Introduction to Shutter Speed in Digital Photography

What is Shutter Speed?

As I’ve written elsewhere, defined most basically – shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’.

In film photography it was the length of time that the film was exposed to the scene you’re photographing and similarly in digital photography shutter speed is the length of time that your image sensor ‘sees’ the scene you’re attempting to capture.

Let me attempt to break down the topic of “Shutter Speed” into some bite sized pieces that should help digital camera owners trying to get their head around shutter speed

Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).

In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. This is because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your photos.

If you’re using a slow shutter speed (anything slower than 1/60) you will need to either use a tripod or some some type of image stabilization (more and more cameras are coming with this built in).

Shutter speeds available to you on your camera will usually double (approximately) with each setting. As a result you’ll usually have the options for the following shutter speeds – 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 etc. This ‘doubling’ is handy to keep in mind as aperture settings also double the amount of light that is let in – as a result increasing shutter speed by one stop and decreasing aperture by one stop should give you similar exposure levels (but we’ll talk more about this in a future post).

Some cameras also give you the option for very slow shutter speeds that are not fractions of seconds but are measured in seconds (for example 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds etc). These are used in very low light situations, when you’re going after special effects and/or when you’re trying to capture a lot of movement in a shot). Some cameras also give you the option to shoot in ‘B’ (or ‘Bulb’) mode. Bulb mode lets you keep the shutter open for as long as you hold it down.

When considering what shutter speed to use in an image you should always ask yourself whether anything in your scene is moving and how you’d like to capture that movement. If there is movement in your scene you have the choice of either freezing the movement (so it looks still) or letting the moving object intentionally blur (giving it a sense of movement).

To freeze movement in an image (like in the surfing shot above) you’ll want to choose a faster shutter speed and to let the movement blur you’ll want to choose a slower shutter speed. The actual speeds you should choose will vary depending upon the speed of the subject in your shot and how much you want it to be blurred.

Motion is not always bad – I spoke to one digital camera owner last week who told me that he always used fast shutter speeds and couldn’t understand why anyone would want motion in their images. There are times when motion is good. For example when you’re taking a photo of a waterfall and want to show how fast the water is flowing, or when you’re taking a shot of a racing car and want to give it a feeling of speed, or when you’re taking a shot of a star scape and want to show how the stars move over a longer period of time etc. In all of these instances choosing a longer shutter speed will be the way to go. However in all of these cases you need to use a tripod or you’ll run the risk of ruining the shots by adding camera movement (a different type of blur than motion blur).

Focal Length and Shutter Speed - another thing to consider when choosing shutter speed is the focal length of the lens you’re using. Longer focal lengths will accentuate the amount of camera shake you have and so you’ll need to choose a faster shutter speed (unless you have image stabilization in your lens or camera). The ‘rule’ of thumb to use with focal length in non image stabilized situations) is to choose a shutter speed with a denominator that is larger than the focal length of the lens. For example if you have a lens that is 50mm 1/60th is probably ok but if you have a 200mm lens you’ll probably want to shoot at around 1/250.

Shutter Speed – Bringing it Together

Remember that thinking about Shutter Speed in isolation from the other two elements of the Exposure Triangle (aperture and ISO) is not really a good idea. As you change shutter speed you’ll need to change one or both of the other elements to compensate for it.

For example if you speed up your shutter speed one stop (for example from 1/125th to 1/250th) you’re effectively letting half as much light into your camera. To compensate for this you’ll probably need to increase your aperture one stop (for example from f16 to f11). The other alternative would be to choose a faster ISO rating (you might want to move from ISO 100 to ISO 400 for example).

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ISO Settings in Digital Photography

What is ISO?

In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots. I’ll illustrate this below with two elargements of shots that I just took – the one on the left is taken at 100 ISO and the one of the right at 3200 ISO (click to enlarge to see the full effect).

                     (you can see larger sized images of both shots here for the 100 ISO and here for the 3200 ISO)

Most people tend to keep their digital cameras in ‘Auto Mode’ where the camera selects the appropriate ISO setting depending upon the conditions you’re shooting in (it will try to keep it as low as possible) but most cameras also give you the opportunity to select your own ISO also.

when you do override your camera and choose a specific ISO you’ll notice that it impacts the aperture and shutter speed needed for a well exposed shot. For example – if you bumped your ISO up from 100 to 400 you’ll notice that you can shoot at higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures.

When choosing the ISO setting I generally ask myself the following four questions:

1. Light – Is the subject well lit?
2. Grain – Do I want a grainy shot or one without noise?
3. Tripod – Am I using a tripod?
4. Moving Subject – Is my subject moving or stationary?

If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod and my subject is stationary I will generally use a pretty low ISO rating.

However if it’s dark, I purposely want grain, I don’t have a tripod and/or my subject is moving I might consider increasing the ISO as it will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well.

Of course the trade off of this increase in ISO will be noisier shots.

Situations where you might need to push ISO to higher settings include:

• Indoor Sports Events – where your subject is moving fast yet you may have limited light available.
• Concerts – also low in light and often ‘no-flash’ zones
• Art Galleries, Churches etc- many galleries have rules against using a flash and of course being indoors are not well lit.
• Birthday Parties – blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice moody shot which would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.

ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. Experiment with different settings and how they impact your images today.

