Shutter speed is probably the easiest element of exposure to understand. Shutter speed is essentially defined as how quickly the shutter opens and closes. Another way to think of it is how long the shutter is open, letting light hit the film. Understanding this is not hard. What becomes the challenge is knowing what shutter speed to choose as you go about your shooting.
Much of what determines your choice of shutter speed is available light, and the optimal condition is to have more light than you need. Having more light than you need allows you to choose any aperture setting you want for compositional reasons. When you get into a scene where light is dim, you will need to use a slower shutter speed, and this is where having a large aperture comes in handy. Remember, a large aperture allows more light into the camera, so you can use a faster shutter speed.
Another big factor in what shutter speed you need, is going to be how fast the subject of your shot is. For example if you are trying to capture your son playing soccer, you will need at least 1/250th of a second to “freeze” that motion and get a crisp action shot. This can be troublesome on a cloudy day if you don’t have a lens capable of large aperture settings.
Shutter speed is rated in seconds. And actually the most used settings are in fractions of seconds. The scale below is a list of typical shutter speeds from slowest to fastest in seconds:
- 1
- 1/2
- 1/4
- 1/8
- 1/16
- 1/32
- 1/60
- 1/125
- 1/250
- 1/500
- 1/1000
- 1/2000
Hopefully this brief introduction to shutter speed helps you move towards understanding photography better, and making better shots, time and time again.
-Matt
