As we have learned your shutter speed is how long your lens is open. To get a feeling for this I have a couple of things you can do to familiarize yourself with the concepts we discussed.
Our first project is to learn the sound of a shutter speed. By having an idea of what your shutter speeds sound like, you will subconsciously know when your settings are off. I want you to start with a setting of ½ of a second or 2 on the dial. This will give you an audible open and close sound with a short delay. You should be able to hear each part of the process.
Now turn your shutter speed to 1/15 of a second or 15. This will also give you an opening and closing sound but there will be less time in between. As you go up the dial you can hear the time getting shorter and the sounds becoming one sound instead of hearing each action. You don’t need to be able to actually identify each setting, just be able to give a guess of where it is. By doing this you will be able pick up if your dial has gotten moved or you forgot to reset your shutter speed after your last shot. I know this sounds like a waste of time but believe me being able to know approximately what shutter speed you are shooting without looking.
Ok, so now we know what our shutter speeds sound like…let’s practice what they can do for our pictures.
Set your camera on ISO 200, and 30 to start with the aperture set to the necessary to take the picture and expose it correctly. In daylight you will be shooting pictures of someone or something that is moving. A bike, dog, jogger etc. will be needed to help you with this. We are going to take some images that will demonstrate how the settings will give us the desired effect we want for the image. And want a subject that will move by you.
1. Choose a shutter speed of 30th of a second. Have the person run by you while you stay still and photograph them as they run by. Take a few of these images to so you can be sure you got a decent one. Do not pan (follow) the subject. Just click as they go by.
2. Choose a shutter speed of 60 and repeat the process. This should give you a sharper image with less blur.
3. Repeat with a shutter speed of 125th.
4. Repeat with a shutter speed of 500th. With each higher speed your image will get sharper and sharper. Repeat this assignment with other lighting and subject matter until you can predict the results you will get with some accuracy.
Being able to stop action and stop it the way you want is invaluable to a photographer, and will transform your photographs.
