home Credit How to set exposure on canon. Shutter speed on a camera - what is it and how to set it? Blurring a photo using a slower shutter speed

How to set exposure on canon. Shutter speed on a camera - what is it and how to set it? Blurring a photo using a slower shutter speed

If you bought your first SLR, mirrorless or any other camera that supports the so-called manual settings, then our article today will definitely be useful to you. So, today we’ll talk about the three main shooting parameters – shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

What is a camera aperture?

Photography is light painting. Therefore, both aperture and shutter speed affect the amount of light that enters the sensor after pressing the shutter button.
Aperture is one of the main shooting parameters. Strictly speaking, aperture is a parameter that relates not to the camera itself (body), but to the lens. Therefore, it would be more correct to ask, what is a lens aperture?

So, lens aperture is a mechanical adjustment that allows you to adjust the amount of light passing through the lens. Roughly speaking, the aperture is the hole through which light passes. If you dig deeper, you can find out that the lens aperture is several blades that change their position, thereby reducing or increasing the hole through which light passes.

What do you need to take away from this first? First, the larger the hole, the more light passes through the lens. Secondly, you also need to know that the LESS aperture number, the wider the “hole” is open, which means BIGGER aperture. Thus, on modern lenses, the maximum aperture opening is achieved at f/1.2 and f/1.4. Even higher apertures, like f/1.0 and f/0.95, are available on expensive exclusive glasses, which even professionals usually don’t use.

So, let's take a couple of specific lenses as an example. Let's say Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G and Nikon 50mm f/1.4D. Their maximum aperture is indicated in the name. For the first lens it is f/3.5 at 18mm and f/5.6 at 105mm, for the second it is f/1.4. This option is also called aperture ratio. Please note that only the maximum aperture ratio is indicated. Cover the aperture up to values like f/7.1, f/11 is possible on any lens. The extreme value is usually f/22 for zooms (18-105mm) and f/16 for fixed lenses (50mm). We talked about zooms and primes in a separate article.

What is shutter speed in a camera?

Just like aperture, shutter speed affects the amount of light that ultimately hits the camera sensor (or film). If the aperture regulates the amount of light using the diameter of the hole in the lens, then shutter speed is a parameter of the camera itself.

Excerpt– this is the time during which light exposes the light-sensitive element, which today is the camera matrix. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. For example, 1/60, 1/800. The shutter speed can be longer than a second, usually it is designated 1’’ (1 second), 10’’ (10 seconds), etc. At shutter speeds shorter than a second, the unit may be omitted for convenience, and thus the shutter speed may be designated as 60, 800, etc.

What is ISO in a camera?

Currently ISO– this is the photosensitivity of the camera matrix. This is the third parameter that can affect the exposure of a photo. Basic ISO on modern cameras is 100-200 units. The maximum can be ISO 6400, 12800 and more. The physically larger and better the camera matrix, the greater the ISO capabilities.

In general, roughly speaking, ISO is the parameter that affects noise picture. The higher the ISO, the more so-called noise there is in the photo. Accordingly, low-noise matrices are highly valued today, because they allow you to shoot handheld in poor lighting conditions and get good pictures. Here are the cameras that currently lead in ISO performance: Sony A7s, Nikon D800e, Nikon D800, Nikon Df, Nikon D4s, Nikon D4, Nikon D600, Nikon D610. As you can see, Nikon cameras, which mostly have Sony matrices, cope best with noise so far. This is such a paradox. However, the leader is still the Sony A7s, which at the time of writing this article had just appeared.

This photo was taken at ISO 900. Below are enlarged fragments (crops) of this frame at different ISOs. Enlarged the upper right part of the candlestick

How to work with shutter speed, aperture and ISO

We looked at three parameters that affect the exposure of a photo. Now let's figure out how these parameters interact with each other and what each of them affects.

