Friday, 19 September 2008

• How to's: "The Great Shutter Speed Mystery"

  As a photographer I get asked a lot of "how to" questions. Cameras can be confusing and the results can be major head scratchers! What's wrong? When I looked through the lens all was well. Why does the picture look so bad?? Everyone goes through this so don't panic! I want to examine some basic settings that promise big returns when used properly.
  
  I remember when I first started reading about camera settings and how to take pictures I thought the whole "shutter speed" thing was pretty self-explanatory. It has to do with how fast the shutter is going, right? Well, yes and no. Yes, in that from a very basic action sense it is just how fast or slow the shutter is going. The hard part comes in the why. What makes the shutter go open and shut fast or slow and why even worry about it. This, for me, was the "Great Shutter Speed Mystery"!
  
  As you probably now know, for the most part, I HATE flash! You should too, if you know what's good for your pictures. Flash creates shadows and flat textures so whenever you can, try to avoid it's use. However, you will most likely find yourself with another problem if you turn off the flash: Blur. Blur can be avoided but you need to understand shutter speed in order to do this.
  
  Cameras have a little door on the inside of the lens that stays closed most of the time to keep the sensor from collecting data until you are ready to press the "shutter release" button to take a picture. In that split second the door (or shutter) opens up, imprints the image data from the scene you are shooting on it's memory bank, and then shuts again. The longer it is open, the more light it can collect. Therefore, the faster it opens and shuts the less light enters the camera. If it's a bright, sunny day outside there is lots of light so the camera can take bright, clear pictures super fast; capturing fast action in perfect, crisp motion.
  
  

  
  

  Ever noticed how much easier it is to capture your kid running down the Soccer field than it is to capture him dribbling down the Basketball court? The Basketball court is indoors under less light than the soccer field in the bright sunlight making it harder to capture the fast action of the indoor game because your shutter is staying open longer to gather enough light to make your picture show up on it's sensor.
  
  Different cameras handle shutter speed in different ways. Most point and shoots automatically adjust the shutter speed based on the light that hits their sensor when you focus. If the flash is on it chooses one shutter speed and if it's off it slows it down to gather more light since the camera won't be supplying any.
  

  
  

  You can compensate for this by opening window shades, turning on lights, or moving outside. Expensive lighting equipment isn't a must to get cool indoor shots. When I was working on a budget I went to my local hardware store and picked up a couple of clamp lights, some Reveal bulbs in a soft, low wattage, and clamped them to the backs of a couple of chairs. I had my own studio lighting in minutes. Stiff, white poster boards can be converted to reflective boards and white sheets can become backdrops. One friend of mine picks up remnant fur and leather from her local fabric store and uses them for totally rad backdrops!
  
  If your camera is more the SLR type then you can usually change your shutter speed manually. But you are going to have problems getting what you want if you only change the shutter speed and don't also adjust the ISO. Next time we'll talk about ISO and how it effects the amount of light that reaches your camera's sensor.
  
  Have you noticed that shutter speed effects your pictures? Do you usually mess with shutter speed settings or let your camera pick a speed automatically?
  

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