For this week, we'll chat about Shutter Priority. This is the TV on your Canon or S (I believe) on your Nikon. There are lots of great books on the technical aspects of these modes. This is not the place you'll find technical info. I really want to keep these tips simple.
Here's what you need to know to start experimenting in this mode:
1. This is basically the speed at which the shutter on your camera opens and then closes.
2. Because your camera is all about light: the shorter the shutter is open, effectively the wider the aperture is required to be:
In short:
The faster the shutter speed (= The bigger the number "after the "1") = The wider the aperture (= The smaller the aperture "number")
So, to give you an example, a shutter speed of 1/1000 (One one thousandth of a second) is really fast, vs a speed of 1/4 (a quarter of a second) which is relatively slow, and would elicit camera shake if your camera was being hand held.
Probably the most important "rule" to remember is that anything slower than 1/60 requires a tripod.
I tend to favor Aperture Priority as a general rule, because I do portraiture photography, but there are times when speed is of paramount importance.
An easy example is if you were shooting a rugby match. Think of it like this: the faster the shutter speed, the quicker the photo is taken. Therefore, if you have something moving at high speed, but your camera's speed is slow, the subject will be blurred. More often than not, particularly for those "mommyographers" out there, you want your subject in focus, particularly if its Timmy kicking his first soccer ball. So, you pump up your speed, and the fast shutter speed, freezes motion. Remember though, that a fast shutter speed will require a wider aperture, meaning less will be in focus... So make sure your focus is on Timmy, and not the field behind him, meaning he will be a blur, but the green grass around him will be beautifully in focus.
But, as with all things, sometimes rules are meant to be broken, and slowing down your shutter speed can help create a sense of motion.
Look at these two examples below. In both pictures, my sons were riding their bicycles, and in both, their bicycles were actually MOVING, probably at not too dissimilar a speed. And yet, in the first, he looks like he is simply standing, relatively still, on his bicycle, and his bicycle isn't moving. In the second, you get the feeling of motion. No, everything isn't perfectly in focus. But I wanted the audience to FEEL the motion in the second picture. It should be added that in the second photo I was panning, hence why it isn't a complete blur.
Try these examples:
a. Put your camera on a tripod, set your speed to 10" (10-seconds), and take a photograph of water running and splashing. Look at how it blurs the water, creating a sense of motion.
2. Try panning: set you shutter speed to around 1/40, have your son ride his bicycle, as he rides past you, take the picture, and follow him with your camera. It takes some playing/ practice to get this one right (particularly the focal point, which you have to set either before your subject is in front of you, or while following the subject)... But the reward is wonderful!
3. Set your shutter speed to 1/500, and take a picture of someone throwing leaves in the air. Do the same picture with a slow shutter speed (on a tripod) and look at the difference.
4. Take a photo just as the sun has set, on a bridge overlooking a highway (please make sure it is safe to do so, and preferably do so in a group), at a really slow shutter speed like 30" (30-seconds). See how the lights and different colors blur. Play with this, it can create amazing images.
Do you see that sometimes the need to create a sense of motion, exceeds the need for perfect focus?
Remember that really, photography is an art form, and it's more than just taking a picture: what is it that you're trying to tell your audience? What is the feeling you're trying to evoke? Nice pictures are fantastic. But photographs that make you FEEL something are quite magical!
Start playing!
And, if you have any questions, or want to share some of your excitement, I would LOVE to hear from you. Mail me at taryn@tarynvanrensburg.co.za.
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