Shutter Speed Changing it for creative effects 1
What is it? The amount of time your shutter is open The amount of tim you are exposing the light sensitive medium Measured in seconds, 1/4000 is fast, 30 is slow 2
How to change it? S-mode, Shutter priority mode Allows you to adjust only the shutter speed, Camera will figure out the rest. Best to set Shutter speed and ISO, let the camera figure out the aperture 3
How to change it? May not always get the value you want, typically if the camera can not, the aperture value will flash Once again Manual is best 4
Slower can be better Longer shutter speeds can help get and effect or create a feeling A couple of common examples Smooth Water Fireworks 5
Smooth Water 1/640 1/125 1/30 2.5 6
Smooth Water Fast shutter speeds cause dramatic, fast looking water Long Shutter speeds cause the water to blur, and eventually cause a nice smoothing effect If you want smooth water, Longer is Better 7
The Set Up Tripod ND Filter Remote Release Patience Bug Spray Cloudy day is better Rubber boots/ chest waiters Flowing water 8
Slow 9
Fireworks Are a little more tricky, you can t just go with the idea of longer is better. You have very bright light, against a very dark background. The more of the you shoot, the better you become, because you can visualize what the set will look like in the picture 10
The Set Up Tripod Remote release Medium to wide lens (18-55mm) Fireworks 11
Taking the pictures There are several different ways to do it. My favourite, and what seems to work the best, is the Bulb method Vantage is something that must be considered, pay attention to your background, take test shots and see how your background shows up 12
Taking the pictures Place the camera on full manual, lowest ISO setting (100-400), medium F stop (5.6-8), Manual focus to infinity and then focus it just off of infinity, set shutter speed to bulb, place on tripod, with remote release For a p&s, tripod, night or fireworks mode, if you have no manual controls 13
Taking the pictures Use your test shots to ensure focus is correct try to guess where they will explode, this is where the fun starts. wait for them to start. 14
Taking the pictures Once they start, the first couple are usually a good indicator of where they will explode adjust your tripod quickly, try not to be too zoomed out Being fast and accurate will pay off here. 15
the Bulb Method when your camera is in Bulb mode, it will take the picture as long as you hold the shutter button down, a corded remote does work the best. This means that every shot will have a slight different amount of time that the shutter is open. 16
the Bulb Method Press and hold the shutter button, and watch the fireworks from beside your camera. Try to keep track of how many go up, how bright they are, how big they exploded, and where they exploded. 17
the Bulb Method Once you think you caught a nice sequence, release the shutter button. Most cameras will now process a dark frame (if you wish to do more post processing, turn off Noise Reduction) this is a picture of nothing, but will take as long as the actual picture 18
the Bulb Method Take the 2 seconds, and review the picture, this will let you know if your focus is off, framing is bad, if you went too long, or too short Fireworks look best against a black background, ensure your exposure is not exposing the night sky Repeat as often as possible. 19
Fireworks 20
Fireworks 21
Tips and Tricks 2-10 seconds is a decent shutter speed for large shows when the finale comes, shoot much shorter towards the end there is a smoke build up, makes of less desirable photos bring a friend, you will get very different pictures, and learn faster 22
Tips and Tricks Two camera s would be the best Fireworks do take practice, keep trying Autofocus does not work, Semi-auto modes typically don t work. 23
Faster is more fun The end of speed I enjoy to play with Shutter speeds of 1/1000 and higher Used to stop motion, and freeze fast action I got hooked with water drops. 24
Water Drops Water is an interesting subject, can be shot very slow and very fast, giving very different results. Very easy to do, all you need is a camera and a flash (built in or hot shoe/off camera) 25
Equipment Camera Flash (Built in or hot shoe) Tripod Drip Bowl Water 26
The Set up turn your sink to have the water flow of a very annoying drip. Place a bowl of water in the sink, so the water drips into the middle of the bowl. Put camera is manual focus, and focus 1-1.5 cm from the top of the water (Placing an object in the bowl where the water hits helps to focus) 27
The Set up Shoot when you think the water drop is going to hit the water This is very hit or miss method, should get 1 in 20 is a good picture, shoot lots. 28
Water Drops 29
Water Drops 30
Collision Water Drops 31
There is still faster Real high speed photography, your shutter will not move fast enough. in order to freeze motion, you use a long shutter speed, and a fast burst of light in a dark room Bullet photography, glass breaking balloon poping 32