Shutter Speeds

Shutter Speeds

Shutter speed refers to the length of time it a camera’s shutter is open. The result of this act is the amount of light that reaches the sensor.  A photographer will be very concerned with the shutter speed due to its large role in the product that the camera will create, therefore it is very important to know what shutter speed is and be able to control its effects to an advantage.  When setting the camera to a long shutter time, this means that the camera has more to ‘absorb’ the light present within its view. By photographing a still environment, the photograph would be much more colourful when using a slow shutter speed as the camera would be able to absorb all of the colours present. When taking an image that is moving with a slow shutter speed, a motion blur is formed this is due to the camera capturing the moving object in motion and absorbing colours from its previous positions. When using a fast shutter speed this does not occur as the camera shutter absorbs the light and closes practically immediately so you do not receive the blurred effect therefore this in the photographer’s knowledge it can be used to the photographers advantage to further amplify the meaning of the photograph he/she intends to produce.

My target for producing pictures next time is to make sure I am certain of the type of feeling(s) I want to project to my audience and then make sure my shutter speed mirrors this. By doing so I will produce a photograph that will be more effective towards my intended audience, so for example I may want to take a photograph for a classic car moving, for a magazine for enthusiasts, I would use a fast shutter speed so I do not get a motion blur as this is what the audience would want.