Shutter Speeds- Lesson 1

Shutter speeds determine the amount of light let in by the shutter of a camera. Shutter speeds let different amounts of light in by setting different times for the shutters to open and close. There are both fast and slow shutter speeds, and these are used for different purposes. In a dark environment, you would use a slow shutter speed, so more light would be let in. In a lighter environment, you would use a faster shutter speed, otherwise the picture would be too light.
A slow shutter speed would also create an effective motion blur, whereas a fast shutter speed would work better to capture a freeze frame.



Shutter Speed: 1/25

This image captures Chloe jumping. I set the camera to a shutter speed of 1/25 so that I could capture chloe when she was in the air.  The quality of the image is not really that good, as there is motion blur which doesn't look very good, and the lighting conditions are also poor, so the photo is underexposed. To solve these problems I could set the camera to a slower shutter speed so that more light is let into the camera, and the motion blur would  look more effective.



Shutter Speed: 1/250

This image captures Chloe walking. The camera was set to a shutter speed of 1/250. I set the camera to this so that I could capture a freeze frame of her walking. Again, the image is underexposed, and the image is close-framed because of the water feature. To solve the underexposure problem, I could increase the ISO speed of the camera. Next time, I would also take the picture in a different place so that Chloe doesn't look so close framed.



My targets for next time are to:

• Review images as and when I take them, and take another if appropriate.
• Record shutter speed times more accurately
• Experiment with ISO speeds more
• Experiment with auto/manual focus
• Think about the weather, before I take pictures