Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed, measured in seconds, refers to the length of time that the camera’s shutter remains open to let light in through the lens to record a given image onto the film.

The standard shutter speed that a photographer generally uses on a sunny day is 1/125th of a second. A photographer will adjust the shutter speed according to a few of the following factors:

• aperture opening
• available light in the scene
• desired effect
• film speed.

The shutter speed setting affects both the light exposure to the film and the way movement is rendered in the resulting photo. Shorter shutter speeds (meaning the shutter opens and closes at a faster rate) are typically used for fast moving objects to quickly freeze them within the frame. Conversely, longer shutter speeds tend to be used in scenes of low lighting, still objects or if the photographer wants to create an artistic blur.

A rule of thumb for knowing how to set shutter speeds is that the larger the aperture setting, the faster the shutter speed should be set to affect the same level of light exposure.