So, let’s assume that we are in conditions where ISO 400, aperture f/4 and shutter speed 1/400 give us an ideal exposure, which we will denote as 0. But then a source of additional light appeared (the sun came out, an additional illuminator was installed, etc. .). The exposure from 0 shifts towards +, say, by 1 stop (the frame becomes lighter, "overexposure"). What is one stop and how can we make the frame a little darker so that there is no overexposure? Roughly speaking, for ISO and shutter speed 1 stop– this is an increase or decrease in value by 2 times. For aperture 1.4 times. So to darken the frame we have the following options:

Reduce ISO from 400 to 200.
Reduce shutter speed from 1/400 to 1/800.
Close the aperture from f/4 to f/5.6

Now let's see what this will ultimately affect:

The amount of noise in the frame will decrease.
There will be practically no changes.
The sharpness area will increase and blur (bokeh) will decrease.

Thus, if we are shooting a portrait, then the first option is best for us, because there will be less noise. If we shoot a landscape, then again, good decision will choose the first option, but the third option under certain conditions can improve the picture (it will become sharper). If we are shooting sports, then the second option will be preferable, since the shorter the shutter speed, the easier it is to catch the movement.

How to work with basic shooting parameters in real life

What we described above can be used when taking photographs, working with all the parameters manually. That is, set the camera to manual mode (M) and monitor each parameter. Now I’ll tell you a secret. Most of Even professional photographers don’t shoot in manual mode.

Every camera that supports manual settings has shutter priority and aperture priority modes. We talked about this in the article “How to take photographs with a SLR camera.”

Aperture priority mode allows you to control only the aperture, and leave the shutter speed to the camera’s automation. Shutter priority mode works in a similar way, only in it you are responsible for exposure.

Add to this the excellent Auto ISO system in modern cameras, which selects light sensitivity based on a specific situation, and it turns out that you control only 1 selected parameter.

Nikon mode dial: M - manual, A - aperture priority, S - shutter priority

For example, you select aperture priority to take a portrait on a sunny day. Set the aperture to 2.8. Automation selects the required shutter speed, and ISO in such conditions is set to 100 units (that is, to the minimum value). In general, the camera always tries to set the minimum possible sensitivity value. Thus, you get, for example, an aperture of f/2.8 (which you set), a shutter speed of 1/1600 and ISO 100 (these two values were selected automatically). If the resulting frame turns out to be too light or, conversely, too dark, you can influence the exposure directly by increasing or decreasing its value. How one exposure level affects changes in parameters is written above. If aperture priority mode is selected, changing the exposure by 1 stop plus will force the automatic system to reduce the shutter speed to 1/800 to make the frame brighter. In this case, our aperture value is a constant, and the exposure changes only due to two parameters, ISO and shutter speed. By the way, please note that the exposure step in modern cameras is usually set to 1/3 stop. That is, it usually looks like this: 0, +1/3, +2/3, +1, etc. A change of 1/3 will reduce the shutter speed not to 1/800, but to 1/1250.

Thus, aperture priority mode allows you to concentrate on only one parameter and not be distracted by others. At the same time, the photographer controls exactly the parameter that interests him. With shutter priority mode everything is approximately the same, however, based on personal experience, I can say that it is usually less in demand.

conclusions

As you already understood, figuring out all these settings is not so difficult. In one article, I basically tried to explain in layman’s terms what parameters affect what. You just need to read about it once, and then play a little with your camera settings and see what happens when you change this or that parameter. I hope this article helped you understand a little better how your camera works. See you soon and successful shots!

From the translator: This article continues a series of articles by different authors devoted to issues of exposure. The previous article was entitled "Exposure Theory Basics for Beginners" and is available here.

You'll be surprised how much information is available through your camera's viewfinder. In today's lesson, we will again look at one of the most important elements photography - exposure, and how it is possible to take a perfectly exposed photo using only information from the camera's viewfinder!

Perfect exposure

When I first started learning photography, adjusting exposure settings seemed to be one of the most difficult things to understand. To get a decent exposure, I usually had to shoot a shot, review the result, change settings almost at random, and then shoot again only to repeat the same cycle in hopes of getting a decent result.

