If you have struggled to understand shutter speed and how it works, I have the BEST hack for you today! If you’ve practiced photography at all, you know how tricky is to try and manually input settings when you’re in the middle of photographing. It is SO frustrating to work on a photo and then be left with something that is blurry! If you see smears of motion when you look at your photos, today’s trick is for you. I want to teach you how to use one of the hybrid modes on your camera, the shutter priority mode.
What is shutter priority mode?
Shutter priority mode is set by turning your mode dial (usually on the top of your camera) to the Tv (Canon) or S (Nikon, Sony). It is basically a hybrid mode between auto and manual. This allows you to input what shutter speed you would like your camera to use, but allow your camera figure out the aperture setting required to create a properly exposed image. This is great if you don’t have a full-grasp on using manual mode, but know you want the effect created by a fast or slow shutter speed for your image. You also have to input the ISO value you would like, or select AUTO ISO to give the camera more control. But essentially you get to cancel your worrying about aperture, and focus in on what shutter speed will do!
Okay so how is this helpful? Well, all you have to do is set a shutter speed, and let your camera do the rest. So now you can take a photo, then look at your images and start to understand the relationship between what speed you use, and what creative effect it has on your image. If you don’t know what shutter speed does, keep reading!
What does the shutter speed do?
The shutter speed controls how long light can enter the lens and be recorded by your sensor. You enter this value in seconds and split-seconds. (Think 1/200, 1/1000, etc.)
What creative effect does it have on your image?
The shutter speed you enter controls the movement captured in an image. A fast shutter is like your camera blinking really fast. When you blink fast, you can only see a quick snapshot, right? When you stare with eyes wide open, you take in a lot more information and movement. Same for your shutter. A fast shutter speed means motion will be captured frozen in time. A slow one means motion will appear as a blur. To learn the three major causes and corrections to blur in your image, click here.
What to learn MORE than shutter priority mode?
If this has your curiosity peaked and you want to learn more, consider checking out our online photography courses or if you just need some quick help, grab our manual mode cheat sheets here!