher house was presently later Abby joined the family.  She in addition to Mo loved to play rough.  (By the way, don’t worry nearly Abby.  She’s twice the size of Mocha now.) 

When they were going at it inwards the household unit of measurement room, above, I wanted to freeze the action

 so I used a faster shutter speed.   


But oftentimes you lot don’t desire the entire photograph razor sharp.  

A lilliputian blur gives the picture life.  It conveys motility in addition to activity in addition to drama.  






Like inwards this shot of birds on our dorsum deck.  I similar the blur.  


I honey to experiment alongside motility blur, whether it’s birds fussing, or individual giving a speech.  

A lilliputian blur–in the correct place—is a skillful thing.


So how produce you lot acquire that?   Set your photographic boob tube camera to shutter priority in addition to select a shutter speed of 1/60th, 1/30th, perchance fifty-fifty 1/15th depending on how fast your bailiwick is moving 

and how much blur you lot want.   In the shot inwards a higher house the photographic boob tube camera was all the same and 

parts of the subjects were moving faster than the other elements. 



Another cistron is whether YOU are moving….or, to a greater extent than accurately….whether the photographic boob tube camera is moving.





Trish in addition to I shot this 1 of our boy in addition to his fiance on their motorbike 1 night.  One mutual frigidity night. 

 I scream back it was mutual frigidity because I was hanging out the window shooting.   It’s fifty-fifty possible that I mightiness receive got gotten into the bed of the pickup in addition to allow Trish drive….but don’t tell anybody.  

I’m for sure that—-IF I had done that—it would receive got been some form of violation. 


The bike isn’t moving that fast really…maybe thirty miles an hour…and Trish in addition to I were doing nearly the same speed.  Since the bike was moving in addition to the photographic boob tube camera was moving….the background is blurry because it is stationary.  The shutter speed on this 1 was nearly 1/60th of a second. 


Again, the motorbike in addition to photographic boob tube camera were moving at nearly the same speed. 








You tin terminate acquire a similar trial fifty-fifty if your bailiwick is non doing thirty miles an hour. 

Or, if you’re shooting a racing sport….a heckuva lost faster than that.    


You tin terminate employ the same technique, known every bit “panning”—meaning, moving the photographic boob tube camera at the same speed every bit your subject—even if the bailiwick is simply individual walking downwardly an aisle toward a stage.  

I shot the 2 frames inwards a higher house at the 2011 Top Cops Awards in addition to I think the motion helps conduct some of the excitement of the evening, to a greater extent than than a completely tack-sharp frame would have. 


To acquire a similar result, dial upwards a shutter speed of nearly 1/30th in addition to displace alongside your subject.  As they walk, you lot displace your photographic boob tube camera at the same speed, perish on your bailiwick inwards focus in addition to shoot multiple frames.  The downside of motility blur is that it is oftentimes a crap shoot.  

Either it looks great….or yeah, non hence much.   

So practice, practice, practice.





I do all the time.  This shot was taken during a photograph cast inwards Florida that got a lilliputian dry.  I noticed some lights on the flooring of the auditorium hence I sat on the flooring in addition to shot a few closeups of them. 




Then I started playing alongside dull shutter speeds in addition to was moving the photographic boob tube camera around during the exposure

just to run across what it would await like.  

The shot inwards a higher house is zilch exciting….and I may never run it for anything other than this blog.   

It was simply purely an experiment to acquire to a greater extent than familiar alongside my gear. 


But scream back this—-every slap-up lensman I’ve ever met or read nearly has used this phrase            at some point;   “I wonder what would move on if I tried….”    

That’s why I’m e'er encouraging you lot inwards these photography posts to travail novel things!



OK, so…..back to the triangle. 


The 3 sides piece of employment together.  You command the exposure past times adjusting 1 or to a greater extent than of the 3 sides. 


Not much lite on your subject?  You’ll postulate a higher ISO hence that you’ll endure able to acquire something other than the widest possible aperture….so that you’ll receive got plenty of the shot inwards focus. 

If you lot desire it inwards focus.


A brilliant sunny day…..and you lot are wanting real lilliputian of your shot inwards focus??  Use a depression ISO, large aperture in addition to a high shutter speed hence that the curtains are non opened upwards real long. 



The exposure triangle is nearly to a greater extent than than simply “special effect” type shots similar some 

of those nosotros discussed earlier.     Simply put, agreement exposure volition allow you lot tell your photographic boob tube camera what to produce to deliver the form of “look” you lot desire your photos to have.  

No to a greater extent than spraying in addition to praying, hoping you lot acquire at to the lowest degree 1 skillful frame. 


I shot some of our foxgloves this night to acquire some images to illustrate this point. 




This bloom bed is on 1 of the less attractive sides of the house.  AC units, breakers, etc.  

This shot was at ISO 1600.  The aperture was 22 in addition to the shutter speed was 1/125.  

That much depth of champaign shows a lilliputian to a greater extent than especial of the solid than I’d like.   





This 1 has the same ISO—1600…but the aperture was 3.2 inwards lodge to acquire a blurrier background.  

Since 3.2 lets inwards to a greater extent than lite (because the curtains were opened upwards a lot wider than at f/22)…I upped the shutter speed to 1/6400 to compensate.   


Often, if you lot increase one, you lot desire to decrease another.   

To run the triangle analogy, if you lot shorten or lengthen 1 side…the other 2 sides are besides affected. 



So at that topographic point you lot receive got it.  The 3 sides of the exposure triangle.  Aperture, ISO in addition to shutter speed. 


Hopefully this was helpful in addition to you’re non flight around inwards the vortex somewhere. 

 If you lot run across Amelia Earhart inwards there, tell her how-do-you-do for us! 


Keep shooting in addition to perish on learning….and receive got fun!   

Let me know if you lot receive got other topics you lot desire to tackle.    

And every bit Tricia says….Thanks for stopping by. 


Traveling Husband 


Source: savingdessert.com


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