This should be quite difficult for a beginner. It didn't work out for me until I gained an understanding of how exposure settings affected the final result, at which point I actually started taking good photos quite easily.

Armed with this knowledge, I was at least able to interpret my test shot to adjust the appropriate exposure settings to produce a satisfactory result within a few frames.

Then one day someone showed me a simple action that changed everything. Since I was self-taught and didn't have any basic photography training, I completely missed the fact that my camera itself tells me how wrong I was with the exposure and helps me arrive at the sweet spot without having to look up from the viewfinder!

This quick guide for the very beginners who, like me when I first started, have no idea how to get their fantastic cameras to take pictures that are not too light and not too dark. Therefore, I will speak in as simple and non-technical language as possible.

It is also important to note that while the principles outlined here apply to all digital SLR cameras, the functionality used is used as an example. Canon cameras and examples may require some interpretation when applied to cameras from other manufacturers.

Exposition: Main idea

The previously mentioned article explains in great detail everything you need to know about exposure. For those of you who have not read this article, I will very briefly explain what you need to know for the purposes of our lesson.

Exposure roughly refers to the amount of light that hits your camera's sensor. The more light there is, the brighter the photo will be. And vice versa, the less light there is, the darker the photo will be.

The amount of light let in is determined by the shutter speed and aperture. Shutter speed is usually expressed in fractions of a second. For example, if you see the values 1/125, 1/50, etc. - this is endurance. The word shutter speed means exactly what it sounds like - it is the time during which the camera's shutter remains open, allowing light to pass through.

Since this is a fractional number, the smaller the denominator (the number below or after the “/”), the longer the duration. For example, a shutter speed of 1/200 is much slower than 1/10. Therefore, a shutter speed of 1/200 will allow much less light to pass through and produce a much darker frame than using a shutter speed of 1/10. Also note that the longer the shutter speed, the more blurred any movement in the frame will become.

Less light< -->more light
Darker image< -->lighter image
"Frozen" movement< --> motion blur

The aperture determines the amount of light allowed in by changing the opening through which light enters the sensor. It is expressed by an aperture number, depicted as a fraction with the focal length of the lens (F) in the numerator - F/x. The lower the number in the denominator, the larger the hole size, which means more light hitting the sensor and therefore a brighter image.

Less light< --> more light
Darker image< --> lighter image
Smaller hole< --> bigger hole

Also remember that the smaller the denominator of the aperture number, the shallower the depth of field. That is, the area of the image that is in focus is much larger at f/11 and above, and quite small at f/3 and below.

Don't forget about ISO!

Your ISO setting also affects the brightness of the image and its quality. Without going into details of how the camera matrix works, suffice it to say that the higher the ISO, the brighter the resulting image. Unfortunately, along with ISO, color noise also increases, which significantly reduces the quality of the photo.

Darker image< --> lighter image
Less noise< --> more noise
Higher quality< --> lower quality

In-camera exposure metering

I hope it's quite simple. If you're confused by all these explanations, the three illustrations above will remind you of everything you need to know. If you need to make a photo brighter, you can reduce the aperture denominator, lengthen the shutter speed and increase the ISO. If you need to make a photo darker, increase the aperture, shorten the shutter speed and lower the ISO (you'll soon learn to feel the interaction of all three settings together).

As you know, when you shoot in full auto mode, the camera tries to make all of these decisions for you. However, as a photographer, you must be able to shoot in full manual mode, so you will get more influence on the shooting result by adjusting all the parameters yourself.

The good news for you is that even in manual mode, the camera tells you how to get the exposure closer to what it thinks is correct. Try pointing the camera at the subject and pressing the shutter button halfway. You should hear an autofocus confirmation beep once the camera has determined what you decide to focus on.

This signal means more than just confirmation of autofocus, however, like many other things that happen in the camera in the background. To see what I mean, look through your viewfinder. You should see a lot of numbers and parameters that will vary from camera to camera, but they should at least resemble what is shown below.

