Shutter Speed

The term shutter speed in photography indicates the amount of time the shutter remains open when taking a photograph and therefore how long the image sensor is exposed to light.

Shutter speed in measured in seconds or fractions of a second. For example 1s, 1/2s, 1/125s 1/1000s.

Fast shutter speeds usually require larger apertures. This is because the shutter is open for less time, but you still need sufficient light for the image to have the correct exposure. Shutter speed and aperture work hand in hand to produce an image that is exposed correctly. Generally each increment made in F-stops can be compensated by the same steps in shutter speed.

Fast shutter speeds enable me to freeze fast moving subjects so naturally most of the images i take will be with shutter speeds no lower than 1/250s. Example below.

Slow shutter speeds can cause the suject to blur. This may be done purposly to add artistict effects to the image or to capture motion. A clasic example would be to show the movement of water over a waterfall. An example can be seen below.