Mastering Shutter Speed: The Key to Creative and Technical Photography

Exposure Triangle: What is the shutter speed? How it works? And why is it used?

The shutter speed is a component of the exposure triangle that enables us to obtain the appropriate lighting for each image, which consists of aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

What is a shutter?

Shutter is the element that controls how long the light reaches the sensor. It consists of two stars, the first to open and the second to close, during the movement of these curtains, there is a space between them, which allows light to pass. Depending on the speed at which these curtains move, you will enter more or less light into the sensor.

Shutter speed

The shutter speed is simply the time that the camera shutter is open and thus how long the light will reach the sensor. This way, we adjust the percentage of light that will enter the sensor and control exposure.

When will a higher percentage of light enter the sensor?

Of course, the slower the shutter speed, the more light will enter and vice versa. The faster the shutter speed will be, the less light will enter.

Creative effects using shutter speed From the shutter speed method we can create creativity and add movement to our images, as a general rule without going into details:

Fast shutter speed:

• It exceeds 1/60 sec. Through it we get a freezing or a radical reduction of movement.

Slow shutter speed:

• no more than 1/60 sec. We get motion pictures, or moving parts, in a steady atmosphere, which gives us a feeling of movement. Slow shutter speeds are also called long exposures.

How to know the appropriate speed in order to obtain a static image?

Of course, when we get off the speed of 1/60 seconds without using a fixed camera mount, there is always the possibility of obtaining a blur image and this is annoying in the event that you would like to have a high image. For this there is a rule that can be worked on to obtain still images. It is to choose the speed according to the focal length of the lens. If our lens has a focal length of 200 mm, then we will set the shutter speed to 1/200 seconds, and if the lens has a focal length of 150 mm, then we will set the shutter speed to 1/150 seconds, and so on.