As you can see, all the settings discussed above are presented in the viewfinder. When you half-press the shutter button and hear a beep, these indicators will light up and show the settings you've selected, as well as how the camera judges the available light.

Here the camera tells us that we have set the shutter speed to 1/125, the aperture to 4.0, and the ISO to 200. However, the real magic happens with the exposure level indicator. It shows us that we are not letting enough light into the camera. We know this because the indicator segment to the left of the center lights up. If the segment to the right of the center lit up, it would mean that there was too much light coming in. The goal is to ignite the central segment.

In theory, the center position of the indicator provides a picture that is neither too light nor too dark. True, some exposure correction is sometimes necessary, but in most cases the center position adjustment will be best choice. To put this into practice, let's imagine a shooting scenario.

Getting a Great Shot

Let's say you're filming a birthday party indoors during the day. As is often the case, the light is okay, but not great. Using the information above, you know that since there is not much light, you will probably have to raise the ISO to 800. Of course, you would prefer to shoot at ISO 100, but this will not be possible in these conditions.

You also know that the lack of light can be compensated by opening the aperture. Let's say your lens has a maximum aperture of f/4, so that's what you set it to. Does it suit you shallow depth sharpness as this will give a nice blurred background and a sharp subject like in professional photography.

Since you'll be photographing moving people, you want to choose a shutter speed fast enough to get sharp, blur-free photos. Therefore, you set the shutter speed to 1/200.

You can immediately tell, even without taking a photo, that the image will be too dark. Your aperture is already wide open and you don't want to increase the ISO further at the expense of quality, so your only option is to lengthen the shutter speed to let more light into the sensor.

The great thing is that you can do this without even looking up from the viewfinder. With the camera at your fingertips, you have at least one control wheel available under your right index finger. Adjust the shutter speed with this wheel. In fact, you can change all of the settings listed above without looking away from the viewfinder - refer to your camera's manual for instructions on how to do this on your specific model.

So, to solve the problem shown in the picture above, simply move the adjustment wheel until the indicator stops at the center.

A shutter speed of 1/100 should be enough for handheld shooting without much blur. But keep in mind that to shoot at longer shutter speeds, you'll have to limit yourself to shooting static scenes or use a tripod.

If you're shooting handheld and adjusting your exposure results in a shutter speed that's too slow (say, 1/50), try increasing your ISO or decreasing your focal length (if your lens allows it). Note that if you are using flash, you may be able to shoot at much slower shutter speeds as the flash will freeze the motion.

Using AV mode and Auto mode

If you are lost in the settings, try going to auto mode and watch the camera automation work. This will help you get a better handle on things before you start playing with your own settings in manual mode.

Sometimes you shoot events that have such high intensity that manual mode becomes inconvenient and annoying. I recently filmed an evening hockey game. The lighting in different areas of the rink varied significantly, the players were constantly moving, and I experimented with different lens focal lengths. Consequently, shooting in manual mode would require adjusting a large number of parameters and I would be able to shoot much less than I wanted.

In these conditions, a good solution is to shoot in aperture priority (AV) mode. This mode allows you to set your own ISO and aperture, giving you control over depth of field and noise levels. And the camera will automatically take care of the correct shutter speed for you. When you look through the viewfinder in this mode, you'll see that the camera dynamically adjusts settings to keep the exposure level indicator centered no matter how you shoot.

When shooting in aperture priority mode, you'll still have to keep an eye on your shutter speed to make sure your camera doesn't set it too slow. Again, when it starts to drop noticeably below 1/100, try changing other settings to give the sensor more light. Even if your photos look decent on the camera's small screen, you'll be disappointed to see them blurry when you export them to your computer and view them at full size.

Try to avoid shooting in automatic or any of the semi-automatic modes whenever possible. The more practice you get with manual camera control, the easier all your camera settings will become. This will give you more confidence in adjusting your exposure in almost any situation and help you become a much better photographer.

Conclusion

So, if your photos are too light, try slowing down your shutter speed, stopping down your aperture, and/or lowering your ISO. Conversely, if your photos come out too dark, slow down the shutter speed, open up the aperture, and/or increase the ISO.

