

Imagine a curtain covering a window, opening and closing at predetermined intervals. For this reason, shutter speed adjustment is central to successfully photographing a subject or object that is in motion, whether it be an athlete on the run, a waterfall, or stars in the night sky. While each of these elements affects the amount of light that reaches your camera’s sensor, shutter speed is unique in that it also controls the degree of motion that is or is not captured in your photograph. We’ll also give you a brief refresher on the other components in that triangle: aperture and ISO. In this guide, we’ll focus on shutter speed, one of the three elements of the exposure triangle. While learning the finer points of the craft is half the fun, there’s no reason to struggle. Photographers of all skill levels wrestle with finding the right exposure balance in their work, especially when moving toward (or diving into) manual mode. It’s hard not to feel a little fed up when a shot’s not developing the way we saw it in our minds. Too dark, too light, too blurry, too frozen.
