Shutter speed does so much more than just help correctly expose our images in camera. When used creatively, shutter speed can produce some incredible photos! We’re going to share seven ideas on how you can use shutter speed creatively and you won’t believe your eyes with the last one! Are you ready to take your creative photography skills to the next level? Then let’s dive in!
Let’s get those creative juices flowing with a good grasp on understanding shutter speed first. Then, we’ll charge full speed ahead with some awesome ideas on how shutter speed can be used creatively so you can produce some out-of-this-world shots!
See what I did there? Full speed ahead…. [I know, I know, I’m so funny – insert chuckle here]
Shutter Speed Definition
Shutter speed is just one element of the exposure triangle, the other two being Aperture and ISO. These three elements combined allow us to correctly expose our photo so that it’s not too dark or too bright.
Shutter speed is the amount of time that our shutter is open for. When we take a photo, we’re allowing light to come through our camera lens and the shutter speed is the amount of time that the sensor will be exposed. The more time that our shutter is open for, the more light that will be painted on our sensor.
But, shutter speed does much more than just affecting our exposure, it also has an artistic side, which is how it affects motion. Let’s go over these elements of shutter speed in crystal clear detail:
How Does Shutter Speed Affect Exposure
Here’s a cool experiment to help visualize this:
Turn on your kitchen faucet then place a cup under the running water for 1 second. Remove the cup and place it on the counter.
Now, place another cup under the running water for 5 seconds. Remove that cup and place it on the counter (and don’t forget to turn off your tap!)
Which cup is more full? The one that was filling up the cup for 1 second or 5 seconds?
I hope you answered 5, otherwise you better get your faucet checked out!
The shutter speed on our cameras work the same way. The more amount of time that we have our shutter open for, the more light will be painted on our sensor and the brighter our photograph will be. This is how shutter speed affects exposure.
But shutter speed does much more than that. It also has an artistic side, which is how it affects motion.
How Does Shutter Speed Affect Motion in a Photo
The slower the shutter speed, the more motion you will capture in your photo. The faster your shutter speed, the more objects in motion will look frozen in time.
Here’s an example of a photo taken with a slower shutter speed of 2 seconds:
See how the water looks like it’s in motion as opposed to frozen droplets in time? This is because over 2 seconds, the water moves quite a ways down the river, and with our shutter open for these 2 seconds, the light captured paints the whole story on our camera sensor.
Check out this photo in comparison, this was taken with a faster shutter speed of 1/60 of a second:
Notice how the droplets of water look frozen in time? The reason why is because over 1/60 of a second, the water has not moved very far. So with our shutter being open for such a short time, the result is that the motion of the water looks frozen in time.
Now, we’ve talked a lot about seconds and fractions of seconds. But what do these numbers actually mean? And how the heck do we choose what shutter speed to use? Let’s break this down to understand how shutter speed is measured.
How is Shutter Speed Measured?
Shutter speed is measured in seconds and fractions of seconds.
A 2 second shutter speed is shown as 2″ in camera. On the back of my LCD screen, shutter speed looks like this:
The ” stands for seconds so anything that is followed by these quotation marks is measured in seconds. So, for example, 1″ means one second, 4″ means four seconds, 20″ means twenty seconds, and so on.
Now, if we wanted to take a photo at 1/60th of a second, it would be shown as 60 in camera, like this:
If there are no quotation marks, like 60, then that means our shutter speed is the fraction of a second of the number shown. So, 60 represents 1/60th of a second. 100 means 1/100th of a second, 250 represents 1/250th of a second and so on.
These numbers aren’t just selected willy nilly either. Shutter speed can typically be increased or decreased by 1/3 of a stop at a time in camera. This brings us to the next question!
What are Stops in Photography?
Stops are how we measure exposure (aperture, shutter speed and ISO). Adjusting our exposure by one stop will either double or half the amount of light being let into our camera. We can change our exposure by adjusting aperture, shutter speed or ISO. We’ll stick with shutter speed stop examples here since our topic is shutter speed, but if you want to learn more about stops, be sure to check out Understanding Stops in Photography.