Keep a close eye on the exposure level indicator in your camera's viewfinder and try to adjust the settings so that it lights up in the center. If for some reason this creates a frame that is still too dark or too light, apply appropriate exposure adjustments.

Finally, if you have trouble shooting in manual mode, start shooting in automatic mode to get a closer look. correct setting or switch to aperture priority mode so that the camera only controls the shutter speed while you take care of the rest.

Very often, when talking about the basic principles of photography to novice photographers, they come across the fact that it is extremely difficult for a person brought up in the world of film point-and-shoot cameras and digital cameras to understand the basic concepts of aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Links to relevant articles on the Internet also do not help a beginner much, since terminology very often becomes a “stumbling block” to the final understanding of what needs to be done with the camera in order to get a normal quality photo. It is for this reason that in this article we will try to explain these key concepts as simply as possible.

I’ll say right away that in order to independently control shutter speed and aperture in a digital camera, you should turn its mode selector to the “M” position, where we can change the exposure parameters (this is the word for the ratio of aperture and shutter speed) using buttons, a wheel, or another way , which is available on the camera.

What is endurance?

Shutter speed is a certain time interval during which light enters the camera, onto the photosensitive material (film or matrix of a digital camera, which is not important). In fact, this is the time for which the shutter opens - a curtain that is located between the lens and the photosensitive element. Usually this time is a fraction of a second and it is this value that is indicated in the menu or on the shutter speed dial (this is found on all mechanical film cameras and is present on some digital cameras). The shutter speed scale is standard everywhere, and shutter speeds are indicated by the following numbers:















	“Free” shutter speed by hand (the shutter opens for as long as you hold down the camera’s shutter button).

By the way, the “full set” of shutter speeds given in this table is typical only for some digital camera models. In particular, Soviet film cameras rarely had shutter speeds shorter than 250 (1/250 of a second), which, however, was quite enough for photographers.

So, let's see what the shutter opening time gives us and why we need to adjust it. Everything is simple here - the shorter the shutter speed, the faster the movement of the object we can capture without blurring. This time. The second aspect is that a short shutter speed is needed in bright light in order not to expose the frame to excess sunlight. And finally, the third one - short shutter speeds compensate for the shaking of the photographer’s hands and eliminate the possibility of “shake” appearing when taking photographs.

I foresee a beginner’s question: if short shutter speeds are so wonderful, then why does the camera need longer shutter speeds and when should they be used? So, we can use “long” shutter speeds in two cases:

When shooting, the amount of light is not enough to use fast shutter speeds (the main reason),
To obtain artistic effects when shooting (you can read about them in a separate ARTICLE).

It goes without saying that if the shutter speed turns out to be quite long (from about 1
30 fractions of a second), when shooting handheld, movement may occur (slight blurring of the image in the picture). It’s very easy to deal with this - just put the camera on a tripod or a flat surface and use a cable release, remote control, or turn on shooting with the self-timer to release the shutter).

How to determine the correct shutter speed?

Actually, it is the question of how to determine the correct shutter speed that confuses most novice photographers. I remember on the old ones Soviet cameras in the amateur category, the problem was solved by itself - instead of the above values, pictures in the form of a cloud, a cloud with a sun, and, accordingly, a sun without clouds were applied to the disk. Such touching pictures hid shutter speeds of 1.30, 1.60 and 1.124 fractions of a second. This is a kind of “classic” when shooting on film with a sensitivity of up to 100 ISO. However, we will talk about the concept of sensitivity a little lower.

What is a diaphragm?

The diaphragm is no less interesting. If we talk in simple language, these are petals inside the camera lens that can either fully open or close, leaving a narrow round hole for light to pass through. Essentially, its task is to either let all the light that enters the lens onto the film or matrix, or limit it step by step.

