Many photographers, including professionals, use different shutter speeds to create all sorts of artistic effects in their pictures. Everyone, even novice photographers, of course, knows that a fast shutter speed is needed so that the object in the frame does not turn out to be blurry (for example, a person depicted in a portrait shot at a slow shutter speed may get not two, but four eyes - or your hand will tremble, or the person being portrayed will move). And if you shoot a moving object at a slow shutter speed, then a characteristic trail will stretch behind this object in the resulting image.
But, in that case, why do you need a slow shutter speed at all? Does it have its own advantages? Well, of course there is! And these advantages are no less than those of short exposure.
Let's talk about these advantages and talk in more detail.
1. Long exposure in landscape
Long exposure photography of landscapes has become quite popular in recent years. Nature, photographed in this way, looks completely different in the picture than in reality, it appears in a completely different, unusual and unusual form. With the help of long exposures in the photo, it is easy to see the dynamics of the movement of water, stars in the black night sky and clouds in the blue sky during the daytime. A slow shutter speed will show us the trajectory of the raindrops and - you won't believe it - even the sun's rays! And what stunning landscapes are obtained if you shoot them at a slow shutter speed at night!
2. Long exposure portrait photography
Believe it or not, slow shutter speeds can also be used when shooting portraits. When is it possible and even necessary? First of all, long exposure portraits can be shot in low light conditions. In this case, the light flux to the matrix increases significantly and the picture becomes noticeably brighter. But this is far from the only case of using slow shutter speeds in portrait photography. With this shutter speed, you can shoot a portrait with a partially dynamic plot. For example, beautiful girl against the backdrop of a train moving in the subway. The train will be beautifully oiled, and the model herself will look great against the background of a blurry train, which the train will turn into.
And it is also good to use a slow shutter speed when shooting with the effect of multiple exposure.
3. Transmitting motion with a slow shutter speed
Most often, of course, long exposures are used to convey movement. various objects. The dynamics of the movement depends on the duration of the shutter speed used. For example, a shutter speed of 3 seconds will make the movement of an object transparent, gentle, airy, and a shutter speed of 30 seconds will change this object outwardly beyond recognition.
4. Creating various effects when applying a slow shutter speed
Long exposure photography, for example, freezelights. After all, what is the main thing for freezelighting? Of course, complete, well, or at least relatively complete darkness. During those 20-30 seconds, during which the camera shutter is open, an experienced freezelighting master can easily draw any interesting picture with light and, having finished his work, will have time to calmly exit the frame. What will he get in the end? As a result, he will receive a beautiful light pattern impressively frozen in the dark. And in freezelighting, you can use various objects and objects, for example, balloons, vases, bottles, books, trees. Even the human figure can be used. It all depends on your idea.
Also, slow shutter speeds are used in photography in a technique called "light brush".
So what is long exposure?
Not a single book, not a single reference book says exactly and definitely what a long exposure is. For some, a slow shutter speed will be 1/15 or 1/10 of a second. For someone - 1/30 ... Each photographer gives such a definition for himself, based on his own experience, camera features and much more. But, nevertheless, we can definitely say that a beautiful spill of water in your photo will turn out when shooting with a shutter speed of 1/6 second, and with a shutter speed of 45 seconds, exactly the same water will seem like a sandy breeze to the viewer looking at your picture.
How to shoot at long exposure?
The first thing to say is that at slow shutter speeds you need to shoot exclusively from a tripod, and use a cable to release the shutter. This is necessary in order to prevent camera shake (after all, it is camera shake that leads to image blur!).
Secondly, in order to make the expressive effect of motion more beautiful in a photograph, some scenes need to be shot at a very slow shutter speed and at a low ISO value (for example, 100 or 200 ISO). In extreme cases, if the subject is not drawn well enough in the frame, the sensitivity can be slightly increased - up to 400 ISO units.
Well, and the third. To make the effect even stronger and more noticeable, you can use filters when shooting at slow shutter speeds. For example, neutral.
Long exposure photography is a technique that allows you to achieve an amazing effect in the frame. Beginning photographers often neglect this technique, watching the aperture and preferring a fast shutter speed, which is responsible for the sharpness of the image. Landscapes, portraits, water compositions, night shooting- all this can be effectively captured in a photograph with a long exposure.
In this article, we will introduce you to professional techniques with which you can create various lighting and dynamic effects, reflect the glare of a night city in motion, experiment with waves and sunsets. First, let's look at the main types of shutter speeds that are used in photography.
5 speeds for long and short exposure photography
We stop the dynamics at a shutter speed of 1/250 s.