To help better understand stops and the numbers shown for typical shutter speed options, here’s a quick demonstration:
Let’s say we’re working in Manual Mode and we select 2″ for our shutter speed. (Remember, this represents two seconds.) If we want to let double the amount of light in, then we’ll increase our shutter speed by one full stop to 4″ (which is four seconds) (2×2=4). Pretty simple right?
What’s nice is our cameras allow us to make finer adjustments than just doubling or halving the amount of light being let in.
Most cameras allow us to increase or decrease the exposure by 1/3 of a stop to give us more flexibility in being able to achieve the correct exposure. That’s why you see numbers like 2″5 and 3″2 in between the options of 2″ and 4″. Our camera is allowing us to increase our shutter speed by 1/3 of a stop from 2″ to 2″5 (which represents 2.5 seconds) for example.
Now you know why cameras only show certain numbers for shutter speed options. They’re related to the amount of light that we want to let in to our cameras and they’re measured in stops. You’re welcome!
Here’s a chart to help remember how shutter speed is measured:
This brings us to the next most logical question! What shutter speed should I use for…
When to Use Different Shutter Speeds
Here are some examples of what shutter speeds to use for different photography subjects starting with fast speed and making our way down to slow.
When to use 1/8000th of a second
1/8000th of a second, or 8000 as shown in camera is the fastest my Canon 70D Mark II will go. This shutter speed is great for capturing fast moving subjects like hummingbirds on a bright sunny day. I say ‘on a bright sunny day’ because the trick here is to make sure you have enough light in your scene. As you can imagine, 1/8000 of a second is really fast, so you’ll need to allow as much light into your sensor as possible.
When to use 1/4000th of a second
1/4000th of a second or 4000 as shown in camera is great for action sports or fast moving cars. Bright lighting conditions are again very helpful as this is still a darn fast shutter speed.
Take this surfer for instance. It was a bright sunny day, but because the shutter speed was so fast at 1/4000 second, the scene looks correctly exposed and water frozen in time!
When to use 1/500th of a second
Say you’re out and about with your family on an adventure. 1/500th of a second or 500 as shown in camera will be a good starting point to capture portraits of people and still have them look sharp, you know, just in case that monkey moves!
When to use 1/250th of a second
This is one of the most fun shutter speeds to use because when you pan your camera at 1/250th of a second, you can get some out of this world results! Take this eagle shot for example. Because I had focussed on the eagle and panned my camera in the direction he was flying, it resulted in a photo with a sharp eagle, and motion blurred background. We’re not even at the creative part yet! There’s so many sensational things we can do with shutter speed so keep reading!
When to use 1/60th of a second
I wanted to mention 1/60th of a second shutter speed because this is the absolute slowest shutter speed you should use when shooting anything hand held. The reason why is because anything slower than this (like 1/30th of a second, one second, and so on) will likely result in camera shake. No matter how still you think you’re holding the camera, try not to go under 1/60th of a second in order to ensure the photo you’re capturing is sharp.
When to use 1/4 of a second
This is my absolute favourite shutter speed to use when capturing waterfalls. Give it a try, but be sure your camera is on a tripod or some sort of stationary object.
When to Use Shutter Speed
We’ve covered what type of shutter speeds are good to use for different photography subjects. But when do you decide to use shutter speed over changing the ISO or aperture?
My question to you would be, what is the purpose of your photo?
Is it to try and freeze motion or is it to capture that silky smooth waterfall? If the answer is yes to both of these questions, then I would say selecting the proper shutter speed is the priority.
If you’re trying to get that beautiful bokeh or soft background blur, then I would say that selecting the proper Aperture would be the priority.
It all depends on what you’re trying to capture! So, before capturing a photo, think about what you’re trying to showcase in the photo and then use your answer to guide you.
How to Change Shutter Speed in Manual Mode
We now know what the shutter speed numbers look like in camera (remember, something like 60 means 1/60th of a second and something like 2″ means two seconds), but how to we change them?