What is a diaphragm needed for? It performs the following functions:

1. Limits the flow of light when there is an excess of it (when a very bright scene is photographed, shooting against the sun, etc.),

2. Serves to control the depth of field (the more the aperture is closed, the clearer we get a picture of not only the main object, but also the space behind and in front of it).

To understand this principle, imagine that we are photographing the same object with different aperture values. For example, let's take extreme values when the aperture is fully open and closed. In the first case, the background is completely blurred (by the way, the most favorite “wow” effect for those who have recently started shooting with a DSLR), and in the second it turns out to be much more detailed. Average values, of course, allow you to adjust the depth of space within a wide range.

Aperture adjustment is carried out differently on different camera models. In the majority digital cameras Aperture settings are set through the menu or by rotating a gear wheel, and on some, by a special regulator on the lens. Film cameras, as well as professional digital models Most often, it is the latter method that is proposed as the simplest and fastest to work with.

So, you can determine the degree of opening of the aperture using the following numerical indicators: 1/0.7; 1/1; 1/1.4; 1/2; 1/2.8; 1/4; 1/5.6; 1/8; 1/11; 1/16; 1/22; 1/32; 1/45; 1/64. As you can see, the closing step in this case is twofold, the first value refers to a fully open aperture, and the extreme value refers to a closed one. In practice, most prime lenses on the market offer a starting value of 1.4 or 1.8. Faster (that is, with a larger aperture opening) models are much more expensive due to the high complexity of manufacturing. In addition, when the aperture is fully open, the sharpness of the lens is lost, and unwanted optical distortions - aberrations - may also appear.

What's happenedISO?

Another interesting point in mastering photography skills in manual mode is called ISO. In fact, this is a single world standard for the sensitivity of photographic material to light. Initially, there were three main standards - Soviet GOST, American ASA and German DIN. Later, film manufacturers came to a common denominator - the aforementioned ISO, which smoothly migrated to digital photography. So, what does changing sensitivity give us? Essentially, the ability to use the shortest possible shutter speeds in low light conditions, as well as great opportunities when photographing scenes where there is not enough light at all (for example, when photographing the night starry sky). Most modern cameras have the following ISO parameters: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, 16000. The maximum ISO value can be more than this mark, but the minimum is less common, although on some cameras it can be and 50 ISO (such a reduction is usually done using software). With films the situation is much more interesting, and here even 50ISO is not the lower limit of sensitivity.

So, based on the above, it turns out that by changing the ISO, we can set a short shutter speed even in very dimly lit scenes. This is exactly how the automation of most cameras works, which strives to install at any cost shortest time triggering the shutter in order to avoid “shake”. However, one axiom must be learned: the higher the ISO, the more artifacts in the photo in the form of film grain or digital noise! At the same time, the extreme, “threshold” ISO values for digital cameras with crop matrix (ordinary average amateur DSLRs) are, in most cases, a maximum of 1600 ISO. A further increase in sensitivity will lead to the fact that the pictures will only be suitable for posting on the Internet. For this reason, try to make the most of low values where digital noise is completely absent.

Determining exposure.

So, we learned about what shutter speed, aperture and ISO are in a camera. However, separately this knowledge gives us quite little, because we should learn to determine exposure - the total settings of the aperture and shutter speed in the camera.

Somehow, on one resource, I came across an interesting sign that suggested determining the shutter speed relative to the aperture value under standard conditions. She looked something like this:

