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Tips to Pick the Perfect Shutter Speed in Photography

rizaldifirdhani
rizaldifirdhani
shutter speed

Table of Contents

I’ve always believed that photographers should try not to get bogged down in the technical side of the hobby, but concentrate on developing their creativity. However, certain technical elements are simply necessary to get good pictures, shutter speed being just one of them. If you`re interested in slow shutter speed photography and how to do great pictures, the best option it takes a look at Skylum`s blog.

Changing the camera shutter speed is one way of adjusting the overall exposure of an image. However, this technique also extends your creative options by allowing you to control the degree of blur.

How to capture light strips

Taking pictures of light streaks left by vehicles is a great way to capture movement. You’re unlikely to get an overexposure effect in the dark, so use the manual slow shutter mode and leave the shutter open for a few minutes to get a few strips of light in the frame. Just make sure your camera is mounted on a tripod or other sturdy, vibration-free support.

Another trick is to use the flash to illuminate moving traffic, allowing you to capture not only the light bars but also a car, motorbike, train, or even a bicycle with optimal lighting levels. You will need to set the flash to second-curtain triggering so it will go off when the exposure ends, not when it starts. With a conventional first-curtain flash, the light bars will be visible in front of the moving vehicle and not behind it.

How to add motion with multi-exposure

Some recently released EOS cameras, including the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS R-system models, support multiple exposures. This function can be used in continuous shooting mode to capture multiple stages in a single frame. Best results can be achieved when the subject strongly stands out from the background, e.g. when it is a light subject against a dark background or vice versa. For more information, check out our Multiple Exposure Guide (available in some languages). 

Another option is to use the flash. The Canon Speedlite EL-100 flash offers a programmable strobe mode. During a long exposure, the flash can fire several times, illuminating the subject while it’s moving against a static background.

How to shoot with the wiring technique

Shooting with slow shutter speeds to create a blur effect risks camera shake, particularly with telephoto lenses, making the main subject appear blurred as well. If this happens, image stabilization can help. Some Canon IS lenses (with a stabilizer) have automatic panning detection, which applies correction only to the vertical plane when you’re shooting horizontally.

Other Canon IS lenses have switchable stabilizers with two modes, where mode 1 is for shooting static subjects and mode 2 is for panning. Some lenses, such as Canon’s RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM and EF 70-200mm f/4L IS II USM, also have a third mode that applies stabilization only during exposure. This allows for easy tracking of erratically moving objects through the viewfinder.

Canon’s EOS R5 and R6 cameras also feature built-in IBIS stabilization. This works in conjunction with optical lens stabilizers for even more effective work.

How to convey motion with zoom blur

Select Tv shooting mode on any DSLR or mirrorless camera and set the shutter speed between 1 and 4 seconds. Zoom in and use autofocus by half-pressing the shutter button. Then fully press the shutter button to start exposing and about halfway through the process, start zooming out using the zoom ring on the lens. Try to stop zooming in when the exposure is complete. You can also perform the reverse action, starting at the minimum focal length and zooming in while the exposure is in progress.

Choosing the best shutter speed

In auto mode, your camera tries to guess which shutter speed best captures the scene. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always do this correctly and your photos can end up poorly exposed and blurry.

Your best choice would be to put your camera into manual mode to take control of the shutter speed. In that case, you should keep the following factors in mind:

  • Camera shake;
  • Motion blur;
  • Exposure;
  • Creative effects.

Use a remote shutter release or set a self-timer

A remote shutter release (or camera self-timer) can also help reduce camera shake. When you press the shutter button, the camera moves around a bit and this can cause blurring in your photos. But if you use the remote shutter release (or set the camera self-timer), you don’t have to worry about this movement. Using the remote shutter release may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference in terms of image sharpness.

Note that the remote works best when shooting match flames. Although the self-timer prevents camera shake, the delay makes it difficult to capture the initial flame flash with any real accuracy.

Choose your subject

Do you want the focus to be on the fire itself? Or are you trying to capture the mood of the fire? It can be difficult to get sharp shots of people when capturing moods. It’s not easy for anyone to sit still for long exposures, and movement will cause a blurred image. So first identify the subject and then adjust the camera settings so that the subject stays sharp. 

The following photos were taken in aperture priority mode with an aperture of f/8. For the first shot, the photographer set the ISO to 100 and the camera chose a shutter speed of 5 seconds. This was too long for this model to stay in place, so the photo came out blurry.

Conclusion

There’s no limit to the variety of effects, you can create by changing the shutter speed. Don’t be afraid to experiment, use combinations of settings that aren’t specific to you because you never know which combination will make a familiar subject stand out.

The best way to learn how to use the shutter speed is to set the camera to manual or shutter speed priority mode (S or Tv) and just shoot. Pay attention to how shutter speed affects exposure and blur, and try to figure out how to use this knowledge to add creativity to your pictures.

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