Digital Home Thoughts: TrustedReviews Shutter Speed Tutorial

"All cameras, be they film or digital, have a shutter. It is simply a mechanical barrier that prevents light from falling on the film or sensor until it is needed. When a picture is taken, the shutter is opened for a precisely measured amount of time allowing light to pass through. The duration of the exposure is set by the camera’s light meter, and depends on the amount of available light and the aperture setting. Most digital cameras will have a range of available settings from a few seconds to a few thousandths of a second. Some can go as high as 1/4000th of a second, some can time a shutter release as long as 30 seconds and many also have a feature called a ‘B’ setting, in which the shutter stays open for as long as you hold the shutter release down. (The ‘B’ is from bulb; very old cameras commonly used an air-bulb attachment as a remote shutter release.) It’s worth noting however that some older digital cameras suffer from increased image noise on very long exposures. If your camera has adjustable noise reduction, set it to maximum for long exposure shots."



If you've been in the point and shoot world of digital cameras, you probably haven't had to think about shutter speed - but if you have a DSLR camera, and are still shooting in green box (auto) mode all the time, I'd encourage you to give this article a read. Experimenting with shutter speed can result in some really amazing results - every time I'm at a waterfall I alter my shutter speed to try and capture the soft moving water effect. It makes for a really great photo!