Tag Archives: motion blur

When to Use Different Shutter Speeds

I’ve covered shutter speed in great detail before, but recently this question popped up:

‘When would you typically use all the different shutter speeds?’

It dawned on me, that it wouldn’t hurt to provide a list of when you would typically use different shutter speeds, so here it is. Thanks to Carostory for the request. She’s taking my video training course and recently left me an awesome testimonial.

Different Shutter Speeds

You will notice that the shutter speed halves each time, which means that the exposure changes by 1 stop. There are third stops between these speed on cameras, but we’d be here all day if I went through them all.

A lot of the speeds listed below are dependant on how close the subject is to you, so bear that in mind. Also, this doesn’t really take exposure into consideration, this is purely about what you capture at these speeds.

1/4000 of a Second – Freezing really fast moving objects. Think of the sorts of things you may capture is a high-speed camera. A baseball pitch, a balloon pop, that sort of thing.

1/2000 of a Second – Freezing the flight of birds. They move their wings really fast so you have to crank up the shutter speed really high.

1/1000 of a Second - Freezing very fast moving objects, such as moving vehicles.

1/500 of a Second - This is where you will start to freeze fast moving people, such as runners and cyclists.

1/250 of a Second - A great speed for freezing your still subject, without having to think too much about focal length and how that affects the motion blur. Great for portrait photography.

1/125 of a Second – You won’t typically want to go much slower than this if you’re shooting handheld, otherwise, you will likely capture motion blur from your hands. This is also where you will start to be able to use your shutter speed for panning.

1/60 of a Second – Again, this is a great speed for panning photography, and handheld photography in low light.

1/30 of a Second – This is about as slow as you will want to go while capturing panning photography, as much slower and your photo will become too much of a blur.

1/15 of a Second – You can mount your camera on a tripod at this speed and capture sight movement from moving objects. Think people walking, cars moving in traffic, water blurring slightly.

1/8 of a Second – Capturing motion blur in water.

1/4 of a Second – Blurred movement in a scene. Not so little that it appears accidental, but not so much that it’s hard to tell what’s going on.

1/2 of a Second – More motion blur, only much stronger than before. Think of water starting to appear like mist.

1 Second – Twilight photography. The sun may not be completely gone, but there’s not enough light to make up the exposure you’re looking for. You may incorporate a flash, and you’re more than likely using a tripod.

More than 1 Second – This is where night photography starts to come into play. You can play with different speeds and capture awesome nighttime photos.

Bulb Mode – This is used for exposures longer than 30 seconds, where you can manually control the exposure time with the shutter release. This is used for astrophotography where you may want to capture some stars. You may also use this mode for slow sync flash where you want to have immediate control of the shutter speed.

Trick Photography and Special Effects eBook Review

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can hit a brick wall, creatively speaking. And that’s why I love this trick photography and special effects ebook. It allows me to open up my eyes and mind to new and exciting photo ideas, which I may have never thought of myself.

This is Evan Sharboneau’s Trick Photography and Special Effects ebook. It’s currently available at a reduced price, for a limited time.

This ebook helps you to create some incredibly cool images, which will not only help you to be more creative, but will impress your friends too. You can view a selection of the photos here.

It’s one of the most popular photography ebooks on the market, and that’s for a pretty good reason…

Last week I conducted a survey of all my readers. I found that 40% of you said that one of the biggest problems you face is not being creative enough. A further 24% of you said that one of your favourite niches was special creative effects.

For anyone reading this, who feels that the same is true for themselves, I suggest you watch the video below, and read on.

This is more than just a 299 page trick photography and special effects ebook. There’s also 9 hours of how-to video tutorials, and over 300 creative photographs created by some of the most talented photographic artists around the world.

Pros and Cons of the eBook

Pros:

The 60 day money back guarantee really helps, if you’re not sure about whether you should buy it or not.
You don’t need any fancy gear to take the photos, just basic cameras with a manual mode.
You don’t need an extensive knowledge of photography or exposure either, that’s all covered too.
It really starts to get your creative juices flowing.
You don’t feel like you need to copy the same ideas, because there’s plenty of inspiration to come up with your own.
The videos were very helpful, because I don’t really like reading from a screen.
Links for everything you may need, such as torches and accessories.
A ridiculous amount of photos – lots of examples.
Produces interesting photos, not flowers and sunsets.
Easy to browse.

