Photography 101: How to take good photos

Photography 101: What is Shutter Speed?

I love photography, especially travel photography,  and I’d like to help you out with some basic photography tips so you can start capturing the world with your DSLR.

The three most important terms in photography:

- Shutter speed
- ISO
- Aperture (also called F-stop)

These three things are the pillars that any great photographer builds his masterpieces upon. And when you know how to make them work together you will start creating some wonderful photos.

Let's talk about shutter speed, what it is, and why it matters

Shutter speed is the amount of time that your shutter is open. When you take a picture and hear that ‘click,’ that’s the sound of the shutter opening and closing. The shutter covers the camera sensor- basically the eye ball of the camera- and when the shutter opens we get a picture.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds, and if you see, 1/1000, that means the shutter is open for 1/1000 of a second. This is a pretty fast shutter speed. 1/125 is a fairly average speed. A slower shutter speed would be something like 2 seconds.

Why is shutter speed important? Two reasons. Movement and Light.

Movement:

Sometimes we take pictures of football games, or playing babies, or running horses- and these things all move. We can’t really stop them. So we have to input the right shutter speed to capture the image just how we want it.

I have three photos below that are centered around movement. Let’s look at the difference between the photos and their shutter speeds. The shutter speeds are 1/5 (Slow). 1/50 (A little slow). 1/2500 (Very fast).

Thailand fire show – Shutter speed: 1/5 –  This is a slow speed, and this allows you to see that the sparks are long and stretched. This creates a beautiful blur across the photo.

Thailand Fire show – Shutter speed: 1/50 – This is about ten times faster than the previous speed, and the sparks are not so blurred here. You can see each individual spark as it flies off the hot, spinning coals. The sparks are still slightly blurred, but not so much as the previous shot.

Snowball in face – Shutter speed: 1/2500 – This is a very fast shutter speed. You can see every detail of the snow ball as it breaks apart on my friend's face. Imagine what it would look like at a slower speed; you wouldn't get any of that sharp detail, especially for something as quick as a thrown snowball.

So you need to consider if your subject is moving or not. The snowball was moving fast and I wanted a very sharp picture, so that called for the fast shutter speed. However in Thailand, I wanted a beautiful, bright photo, with lots of color smeared across it- so I used 1/5.

You must also consider the movement of your own hand. If you have a steady hand, then you can do well in the slower shutter speeds, such as 1/5 or 1/50. If you know you have shaky hands, then you will need to keep a quicker shutter speed.

Light:

It’s important to consider the movement of your subject, but now you need to think about light as well.

Your camera won’t work without any light present, so we must ALWAYS consider how much light there is when we’re looking at our settings. A slow shutter speed, such as 1/5, lets in a lot of light, and so this is ideal for a night scene.

1/50 is a little slow, and is ideal for photographing indoors, as well as sunsets and sunrises- anywhere with minimal light.

1/400 is fast, and this lets in only a little light. Because of this, 1/400 must be used in a very bright area.

Below are some examples of bad photography. I used the wrong shutter speed intentionally, so you can see how shutter speeds can be misused.

 – 1/5 –  This is a cat in my back yard, but it’s hard to tell what it is. A 1/5 shutter speed lets in so much light that the picture is almost unrecognizable.

 – 1/50 –  Here, too, you can see that there is just too much light coming in through the shutter. The picture is recognizable, but it just doesn’t look good; the dust is practically white because there is so much light coming in.

 – 1/400 –  This is a photo of the same cat from above. While the 1/5 lets in A LOT of light, the 1/400 only lets in a little so this photo is too dark. If I had used the same shutter speed as I had with my friend and the snowball, (1/2500) this picture would just be black. 

In summary:

 – 1/5 –  Lets in a lot of light. Good for dramatic night shots. Makes moving objects blurred.

 – 1/50 –  Lets in a good amount of light. Makes moving objects a little bit blurry.

 – 1/400 –  Lets in a little light. Ideal for daylight. Ideal for stationary or slow moving objects.

 – 1/2500 –  Lets in very little light. Ideal for bright daylight. Makes moving objects incredibly sharp.

So remember, when you're in a place with a lot of light, you want a fast shutter speed.

Here are some good uses of shutter speed

Man on Truck – Shutter speed: 1/320 – This picture has great light, and very little movement. 1/320 allows me to let in all that light to catch the beautiful landscape. 

Thailand Beach – Shutter speed: 30 – When you're in a place with very little light, you will need a slow shutter speed, and a tripod. This photo  would have been pitch black at a faster shutter speed. And it would have been blurry if I hadn't had a tripod.

Thanks so much for checking out the blog. You can always comment below if you have any questions.

Coming soon: ISO settings. How to make pictures brighter, even at a fast shutter speed.

What is Aperture (F-stop) and why does it matter?

And please check out my friends' blogs! They're fantastic.

Wen is just starting her blog, but it's a lot of fun to read.

Renee travels around the world, takes beautiful pics, has awesome adventures, and makes kickass blogs.