In the camera settings, the shutter speed can be changed in Manual Mode a few different ways on my Canon 70D, but here’s my favourite way:
- Make sure I’m shooting in manual mode
- Use the scroll wheel by my right index finger. While scrolling that wheel, whether looking through the eye piece or using the LCD screen, the shutter speed number will change:
- Scrolling the wheel right will make the number smaller (faster shutter speed), while scrolling the wheel left will make the number larger (slower shutter speed)
How to Change Shutter Speed in Shutter Priority (Tv) Mode
When I want creative control over setting the shutter speed in camera, I’ll usually be shooting in Shutter Priority Mode (shown as Tv on your mode dial). To get to Shutter Priority Mode, I just twist my mode dial at the top of my Canon 6D Mark II until it’s set to Tv like this:
Then, I use the scroll wheel by my right index finger to set my shutter speed. Scrolling right will give me a faster shutter speed, and scrolling left will give me a slower shutter speed.
What I love about using Shutter Priority Mode is that I can focus solely on how I want to use shutter speed creatively, and my camera will adjust the Aperture and ISO to correctly expose the photo!
How to Select a Shutter Speed in Bulb Mode
Bulb mode allows you to take very specific shutter speeds with the help of an Intervalometer remote. A tethered remote will work as well, but you won’t be able to be as specific with the amount of time that the shutter is open for.
Basically, Bulb mode will keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter button. Then, it will release the shutter as soon as you release the shutter button. Easy right? The only thing is, make sure you’re using a tripod!
Bulb mode comes in especially handy when you’re trying to take a long exposure photo longer than 30 seconds as this is the slowest shutter speed on most cameras.
To get to Bulb Mode, twist the mode dial to B like this:
Then, place your camera on your tripod, hook up your Intervalometer remote and set the remote to however many seconds or minutes you’d like. The world is your oyster! Try a star trail for 30 minutes and you’ll be amazed with the magic that pops up on the back of your LCD screen!
Well folks, are you ready to use shutter speed creatively? Get ready to be inspired!
How to Use Shutter Speed Creatively
Here are some ideas to get you taking some incredible photos by using shutter speed creatively!
Paint with Light
I love painting with light so much! It’s so fun and you can create the coolest shapes, words, objects, whatever you want!
The trick here is to make sure your camera is on a tripod and then use a 2 second time to give yourself enough time to jump into the frame and start painting with your phone light, or flashlight, when the camera starts taking the photo.
Then count in your head to however long you set the shutter speed for (in this case 13 seconds) and make sure you paint your image with light for the whole amount of time.
Now, go check out your amazing photo on the back of your LCD screen and be amazed!
Pan your Camera
Panning your camera to follow a moving subject can produce some incredible results. Just have a look at that eagle shot again! So cool, right?!
The trick here is to have your camera mode set to Shutter Priority (Tv) and make sure you set your Drive Mode to ‘High Speed Continuous.’ This will take a burst of shots as long as you have your finger pressing down on the shutter button. So, all you have to do is focus on your subject, pan your camera along the path that the subject is moving towards and keep that shutter button pressed!
Capture a Twilight Cityscape with Car Light Trails
In all honesty, I’m not a city person so finding inspiration to shoot in the city is tricky for me. However, when I saw this photo pop up on the back of my LCD screen, I was pretty darn happy.
To capture a cityscape with car light trails for yourself, plan to head out for sometime around sunset. The reason why you want to be doing this is because we’ll be taking this shot with a slow shutter speed. This will let a lot of light in the camera and if it’s pure daylight, your scene will be over exposed. Once you’re ready to go, try to find a spot with some higher ground so you can look down on the city. You’ll also want to have vehicles moving away from you so that you see the red tail lights.
Then, set your camera up on a tripod and change your camera mode to Shutter Priority (Tv). Set your shutter speed to 5 seconds and change your Drive Mode to Self Timer. This will allow you to use either a tethered remote or wireless remote.