Cons:

It’s very lengthy, and if you wanted to carry it with you, it would be heavy to carry, and expensive to print.
It sometimes goes into more detail on some subjects, such as light painting, than it needs to.
Some tricks can appear to be easier than they actually are, although a little perseverance and experience goes a long way.

Trick Photography and Special Effects ebook Contents

There are three main sections, and then inside these sections there are chapters (the bullet points below). Within these, there are further subchapters. You can jump in at any point which takes your fancy, and get started straight away.

Here’s a list of everything you can expect from the ebook and videos.

Long Exposure Effects and Light Painting (119 Pages)

Long Exposure Effects and Light Painting
Fundamental Lights and Techniques
Other (more creative) Light Sources
Light Painting Techniques
Lightning
Motion blur
Star Trails
Other fun long exposures

Trick Photography and Special Effects (92 Pages)

In-Camera Illusions
3D Stereoscopic Photography
High-Speed Photography
Bubbles
Smoke
Bokeh
Double Exposures
Birefringence
HDR Photography
Infrared Photography
360X180 Planet Panoramas
Time-Displacement Photography via Scanner

Photoshop Projects (70 Pages)

Multiplicity Photography
Levitation Photography
The Invisible Man #1
The Invisible Man #2
Flesh Manipulations
Fake Tilt-Shift Photography
The Droste Effect
The Harris Shutter Effect
Mixing Day with Night

Summary

It feels like it must have taken a very long time to complete this ebook and videos, as they’re very thorough. There are lots of tips and tricks, which I had never heard of, or thought of before. They range from using an elastic band and a wad of paper as a replacement for a shutter release cable, to using fire for light painting, and much, much more.

It really is a very extensive ebook.

If you’re looking to improve your photography, become more creative, impress your friends, and have more fun with photography, then I really don’t think you can go wrong with this trick photography and special effects ebook.

You can purchase it here. It’s reduced for a limited time, and there’s a 60 day refund period, so there’s zero risk.

Use Slow Sync Flash to Easily Produce Creative Lighting

What is Slow Sync Flash?

Slow sync flash is when you fire your flash either at the beginning or end of an exposure that’s slower than normal, for example 1/8 of a second. Anyone with experience behind a camera knows that it’s very hard to hold the camera steady enough for a sharp exposure at this sort of speed, and that’s where the flash comes in. By firing the flash, you freeze the motion and collect light trails in the remaining time, creating this rather cool effect, like in the photos below.

Why You Would Use This

The main advantage of having a longer shutter speed is that it allows you to collect more ambient light into a photo, and the flash firing helps to maintain a relatively sharp image. When you’re forced to shoot in low light conditions, but still want to maintain plenty of the ambient light detail without a high ISO, your best option is to use a slow sync flash. Below is a photo shot at 1/8 of a second with the flash firing, and below that is the same photo shot at a comfortable handheld speed of 1/50 of a second, again with the flash firing. Notice the different in background detail in the ambient light and how the movement is almost unnoticeable in the first photo with the shower shutter speed.

How To & Movement

All you need to get this to work is a camera with a flash and the ability to change the shutter speed, after that you have 2 options; 1st (front) curtain sync and 2nd (rear) curtain sync. Without going into too much unnecessary detail about this means, 1st curtain flash means that the flash is fired at the beginning of an exposure, and 2nd means that the flash is fired right before the end of the exposure. The importance of choosing the right one comes down to the fact that there is invariably going to be movement when you take a photo, and when you fire the flash dictates the type of blur you’re going to get.

1st Curtain Sync.

This is the standard way of shooting with a slow sync speed and doesn’t require any special setting up to achieve, other then adjusting your shutter speed. The flash will fire when you press down the shutter and the camera will continue to record any light for the remainder of the exposure. The main issue with shooting like this is that any movement will record the light over the top of the original exposure, dulling it and making it appear less sharp. Have a look at the photo below and you’ll notice that the light streaks come after the original exposure and over the top of any potential subjects.

2nd Curtain Sync

When you change your flash setting to fire at the end of an exposure, you exposure your subject over the top of any streaks or blurs that have taken place in the time that your shutter has been open. Any light streaks now go towards and end at your subject, helping to draw the attention to them. Most cameras are different, so look in your manual, but to set your flash to rear curtain sync on an external unit, it usually just consists of the click of 1 button.Adding movement to your camera while taking the photo produces some really cool effects like in the photos below. I moved the camera from side to side for the first photos, up and around the sky in the second one and I zoomed in during the exposure of the third one. There’s plenty of fun to be had playing around with this technique, but I recommend you have a good look around the scene first to see what available light you have and to see what would work for your photo.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

4 Steps to Understanding Shutter Speed and its Creative Uses

Why you Should Know what the Shutter Speed does to your Photos

Shutter speed is the most obvious of the 3 factors that create an exposure and has the biggest effect to your photos. With a poor knowledge of how the shutter speed will affect your photos, you’ll end up with blurred results. This post teaches you the right speed for the right situation, as well as how to use shutter speed creatively with artistic results.

