The shutter on the camera is a physical door that controls the duration that light is hitting the image sensor or film. An SLR camera uses a “two curtain” system, meaning one door moves allowing light to enter and then a second door closes that opening. That allows for very fast shutter speeds, which allows for a high-lit photography environment.

The shutter affects your final image by controlling the speed at which the image is recorded; a longer time provides motion blur, and a shorter time appears to freeze actions more. This can be useful in capturing a specific feeling one is trying to achieve in their photo. Typically, one uses a faster shutter speed for action shots, since it freezes time and stops the action. A slower shutter speed usually needs to be done on a tripod as any movements while the shutter is open will result in unwanted motion blur. A good rule of thumb, for the longest a shutter should be open, is to take the length of the lens and divide it by one. So, a 200mm lens shouldn’t be open longer than 1/200th of a second, a 50mm lens no less than 1/50th, and so on and so forth. Generally, for handheld work, never go below 1/30th of a second. That being said, with new developments in image stabilization, those numbers can be fudged a bit.

Motion blur in action shots is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes in order to convey intense motion, using a longer shutter speed can give you a more frantic feel with lots of motion blur. Also, you may want to have a longer depth of field and would need to adjust the shutter speed to compensate for the decreased aperture. As with aperture, shutter speed is held in a balance, and gives one many opportunities for different shots.

Journaled Time: 3 hour – reading, research and taking notes
Total Class Time: 10 hours