THE SHUTTER SPEED

Posted by Dreamarium on June 24th, 2019

 In every camera, the shutter refers to a small flap found directly in front of the sensor. This flap controls the intensity of the light that reaches the sensor which ultimately creates the image in the camera. How quickly or slowly the shutter opens and closes to allow light in the camera is what is known as the shutter speed. In other words, the shutter speed is a unit of measurement that determines how long the shutter stays open.

 To best understand the shutter speed and how it affects images, you can liken the operation of the shutter speed to how your eyelids work. The same way that the ability of your retina to record images is determined by how long your eyelids are able to stay open and take information in the environment is the same way the shutter speed functions in the camera.

 Together with the ISO and Aperture, the Shutter Speed determines how sharp, colorful and impressive pictures turn out.

The shutter speed is measured in seconds and fractions of a second. The increment in speed of the shutter reduces the amount of light by half. For example, if the shutter speed is 1/4, an higher shutter speed would be expressed as 1/8. Another increment in speed would be expressed as 1/16 and so on. Conversely, the reduction in the speed of the shutter would however have higher values. For example, the reduction of the shutter speed at the value can be expressed as values increasing such as from 1/8000 to 1/4000 to 1/2000 to 1/1000 to 1/500 and so on.

Asides its primary function of producing images in the camera, the shutter speed is also a tool that can be used in a number of ways to determine how a picture turns out and what it conveys. One of such ways is that the shutter speed can be used to either produce the feeling of motion in a picture or the freezing of motion. For example, a very high shutter speed would be able to pick an athlete running and freeze him in motion while a lower shutter speed would create some blur which would depict motion. A car on motion that is photographed using a very high shutter speed might even look as though it was parked and still while a lower shutter speed would create a sense of motion. This is why the shutter speed is very important for London escort photographer.

 Apart from motion control, the shutter speed is also used to control the exposure of the picture which relates to how bright and sharp the picture is. The shutter speed, ISO and Aperture together form what is known as the exposure triangle. It is called a triangle because an increase or reduction in the value of one would necessarily cause the increase or reduction in the value of others.

 Additionally, the shutter speed can be used to achieve other creative effects in photography. For example, the shutter can be left open for longer than usual to create effects such as giving moving water a fog-like, misty or smooth appearance, using light to draw, creating very blurred crowd shots, capturing the trail of lights from moving cars and traffic generally, among others. On the other hand, using a very fast shutter speed can be used to achieve what is usually called "frozen motion" such as a ball in motion, capturing water splashing, birds in flight, to mention but a few

 As a rule of the thumb, it is usually advised that where a very slow shutter speed is being used, a tripod stand should be used. This is to avoid camera shake which would affect the quality of the image.