Now a Video Chapter Ad 4 Steps to Understanding Shutter Speed and its Creative Uses

Section 1 – What exactly is shutter speed?

Without going into unnecessary detail as to how shutter speed works, it can be summarized as the exact amount of time that your camera records an image for. You will more often then not be taking a photo within a fraction of a second, as any longer would cause a blurred image in most situations. Shutter speed uses ‘stops’ in the same way as aperture, except it’s a lot more straightforward. Working out half of an exposure is a lot simpler with shutter speed then aperture as you just take the current speed e.g. 1/200, and halve it which, for this example, would give 1/400. All that you need to remember is that the second number has to be doubled to halve the value e.g. for 1/200, the ‘200’ is doubled to give half the value.

Section 2 – Motion blur and freezing.

Blur
Provided you’re not doing it for creative effect, you will want to choose a shutter speed fast enough to prevent motion blur in a specific situation. Motion blur is also effected heavily by the focal length of a lens. Telephoto lenses require a fast shutter speed to capture an image without blur as even the slightest movement of the camera will be magnified by the lens. A wide angle lens requires a slower shutter as the details in the image are a lot smaller.

As a rule of thumb, the average person can take a sharp, blur-free image by setting the speed to a fraction of a focal length. For example, to take a photo at 30mm, you would set the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second; any slower and motion blur is likely to occur. It’s worth noting however, that this rule is only relevant to full frame cameras. For a crop sensor, due its magnifying effect, you would be better off choosing a speed of 1/45 of a second.

There are always exceptions to the rule such as image stabilization in your lens which allows you to use a slower shutter speed. As you become more experienced with your camera you’ll gradually improve on vital skills such as holding your camera in the way that suits you best, increasing (among other things) your stability.

Here is an example of creative motion blur.

Freezing
Freezing is much less of a worry when taking photos. It occurs when a photo is taken at such a high shutter speed (1/500 and above) that the exact moment at which the photo is taken is captured, without any movement blur. I personally don’t like shooting at these speeds as the images produced tend to look flat. Instead, when shooting a fast moving object, I like to include a small amount of motion as otherwise it may as well have been sitting still. This can work, as I have demonstrated in the photo below, where the subject is moving through the air.

Section 3 – The right speed for the right situation

Fast speeds to capture a telephoto image
Because this image was taken using a telephoto lens, it’s important to have a fast shutter speed (1/500). The way I managed to avoid camera shake was to use a tripod and remote release for the camera. This means that I can let the camera sit still and not move when taking a photo.

Capturing a fast moving object in a low light situation
When doing event photography, the artist you’re shooting will likely be moving around on the stage so you have the problem of both low light and a fast shutter. This is usually counteracted by a wide aperture and a high high ISO, which is a compromise really, but it does allow you to capture the image without any unsightly blur.

Section 4 – Creative uses for different shutter speeds

Creative blur
With a remote trigger for the camera and a tripod to hold it steady, you can play around with speeds to create interesting images with the blur being the main point of interest in the photo.

Creative blur with flash
Adding a flash to a photo with blur results in the subject being frozen in the frame, meaning that you can then move the camera around to capture the light and blur for artistic effect.

Panning
Panning is where you move your camera to compliment the movements of the subject, resulting in an image where the background is blurred, but the subject is not. This shot was taken from a car moving at the same speed as the train.

Light painting
For light painting, all you need is a long exposure and a light source. This photo below was taken on a 30 second shutter, during which time I set off the strobes onto the beach huts. This fills in the light exactly where you want it and is great for shooting at night.

Light graffiti
A long exposure coupled with a moving, constant light source allows you to add ‘graffiti’ to the image.

Long exposures for low light situations
Because this photo was taken at night, I used a slow shutter speed to gain an even exposure, which can only be made possible with a tripod or somewhere flat to lay the camera.

This photo requires a long shutter, but for a different reason; I had to wait for a passing car to come into the frame and the timing can be very difficult. It took me approximately half an hour of constant readjustments to the shutter speed, position of the camera, and the point at which I took the photo before I eventually accomplished my final image.