These shutter speeds are used by professionals to shoot a fast moving subject. The reception is in demand by sports correspondents, whose task is to stop the moment, capture a motorcycle racer, cyclist, skier in the frame. A fast shutter speed allows you to take a clear picture, achieve perfect sharpness. But this method has one drawback - the frame is flat, static, and the task of the photographer is to portray the athlete in motion, to give the picture dynamics. Enliven the composition of the side tilt of the camera or the use of wiring.
3 rules of short exposure:
Rapid movement that develops high speed, (auto racing, running animal) - shoot at 1/1000 s.
Athletes, athletes, skiers, cyclists - 1/500 s.
Waves, waterfalls, tides, headlights, floating clouds - 1/250 s.
When choosing the right settings for your photography, you need to take into account the complex dynamics in the frame. If we are talking about a running girl, take into account not only the movement of the body, but also the hair developing in the wind. To keep all the details of the frame clear, focus on the fastest moving element.
When hunting for a clear frame, consider the maximum and minimum speed of the subject. The shutter should drop at the peak point - the moment at which there is a second stop and then the movement begins to decline. We give an example. When shooting a motorcyclist racing off-road, the spectacular shot will be him taking off on one of the hills of the track. How to stop this movement - visually calculate the trajectory and be ready for the right moment. Use a shutter speed of 1/1000 s and burst mode. Several frames per second, following one after another, will guarantee to catch the breathtaking takeoff of a sports bike.
Shooting with panning from 1/15 to 1/250 s.
This technique allows you to track the dynamics, fix the movement of an object at different time intervals. The method allows you to combine static and swiftness in the frame, enliven the photo, bring it closer to the real perception of the image. When you drive a car and look at a bug sitting on the glass, what do you see and how? The insect is clear, while the trees and the track are blurry. How to achieve the same effect in the photo - apply wiring.
3 shutter speed settings for different speeds:
- 1/125 - this indicator is used when shooting with the wiring of cars, motorcycles, fast running animals;
1/60 - a moving object located close to the lens (cyclist, runner, hockey player, etc.);
1/30 - a person or animal performing some action, the flight of a bird.
Shooting at a slow shutter speed from 1/15 to 1 s.
This method is also called creative blur, with the help of which a long exposure photo turns out as if with a drawing, creative, spectacular, and sometimes amazing. And only the photographer knows that this amazing shot was born without photoshop and overlay, but with the help of simple secrets of long exposure photography.
The most rewarding time for such experiments is an hour before sunset, when the lighting allows you to create the most beautiful shots, reflect glare on the water, contrasting clouds in the sky, and a fiery horizon.
Night is the perfect time for long-exposure photography of urban landscapes: bridges, streets with luminous shop windows, roads with hurrying cars, a starry sky that lends itself to photo experiments.
To help beginners, we introduce the parameters of successful photos with a long exposure:
If you want to beautifully capture the movement of water in a waterfall, use a value of ⅛ s.
Waves caressing the shore, a starry sky, children's attractions - a shutter speed of ¼ s will be enough.
Don't be afraid to experiment with long exposures on your camera. Try different settings, combine them with other shooting methods. Photography requires creativity, non-standard vision of the composition.
Long exposure photo with values from 1 to 30 s.
Here we are talking about artistic photographs, which depict urban landscapes of the city at night, with the lights of lanterns, shop windows, car headlights. Everything that moved behind the scenes in the picture acquires a calm and beautiful static. The lights are obtained with a unique glow that leaves an expressive reflection on the water. If you want to achieve a similar effect, you can’t do without a tripod. The key task of the photographer is to provide the camera with a stable position. Wind, road vibrations and other possible interference should not affect the birth of a long exposure photo.
Professional life hack: to make the tripod stable, weight it with a backpack with photographic equipment.
- In windy weather, shoot with a value of 30 s.
Calm sea - 15 s.
Clouds floating in the sky - 8 s.
Want to capture waves while maintaining partial sharpness - 1 s.
- Consider shooting time. The ideal option is to choose hours in which the lighting does not change. Otherwise, you will have to adjust the aperture or keep the shutter alert, catching the right speed.
Very long shutter speed of 30 s.
These values are used by professionals when shooting the night sky - when the photographer wants to create an imitation of starfall or sparkling compositions from a kaleidoscope of lights. Exposure in this case can be from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, depending on the complexity of the task, weather and lighting conditions.