Excerpt	Aperture value

In general, such a sign has the right to exist provided that the shooting is carried out at a basic photosensitivity value of 100 ISO. Based on it, we can easily calculate the exposure pair (shutter speed-aperture) for other values. For example, if we open the aperture by one value, we reduce the shutter speed by the same amount. However, this refers to theory, and in real shooting conditions we need to take into account a number of factors. So, I’ll give you the simplest example - we are shooting in a room under artificial light, which is clearly not enough for high shutter speeds. However, we want to film a dynamic story (a running child, a cat or a puppy playing). So, in order to “freeze” motion, we should set the shutter speed to at least 1.125 fractions of a second and at the same time use a medium aperture value (let's say 1:5.6) to maintain sufficient depth of field. Using this aperture value at a sensitivity of ISO 100, our shutter speed will be 1.6 seconds, which is prohibitively long. Accordingly, we will be forced to increase the ISO to approximately the level of 3200-6400, which threatens us with noise. Here it is important to maintain a balance of characteristics, which can be achieved by varying the aperture. So, by abandoning the value of 1:5.6 towards lower values, we will get a short shutter speed at lower ISO values, but will lose depth of field. That is, we will make a compromise every time, trying to make maximum use of lighting and technology to obtain the most high-quality photo, which will be correctly exposed. In the case of film, the situation will be even more complicated, because we simply cannot change the sensitivity of the film for each frame separately. However, with practice and mastering this science, you can get really high-quality results. By the way, “digital” in this regard allows for underexposure of a frame (shooting with a shorter shutter speed than the situation suggests) provided that photography is done in RAW format (almost all “advanced” digital cameras have this function). Then, at the processing stage, you can “pull out” the frame you need. However, photo processing is, as they say, a separate story, which we will talk about in our publications.

From the article you learned what the exposed camera exposure time. Now it's time to move on to the practical part and learn how to correctly set the shutter speed on your camera.

First, let's see in which shooting modes the camera will allow us to manually control the shutter speed. To do this, turn the shooting mode switch wheel and notice when the shutter speed field is active (highlighted). remember, that holding time denoted as follows: 1/200, 1/8, 1’, etc. IN Canon cameras The shutter speed is indicated in the field located in the upper left corner of the display.

Thus, we have experimentally established that you can manually control the camera’s shutter speed in only two modes - shutter priority TV and completely manual mode M. In both cases, the shutter speed in the camera is set using the same set of actions.

To set the camera shutter speed, switch to shutter priority mode or manual shooting mode. The field with the shutter speed value will be highlighted. This means that when you scroll the shooting settings wheel, the set shutter speed will change. If you turn the wheel to the left, the exposure time will lengthen, and if you turn it to the right, it will shorten.

Don't forget that in shutter priority mode you only control camera shutter speed, and the aperture value is selected automatically, depending on the illumination of the scene in the frame. In manual mode, you will have to install it yourself, i.e. control both shutter speed and aperture at once. So when changing one of these parameters, be sure to take care of the other! I will tell you more about how to properly manage shooting parameters in manual mode in the article “Shooting in Manual Mode”, as well as in the basic photography course.

Now it's time to really practice! After you have learned how to set the shutter speed on your camera, you need to learn to see how it affects your result. To do this, I suggest doing a few simple exercises.

To begin with, shoot only in TV mode. This is very important in order not to get confused and learn to perceive the result obtained.

Normal exposure. Finally, ask a friend or grandma to help you practice photography. To start, set your shutter speed to 1/40 to 1/80 and ask your model not to move. Take a few shots and ask your grandmother (girlfriend, boyfriend) to wave. Now look what came of it? A smudged palm ruins the entire frame.

Short exposure. Go outside when the sun is shining brightly. If you can find a river, a lake, or at least a fountain with water, great! If not, bring a bottle of water with you. The point of the exercise is to try to freeze drops of water in flight. Have your model spray water and take shots at shutter speeds of 1/80, 1/100, 1/160, 1/200, etc. Go to 1/640. At home on your computer, carefully examine how the water drops turned out at different camera shutter speeds. Note for yourself at what shutter speed they stopped looking blurry.

Another short exposure exercise. Also on a sunny day, set the value from 1/200 to 1/640. Now ask the model to move away and run towards you (it’s better to leave your grandmother at home). At short shutter speeds, you get funny shots of a running person. Do the same with the model, making her jump a little.

Long exposure. To shoot at slow shutter speeds (1/30 and longer), you will need additional equipment. Therefore, we will talk more about this technique in the following articles. I will share all the tricks and techniques for working with long exposures in my basic photography course. Stay tuned for updates on the website

I still welcome questions on the topic of the article in the comments below.

Happy shooting!

