Many digital cameras have a mode for "creative" features such as setting your shutter speed, aperture etc. Should you use them? What are some of the benefits? What exactly are the things like shutter speed and aperture you might want to set?
Read on as the next couple posts will help you jump into the deeper end of the photography pool ..
Read on as the next couple posts will help you jump into the deeper end of the photography pool ..
First what is shutter speed? Plainly put it's the time the shutter remains open, letting light into the camera to hit the film( film camera) or sensor ( digital camera). It is measured in seconds such as 1, a slow shutter speed, meaning the shutter remains open a long time or a fraction of a second such as 1/1000 meaning the shutter is fast and remains open for a very short time..
With Canon cameras the mode on the "creative" side of the dial that allows you to set what shutter speed you want the camera to use is called the time value or"TV" mode. That mode lets you choose the shutter speed while the camera will set the aperture to hopefully give you a nicely exposed shot. Other manufacturers may call it something slightly different but it should be in your manual.
Why would you want to choose the shutter speed instead of letting the camera choose? Two common scenarios....
Maybe you want to freeze the action , if so, set the shutter speed as high as you can, over 1/500 and it should stop the action without blurring. First photo, "Into The Sun"1/400 shutter speed. Useful for nature photos such as a bird in flight, sport photos, anything where the object is moving but you want to stop it so it will be sharp in the photo.
At the opposite end of the scale, maybe you are taking a photo of a waterfall and want that soft silky blurred water instead of seeing the water drops. Place your camera on a tripod, choose the slowest shutter speed you can, under 1/30 if possible and take your photo...nice silky water should result. Second photo, "Coffee Creek" , Shutter speed 1/13 of a second. camera. You can also use a slow shutter speed to create a motion blur to show speed, such as a car zipping past, or in dim light such as at night or indoors...BUT....
As a rule of thumb you can only hold your camera steady for a shutter speed that is the same mm as your lens length...for example if you have a 35 mm camera and a 200 mm lens ( or your optical zoom on a point and shoot goes that far) without any kind of image stabilization you need a shutter speed of at least 1/200 to get a crisp sharp shot. If you have a camera with a crop factor ( which would include most dslrs in the entry and prosumer lines) you have to use that crop factor in addition to the lens mm to expect a great sharp shot...for example if you have a camera with a 1.6 crop and a 200mm lens, you need a shutter speed of at least 1/320 ( 200x1.6). Of course if you have some kind of image stabilization built into your lens or camera or you use a monopod or tripod to stabilize your camera, you can achieve a sharp shot with a slower shutter speed than the rule of thumb, usually a few stops slower with the image stabilization or a monopod, many stops with a tripod and a timer or remote switch.
Of course there are other things to set to make your photo turn out how you want it so next we'll talk about aperture.