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Aperture

Menurut Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, aperture di dalam Bahasa Melayu dieja sebagai apertur. Namun, adakalanya, aperture disebut juga sebagai ‘bukaan’ di dalam Bahasa Melayu.

Aperture adalah satu bahagian yang terletak di dalam lensa yang berfungsi untuk mengawal jumlah cahaya yang masuk ke dalam kamera. Aperture ialah satu mekanisma yang boleh dilaras saiz bukaannya dari saiz bukaan yang paling kecil hinggalah ke saiz bukaan yang paling besar.

Rupa sebenar aperture yang terdapat di dalam lensa. Gambar di atas menunjukkan saiz bukaan aperture yang kecil

Perbezaan aperture besar dan aperture kecil

Aperture dengan saiz bukaan yang besar akan membolehkan banyak cahaya masuk ke dalam kamera. Ini bermaksud, gambar boleh menjadi lebih cerah. Jadi, ketika merakam gambar di tempat yang gelap, kita perlu menggunakan aperture yang lebih besar supaya gambar kita menjadi lebih cerah.

Sebaliknya, apabila merakam gambar di tempat yang cerah, kita sepatutnya menggunakan aperture yang lebih kecil agar kurang cahaya dapat masuk ke dalam kamera. Lalu, gambar yang akan dihasilkan tidak menjadi terlalu terang.

Selain dari saiz bukaan aperture yang ditunjukkan di atas, ada banyak lagi saiz bukaan aperture dari yang paling kecil hinggalah ke saiz bukaan yang paling besar. Setiap saiz bukaan aperture ini mempunyai nilai yang telah ditetapkan dan nilai ini digunapakai oleh semua jenis kamera tidak kira dari jenama apa sekalipun.

Nilai aperture  sepatutnya ditulis seperti ini – f/5.6 (salah satu contoh) Huruf F sepatutnya ditulis dalam huruf kecil dan dicondongkan (italic). Ini kerana, huruf F tersebut sebenarnya merupakan simbol untuk formula bagi mendapatkan nilai aperture. Tetapi, pada kamera, nilai aperture ini adakalanya ditulis sebagai 5.6 sahaja tanpa tulisan ‘f/’ di depannya. Atau, ada juga kamera yang menunjukkan nilai f/5.6 dengan menggunakan huruf F dalam abjad besar seperti F5.6 dan sebagainya. Walaupun ada perbezaan dari segi cara penulisannya, ianya tetap merujuk kepada perkara yang sama.

Untuk membolehkan anda melaraskan aperture secara manual, anda perlu laraskan Exposure Mode kepada Manual atau Aperture Priority. Aperture Priority pada kamera Nikon ditandakan dengan huruf A. Pada kamera Canon, Aperture Priority dinamakan sebagai Aperture Value dan ditandakan dengan huruf AV. Jika anda menggunakan tetapan automatik yang lain, anda tidak akan dapat mengawal aperture anda. Sila rujuk buku manual kamera anda bagi mengetahui dengan tepat cara untuk melaraskan aperture pada kamera anda.

Pada peringkat ini, anda mungkin akan berhadapan dengan masalah apabila cuba mempraktikkan kawalan aperture seperti yang diterangkan di dalam bab ini kerana, untuk mengawal aperture dengan betul, anda juga perlu faham mengenai perkara lain yang belum kita pelajari seperti shutter, ISO dan exposure meter. Anda disarankan untuk memahami secara teori sahaja dahulu mengenai aperture di dalam bab ini. Di dalam bahagian akhir nanti, setelah anda memahami keseluruhan kawalan pada kamera, barulah anda dapat mempraktikkan apa yang telah dipelajari dengan lebih mudah. Ini kerana, ada beberapa perkara penting pada kawalan kamera yang saling berkaitan diantara satu sama lain.

Gambar di atas menunjukkan nilai-nilai aperture yang berbeza – dari saiz bukaan aperture yang paling kecil hinggalah ke saiz bukaan aperture yang paling besar. Di dalam gambar di atas, kita dapat lihat bahawa, aperture dengan nilai f/2 memberikan saiz bukaan aperture yang paling besar manakala aperture dengan nilai f/22 memberikan saiz bukaan aperture yang paling kecil

Selain dari nilai-nilai aperture yang ditunjukkan di atas, terdapat banyak lagi nilai aperture yang lain. Di dalam rajah di atas, saiz aperture yang paling besar yang dinyatakan adalah f/2. Tetapi, sebenarnya ada lagi saiz aperture yang lebih besar, iaitu f/1.0 dan sebagainya. Begitu juga dengan aperture paling kecil yang ditunjukkan di dalam rajah di atas, iaitu f/22. Sebenarnya, ada lagi aperture lain yang lebih kecil dari f/22, iaitu seperti f/32 dan seterusnya. Nilai-nilai aperture yang tidak dinyatakan di dalam rajah di atas adalah nilai-nilai aperture yang jarang digunakan kerana ianya hanya terdapat pada lensa-lensa yang tertentu sahaja.

   

Gambar di atas menunjukkan perbezaan kecerahan (exposure) yang didapati dengan menggunakan aperture yang berlainan. Di dalam contoh diatas, didapati aperture f/5.6 memberikan hasil gambar dengan normal exposure. Tetapi, perlu diingat, aperture f/5.6 tidak semestinya menghasilkan normal exposure – ia bergantung kepada kekuatan cahaya sewaktu sesuatu gambar dirakam.

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