Taking the Shot SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed may be described in many ways, such as “time value,” “shutter rate,” or “exposure time,” but it all means the same thing – how long the camera’s sensor is being exposed to the scene you’re photographing.

Without getting too complicated, the shutter can be viewed like window blinds, preventing light from passing through unless opened. When you hit the button on your camera to take a shot, this temporarily opens the shutters to allow light in, and thus capture the photograph. Generally, it is only for a split second that the shutter is open, which is often depicted by a number as small as 1/50, 1/100 or 1/200 on your camera. This means that the shutter is open for only 1/50th of a second and so on.

Generally speaking, it is not advisable to manually change the shutter speed on your camera unless you have a specific reason for doing so (or are a seasoned expert and prefer to shoot on manual mode). In this section, we will discuss the several reasons why you would want to manually change the shutter speed in order to capture the shot.