The reason why you want to be using a remote for this one is to avoid camera shake. With such a slow speed, if you touch that button, even if your camera is on a tripod, there is a chance you could come away with a blurry photo. Nobody wants that!
Once you have your shutter speed set, focus about 1/3 of the way into the scene. This will ensure as much of your scene is sharp as possible. Then once you start to see some colour in the sky from the sunset, start snapping your shots with your remote! For this photograph, I took around 20 different shots. The reason I did this was to make sure I got at least one shot where I was happy with how the car light trails looked as they’re different each and every time.
Hopefully this helps you get some cool car light trails real soon!
Abstract Forest
For some reason, this particular photo reminds me of Avatar. Maybe it’s the golden light on the trees, or maybe it’s that it evokes my curiosity and I wonder if the floating mountains are hiding just beyond those abstract trees.
What does it remind you of? Let me know in the comments down below!
To get a beautiful abstract shot like this for yourself, first, choose whatever lens you’d like to use. For this instance, I used my 18-135mm lens at 20mm focal length. Then, set your camera to Shutter Priority Mode (Tv) and select a shutter speed like 1/4 second (shown as 4 in camera). Then when you press the shutter button to take the shot, intentionally move your camera up and down, side to side or in circles. However your little heart desires. Then when you hear the click and the photo has been made, check out your awesome creation on the back of your LCD screen!
Foggy Ocean
These photos are super fun to capture.
All you need is a tripod, your camera, whichever lens your heart desires and a ND Filter.
The ND filter will help darken your photo when using slow shutter speeds. We’ll need to use one for this shot, otherwise our image will come out looking over exposed.
Once you’re ready to capture this amazing image, just set your camera on the tripod with your lens attached. I used an 18mm lens for this particular photo. Then, screw on your ND Filter and set your camera mode to Shutter Priority (Tv) Mode. I used a 2.5 second shutter speed (shown as 2″5 in camera) for this particular shot. What’s awesome, is you can use your creativity and play around with different looks until you find one that you like. Try a 1 second, 5 second and 10 second shot and see which one you like best. It’s all up to you!
Zoom-In Abstract
Photos like this always remind me of Star Wars. Maybe it’s because it looks like you’re warping to light speed or something. I’m liking more and more of the abstract look especially for prints now-a-days. Something like this would look so cool in an office!
To capture a zoomed-in abstract for yourself, make sure you’re on Shutter Priority Mode (Tv). Then, select a shutter speed around 1/8 of a second (shown as 8 in camera).
I took the shot above on a bright sunny day and all I did was press the shutter button to take the shot and zoom in with my 18-135mm lens while doing so. Because I was zooming in for the duration of the time that the shutter was open, I came away with this other worldly shot!
Capture the Night Sky
Astrophotography has quickly become one of my favourite genres of photography. I have another post that talks more about taking astrophotos, but to give you a quick summary, here’s what I typically do.
First, I’ll scout out my location to see where the Milky Way will be with my Photopills app. Then, I’ll head out around sunset to ensure I can compose my scene while it’s still light out.
It’s important to bring lots of hot chocolate and snacks while doing astrophotography! There’s some down time in between sunset and when the stars start to come out.
Then, once twilight hits, I’m out there with my little tethered remote shooting away with the following settings with my camera in Manual Mode:
- ISO – typically around 1600
- Aperture – as open as possible – usually around f/1.4 or f/2.8
- Shutter Speed – 30 seconds
This is just a starting point. A 30 second shutter speed works well with a wide angle lens like 16mm on a full frame camera. If you’re using a standard lens like a 50mm, then you’ll want a faster shutter speed, like 10 seconds. The reason why is because the Earth is rotating at such a quick rate that the stars will start to trail after a short while. The longer the lens you’re using, the sooner they start to blur.
The moment I saw this photo pop up on the back of my LCD screen, my jaw hit the ground! It’s so amazing that our cameras can pull so much detail out of the night sky. It’s truly something to witness. I hope this helps you capture an incredible Milky Way photo for yourself one day soon!
