The Camera- Shutter Speed

What is shutter speed, and why is it so important?

Shutter speed is an important tool in photography as it controls the amount of motion blur that will appear in a single photo. What shutter speed actually controls is how long the shutter stays open, the longer it is open the more time we get to see in a photo which is shown by motion blur

I believe this image is a good example of how shutter speed
works because it shows that in one image you can see my full motion
of opening the door which leaves my entire looking elongated with
motion blur

This photo is another example of slow shutter speed
and how the shutter staying open longer captured my
entire figure 8 movement with the light over a few seconds

How is shutter speed measured?

Shutter speed is measured by the time that the shutter will stay open in fractions of a second.

This diagram of a running girl Gives a basic idea of the exact effects when you change the fractions of a second with shutter speed.

Shutter speed effect on Exposure?

Something that is easy to notice is how changing shutter speed also changes the overall brightness of an image. When using quick shutter speeds your camera is only exposed to a fraction of light making photos darker, while with longer shutter speed the image appears brighter.

These are both photos of me jumping rope taken at different shutter speeds. the top one has a low shutter speed making it appear much brighter while the bottom one has a high shutter speed making it appear darker

Why use slow shutter speed?

First of all, a significant factor in what shutter speed is used is the lighting, slow shutter speeds allow for more light exposure and can be used if lighting can not be adjusted. But equally as important is the motion blur effect. This effect can be desired to give a feeling of movement in a still image or to otherwise create cool visuals with blurred motion.

In this slow shutter speed image, we see the lights of

passing cars completely blurred and it gives us the

feeling that they have great speed and movement

I think this shot demonstrates how a very low shutter speed
can lead to cool effects such as this one which I believe
looks much cooler than a simple photo of me running.

Why use fast shutter speed?

Fast shutter speeds allow you to capture a single moment in a movement. this results in a crisp image that feels totally still, an interesting effect that can be desirable for many reasons.