We blink our eyes to let in and shut out the light. The camera has its own eyelid, the diaphragm. The speed at which the camera "blinks" gives different types of images depending on the speed of its movement.
As we have seen in the article about aperture, the amount of light entering the camera is controlled by the diaphragm, which is equivalent to the iris of the human eye. Shutter speed is the amount of time the aperture is open to let in light. When the camera is clicked, the aperture opens for the duration set, lets the light fall on the film/sensor and then closes to block the light. It is equivalent to quickly opening a shut eye and closing the eyelid.
Shutter speed decides the amount of exposure the film or sensor is subjected to. It is another side of the Exposure Triangle, the other two being ISO and Aperture.
Exposure, or shutter speed, is measured in terms of fractions of seconds. It can range from 1/4000 th of a second to 30 seconds. Obviously, faster the shutter speed, lesser is the exposure time, and darker is the image.
In the combo images above, the image gets brighter with increasing exposure, from 5.6 seconds to 30.5 seconds. F-stop (aperture) and ISO are kept constant throughout.
High Shutter Speed
High speed and sports photography need high shutter speed. If it is indoor, using flash also helps in freezing the shot.
The top image had a shutter speed of 1/125 th of a second, while the bottom one had 1/120 th of a second. Of course, usage of flash has an important role in high speed photography. A flash freezes the image. With flash, a lower shutter speed is also fine. In outdoors and sports, flash does not affect the shot, and lower exposure duration is a must.
Low Shutter Speed
On the opposite end of the shutter speed scale is the long exposure, or low speed photography. Here, exposure time is in seconds.
Long exposure means keeping the eyes of the camera open for a long time. It collects as much light as possible even in dim conditions. Even with a low ISO of 800 and taken at 10:24 in the night, this image is bright.
For a long exposure in seconds, a tripod or any steady support is a must. Long exposure makes beautiful photos when it comes to water photography. Falling water creates a smooth, hazy effect when shot with a low shutter speed, as the fountain, or the cascade below.
This cascade with a smooth, curtain-like appearance was shot with shutter speed of 1/2 second.
Two images of the same cascade, one with low shutter speed, and another with normal speed.
To summarise,
High shutter speed -> Short exposure in fractions of seconds, low brightness, sharp images. Sports, action shots
Low shutter speed -> Long exposure in seconds, high brightness, needs tripod for sharpness. Water falls, star trails
Visit this page to view sample photos taken using slow shutter speed.
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