Easy Ways To Understand Shutter Speed For Beginners

Shutter-speed is very important if you want to capture some creative plus sharp images.

no matter if your object is moving fast or slow, after understanding shutter speed you can easily capture that moment without any issue.

so, in the end, the main purpose of this article for you is to “Understand Shutter-Speed“, so you learn how to capture photographs.

once you understand how shutter-speed works and why it is an important part to capture an outstanding image then you’re going to love it.

apart from that, you’ll also learn some cool tactics to shoot something different using shutter-speed & the meaning of shutter-speed.

so, are you ready to Understand Shutter-Speed? here we go…

Easy Ways To Understand Shutter Speed For Beginners

as I said earlier, if you want to understand shutter speed, first you need to know what shutter speed is.

What is Shutter speed?

here is the simple answer of what shutter speed is…

it is the same amount of time/exposure that your camera records to capture one single image.

in short, when you press the button (called as a shutter button) to capture an image and you use shutter speed for like 10 sec then your camera sensor freeze and shoot the next 10 sec.

if you’re not familiar with this word then it’s a little bit tricky to remember and understand right?

how to use DSLR camera | beginner to advanced guide

but don’t worry, you’re in the right place.

let me give you the simple example of an image that is captured using shutter speed ( 2 seconds of long exposure )

this image is captured using a Canon 1300D.

I captured these images using shutter-speed with 2-3 seconds of a long exposure without any tripod.

then I edited this image using some of my favorite photo editing applications.

checkout How I Edit My Photos

to capture this image I use a total of two props. one is a bulb and another one is LED light ( here I used my Iphone’s flashlight ).

how I shoot

that’s very simple.

1. first of all, I set the bulb at any plain surface.

2. then I also set my DSLR camera in front of the bulb with little distance.

3. after that I set a timer of 2 seconds to click the picture.

always remember, while doing long exposure photography, use any remote or set timer to shoot an image so at the end you’ll not get any shaky images.

as I said earlier, I captured this shot with 2 seconds of shutter speed.

4. so when I press the click button after that I just turn on the flashlight and move it around the subject (bulb).

remember DO NOT turn the flashlight on every time.

Understanding light in photography | Natural Vs Artificial Lights

because once you press the shutter button your camera sensors record every single thing in that little amount of time.

5. if your camera sensor gets too much amount of light then you’ll get very bright images.

so if you’re familiar with your camera settings then hope you know the perfect settings for your DSLR camera, to shoot some good long exposure images.

common settings to use the shutter speed and get long exposure effects are here…

ISO must be between 100-200, aperture value around F14 to F22 (or max if required) more F numbers means more darkness.

and shutter speed as your requirement, more seconds means more lights will comes in.

and that thing adds more lights to your image, as simple as that.

now you know something about shutter speed and also how to capture good long exposure images, so let’s talk more about shutter speed.

Things to know before a Shoot

you’re not a beginner now, you can shoot simple images using shutter speed.

but if you want to be a PRO then you need to check these points out before you shoot.

earlier in this article, I share one of my images which is captured using shutter speed.

and I captured that image without any tripod because it’s a flat surface.

but if you’re capturing traffic lights then you must need a tripod, or anywhere where shutter speed comes in the picture.

so you’ll not get any blurry or shaky images, like this one…

old ME learning shutter speed 🙂

as you know shutter speed on most cameras is available in seconds ( max 30 seconds).

you can use a remote release to capture better long exposure images.

it works on almost every DSLR camera, no matter it’s Nikon or Canon.

this remote helps you to shoot better long exposure images within a single click, read more about Shutter Release here.

you can buy this product from amazon…

Shoot in daytime long exposure images

recently I learn this new technique to shoot long exposure images in the daytime using shutter speed.

there are mainly two ways to shoot long exposure images in the daytime.

use some filters.
change your camera setting

How To Do Daytime Long Exposure Without ND Filters

let’s understand these two points…

Filters for better long exposure shots…

if you’re a freak and want to spend some money to capture awesome daytime long exposure shots then you can buy some ND filters.

once you get the filter, all you need to do is set your ND filters in front of your camera lens as a cap before you shoot a long exposure image.

this filter basically reduces the amount of light that came inside your DSLR camera sensor, so at the end, if you set 3 seconds of shutter speed then it’ll observe less amount of light and gives you a clear image.

see the difference…