For the finale, we wanted to cover some Frequently Asked Questions that we typically hear on this topic so that you can become the ultimate expert!
Frequently Asked Questions
What does drag my shutter mean?
Dragging your shutter simply means you are slowing it down. So, instead of using a fast shutter speed like 1/100, you’re using a slower speed like 2 seconds. Often, we’ll want to drag our shutter speed to showcase motion in our photos. One example would be to create the silky smooth waterfall look.
When to use Shutter Speed vs. Aperture?
Choosing when to use Shutter Priority Mode or Aperture Priority Mode depends on the creative outcome that the photographer wants the photo to have. Shutter speed should be used when the intent of the photo is to freeze motion or show motion in action. Fro example, when capturing a surfer catching a wave, or when looking to achieve that silky smooth waterfall look. Aperture should be used when the intent of the photo is to show everything in sharp focus from foreground to background (like a landscape). Aperture should also be used when looking to create that beautiful soft background or bokeh look.
When to use Shutter Speed vs. ISO?
Choosing when to adjust your shutter speed or ISO will depend on the technical and creative requirements of the photo. If the intent is to show grain like in a vintage photo, then a higher ISO should be selected. If the goal of the photo is to freeze motion then a faster shutter speed should be selected. To show motion in action, like car light trails, then a slower shutter speed should be selected. Sometimes a combination of shutter speed, aperture and ISO need to be adjusted in order to properly expose the photo and have it achieve the creative look that the photographer is going for.
For example, if looking to capture the Milky Way, often we’ll need to open our Aperture to something like f/2.8. We’ll also need to adjust our ISO to something like ISO 1600 to let more light in. Finally, we’ll have to use a slow shutter speed like 30 seconds in order to properly expose the Milky Way photo.
How does Shutter Speed relate to Focal Lengths?
Faster shutter speeds will have to be used with longer focal lengths. Try holding onto a pencil as still as you can. Now, look at the other end of the pencil. It looks pretty still right? This pencil represents a wide angle lens with a small focal length like 16mm.
Now, imagine you’re holding onto a long pipe as still as you can. If you were to look at the other end of the pipe, it would not be holding still at all! This pipe represents a long focal length like 300mm. What you’re seeing here is the slight shake of your hand translating to the other end of your pipe.
Focal lengths work the same way. It’s easier to hold lenses with shorter focal lengths still (like 16mm) and therefore, we can use a longer speed (like 1/60 second with them) and the image will still look sharp.
However, a telephoto lens, like 300mm for example, will be more difficult to hold still and therefore should be using a faster shutter speed like 1/600 in order to capture a sharp image.
Typically, the reciprocal rule works well to help mitigate camera shake. Basically, all you do is take the focal length that you’re using and invert it to get your minimum shutter speed. So, for example, if you’re using a 100mm focal length, your minimum shutter speed should be 1/100 of a second.
Summary
There we have it folks! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I’m always happy to hear your thoughts, so as always, feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions in the comments section down below.
If you’re interested in improving your photography skills even further, make sure to check out our FREE e-Book! It’s jam packed with fun and easy to digest photography tips and tricks that will have you taking better photos in no time!
Now get out there and take some amazing shots with these new skills!
Allen
Thanks for your insights Claire. We do a lot of traveling on tours, and sometimes it’s by motor coach. Many times I see a great shot, but we are cruising at a fast speed, so I just crank up my aperture speed to 800 or higher and take my shot. Sometimes I have to go higher. But with the correct speed, you can get shots as if you were right there standing in front of the object. Of course sometimes window glare will create a problem which I try to alleviate by putting my lens next to the window. Hopefully the motor coach has clean windows. Thought I would share.
Claire
It’s my pleasure Allen! That’s wonderful! Brilliant idea to crank up the speed to 800. It’s so neat how your subject can look frozen in time when you do that. Good idea to place the lens next to the window! Yes, I hope the motor coach windows are clean for you too! Such a wonderful way to capture your memories.
Wishing you well and thank you so much for sharing!