Changing Shutter Speed on a DSLR

Shutter speed is measured in how many fractions of a second, or seconds, the shutter is open for. If the shutter is open for a long period of time, such as 2 seconds (shown as 2" on a DSLR), light is being taken in for a long period of time, and moving items appear blurred, such as this example image. If the shutter speed is something like 1/1000, then the shutter is open for a short period of time, moving objects will not be blurred. A fast shutter speed is great for sports.

Adjusting is simple. Turn your mode dial to 'S', and here you should be able to change it to your hearts content. You MUST REMEMBER, however, that the shutter speeds you can change to depend on your ISO setting. This is where it gets complicated. If you can, pick up your camera now, change your shutter speed to something like 10 Seconds (10") and take a picture of the computer screen, or a lit room. You should just see white. This is because too much light has been brought in. Now, change the speed to something like 1/4000, or as near as you can go, and when you take a picture, you should see just black. This is because not enough light has been brought into the camera. This is when you need to alter your ISO.

Choosing higher ISO values allows faster shutter speeds, and vice versa. You may have to change these settings to get your desired effect. I feel that playing with shutter speed will give you a good sense of how things work. Search, Penki, in the Apple App Store, and you will find a great use for this feature.

When taking shots at night, it is vital you know what the ISO is, and when to change it.

High ISO's (1500-3000) are great for night shots. It is complicated, because in the image to the left, while my ISO setting was high, I used a slow shutter speed.

For all you absolute beginners, try using a higher ISO for night shots, or shots in the dark, and an ISO of around 300-600 for daytime shots, although you might want to reach 1000.

Why ISO works, I do not know, and I still find it hard to get my head round, as you can probably tell, but experimentation is what is needed. Below is a list of different scenario's, and different ISO values. Take a look.

A flowing river. You want the water to be blurred to show motion. ISO Lo to 200.
A calm bright daytime scene - ISO 200-500.
Splashing water, which you want frozen in mid-air. ISO 500-800.
A still object or building at night - ISO 800-1000
A theatre or classical concert - ISO 1000-2000
A night time scene with much bright lights (like my image above) - ISO 1000 - 2000
Fast moving objects at night. ISO 1500 - ISO hi.

Note most cameras may not let you change to certain shutter speeds if your ISO setting is wrong.

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Photography Basics: Understanding Shutter Speed

To release yourself from the ball and chain of the automatic mode and truly gain control over your camera, you'll need to understand some basic concepts of photography. In this article, we talk about one crucial element of photography, time.

It's all about the timing

Have you seen one of those pictures where you could see the motion blur of a dancer, or one where they "stop" the flight of a bird. This is achieved by varying the shutter speed of your camera. A slow shutter speed will allow you to show the motion blur of your subject (eg. speeding train) and a faster shutter speed works quite the opposite, it freezes that motion.

When you want to imply movement in your pictures, you select a slower shutter speed. Speed it up when you want to freeze motion.

To change the timing of your shutter speed, switch your camera to the shutter priority mode. This is indicated by either Tv (for Canon cameras), or simply T (for Nikon and Sony users). When you switch into this mode, it means that your camera, once again, goes into semi-automatic. You select the time you want, your camera determines the size of the aperture so that it will make a good exposure based on your scene.

Depending on your camera, as you turn the dial or push the left-right buttons, notice that there's this number that changes. It will marked either by 1/a number, eg. 1/200, or a number", eg. 2". 1/200 means the aperture will open, wait for 1/200 of a second and then closed--pretty fast, where 2" means it will open for 2 seconds. So 1/200 is a faster shutter speed than 2", as it takes less time for your camera to take the shot.

Note: Depending on your camera and lens you use, the slowest and fastest shutter speed can go from 1/8000 all the way to whatever time you specify.

Exercise: Controlling Motion and Freezing Time

The best way to learn a new concept is by trying it out first-hand. So grab your camera and put into practise what we have learned so far.

Tools needed:
A camera, peferably a dSlrYour subject, eg. A piece of tissue you have lying aroundFan. To create motion.Optional: A tripod, or mini-tripod that comes free with most purchases

Setup

Go to your camera settings, and change the AF point to the one in the centre if you have not.
Set your camera to shutter priority mode, and dial to a shutter speed of 1/50Hold your tissue paper in front of the fanFocus on the tissue and take the pictureNext, without shifting your camera around much increase the speed to 1/300. Focus on roughly the same spot and take the picture.Save both your images onto your computer

Notice how on the first image, you captured the tissue flapping around and it's all a blur, whilst on the second image, it's as if the tissue didn't move.

If you've followed through, congratulations! You've just learned how to freeze time. Shooting pictures with shutter priority is great fun! Tell your friends to jump whilst you take a picture, or show the speed of your running nephew.

Summary
Shutter Speed controls the time it takes for your images to be exposedThe slower the speed, the more time you allow your subject to show in your picturesUse the shutter priority mode when you want to imply motion--think flying birds, running kids, or when you want to freeze a fast moving object--think aeroplanes, people jumping.

Take a look at some examples over at Singapore Photography.

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