Shutter speed is the most understandable and obvious of the three factors that influence exposure and can create the most noticeable effects. If you don't know much about shutter speed, you may end up with blurry or blurry photos. This tutorial will teach you how to choose the right shutter speed for different situations and how to use it to create creative effects.

Step 1 - What is shutter speed in photography?

Without going into unnecessary detail about how the shutter works, shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter opens. If you use a shutter speed longer than a certain one, you will end up with blurry photos in most cases. Shutter speed controls the stops of exposure just like aperture, but much more simply. since the dependence in this case is directly proportional. For example, to reduce the exposure by half, you need to shorten the shutter speed by half, say, from 1/200 to 1/400 of a second.

Step 2 - Motion Blur and Freeze.

Assuming you're not taking blurry photos for creative effect, you'll need to choose a fast enough shutter speed ( high speed shutter) to prevent image blur. Blurring also depends on the focal length of the lens. A telephoto lens requires a faster shutter speed because even the slightest camera movement will be magnified by the lens. A wide-angle lens can handle longer shutter speeds.

Typically, the average person can take a sharp, blur-free photo by setting the shutter speed to the inverse of the focal length. For example, to take a photo on focal length 30 mm, you need to set the shutter speed no longer than 1/30 sec. If it is longer. then the likelihood of getting a blurry or blurry image will increase significantly. However, it's worth noting that this applies to a full-frame camera. If the camera sensor is smaller, then the shutter speed should be shortened by the crop factor. For example, for a crop factor of 1.5, the shutter speed will be 1/45 s.

There are exceptions to the rule, for example if the lens has an image stabilization system, which allows you to use much longer shutter speeds. As you learn how to handle your camera and gradually improve your skills, such as how to hold the camera correctly in different situations, you will be able to take sharp photos at longer shutter speeds.

Here's an example of creative motion blur

Freezing

Freezing is much easier to do when shooting. This happens when shooting at a very fast shutter speed (1/500 sec or faster). This shutter speed freezes any movement, and the photo turns out clear, without the slightest blur. Personally, I don’t like to shoot at such fast shutter speeds as the photo will come out flat. Instead, when shooting fast-moving subjects, I try to include a little movement, otherwise the subject will look unnaturally frozen in place. This is shown in the bottom image, the object appears to be suspended in the air.

Step 3 - Correct Shutter Speed for Different Situations

Fast shutter speed for telephoto

Since the photo below was taken with a telephoto lens, it was important to use a fast shutter speed (1/500). If you had a tripod, you could use any shutter speed and cable release to prevent camera vibration. A tripod allows you to hold the camera motionless.

Capture moving subjects in low light conditions.

When you're shooting a subject in low light, such as a concert, the performers are likely to move around the stage. In this case, there is a contradiction between using a fast shutter speed and low light. In this case, you need to use the widest possible aperture and high ISO, which allows you to shoot without moving.

Step 4: Creative Use of Shutter Speed

Creative blur.

By using a remote shutter release and a tripod to hold the camera steady, you can play with the shutter speed and create interesting blurry, out-of-the-box photos.

Adding flash to a blur photo allows you to freeze certain subjects, meaning you can move the camera around for an artistic effect.

Pan

Panning is a technique where you move the camera to follow a moving subject, resulting in the background being blurry and the subject being sharp. This photo was taken from a moving car that was traveling at the same speed as the train.

Drawing with light

To paint with light you need a long shutter speed and a light source. This photo was taken with a 30 second exposure while I was moving and shining the flash on the beach houses. This method is excellent for shooting at night and allows you to add light there. Where would you like to go.

A slow shutter speed combined with the movement of a small constant light source allows you to add a graffiti effect to your image.

Since this photo was taken at night, I used a slow shutter speed and a tripod to get a normal exposure. You can also install the camera on a flat, stationary surface.

This photo required a long exposure, but for a different reason. I had to wait for a passing car to get into the frame, which took quite a long time. It took me about half an hour to find the best camera position and angle before I got the final image.