Long exposure in a photo with different scenes
One of the advantages of this method is the ability to create interesting effects, to make the real fabulous, expressive, bright, to emphasize what is inaccessible to human vision. Consider the most popular genres and scenes that are ideal for long exposure on the camera.
landscapes
For picturesque landscapes, photographers use various characteristics - from 30 seconds to 5.7, and sometimes 10 minutes. It all depends on what the master wants to achieve. Water and mountain compositions are especially effective:
- The fog over the river at dawn becomes magical, in a luminous haze. Water also acquires a special shimmer;
The seething mountain river turns into a water stream with soft overflows;
The raging sea with waves looks in the photo with a completely different mood: the sharp scallops are slightly blurred, the accents from the spray are smoothed out and moved to a new textured feature of the movement of water - it seems to freeze and looks artistically unique in its statics;
Clouds in the blue sky, framed at a slow shutter speed, become like a royal caravan towering above the ground.
- If you want the result to meet your expectations, take into account the peculiarities of lighting, do not forget to follow the aperture and be sure to use a tripod!
portraits
The classic photo portrait is captured clearly: the background, the subject, the details - everything is in sharpness. But this is not the only way to express the individuality of the model. Long exposure in this case becomes the right way to make the frame unique, to make it special. Let's move away from the standards, consider the options for a creative portrait:
- The girl in the subway. It is enough to catch the desired composition and set the shutter speed, which allows you to shoot the face in sharpness, and the train in the background - blurry, in motion. The frame will turn out lively and expressive.
Man in the bustle of the city. Modern people accustomed to city noise, but sometimes there comes a moment of fatigue when you want to stop time and relax. An urban, topical portrait - the face of a resident of a metropolis against the backdrop of skyscrapers, cars, people. The person is in focus, the background is in blurry movement, which the hero does not want to capture.
- Bright, contrasting portrait- a girl or a child against a blue sky with fast moving clouds. The sun, sunflowers or golden ears of wheat are the perfect background for this composition, which will accurately reflect the mood and give the frame extra juiciness.
Children on the rides. These photos will be especially emotional and expressive. Choose a carousel with an average speed - so that you can catch the right moment and comply with the parameters of the required shutter speed.
Carnival. Extravaganza on the streets: a costume procession, musicians in bright outfits, dancers in magnificent dresses, life-size puppets. Fun, emotions, noise. But the center of the plot holds a completely different mood - a sad, tired clown who wants to turn into a quiet street, take off his makeup and enjoy the tranquility.
Scenes with motion
What is long exposure in modern photography - the ability to combine static and movement in one plot. This technique is especially relevant for shooting places with crowds of people and their various activities. You can use in your work the successful ideas of talented artists presented at international photo exhibitions:
- Station building. High vaults, pompous interior, lots of light. People are waiting for their route, studying the information board, just drinking coffee, and someone at the same moment is late for the train, in a hurry - dilutes the static composition with its dynamics.
One day in the city. Noisy big street. Cars drive in several rows along the road, people walk along the sidewalks, on the open terrace of the cafe, a man and a woman eat ice cream and talk sweetly. The axis of the composition is a boy with a bright hot air balloon. It seems to break out of the surrounding chaos, focuses attention on itself. The movement around is semi-blurry (at a shutter speed of 3 s), the face is in focus.
Beach party. Summer, sand, warm night and a cheerful company of friends. The background is bright and dynamic. In the center of the composition - he and she, opposite each other, look into the eyes. They want silence and surf. Blurred background lights with a soft glow give a romantic mood to the frame.
Think about what moment you would like to freeze, who should be the hero of your ideal shot, and try to do it at a slow shutter speed.
- Consider the speed of your subject. Rapid dynamics will be too blurry.
Choose the right exposure settings. When photographing a walking person at a value of 3 seconds, the result will be a semi-blurred silhouette. By increasing the shutter speed to 10 seconds, the object will be changed beyond recognition.
When shooting at high magnifications (5 to 10 minutes), use a tripod. The slightest vibration can spoil the frame.
Do not forget about the ISO parameters - with its help you can adjust the sharpness.
Choose a time of day with soft lighting. Avoid bright direct sunlight. The ideal time is two hours before sunset. If you shoot at the edge of twilight, watch your aperture.Shoot not only landscapes, but also people. These shots acquire a special character and emotions.
If you want the frame to be creative, artistically distorting reality, use light filters. Photos can be given different color temperatures and shades: warm and cold, in pastels and contrast.
The photographer's mission is to express the world, seen with one's own eyes through the lens, to give the moment frozen in the frame an idea, a uniqueness. Feel free to experiment - this is one of the driving forces photography.
Shutter speed is the most understandable and obvious of the three factors that affect exposure and is capable of creating the most noticeable effects. If you don't know what shutter speed is, you may end up with blurry or smeared photos. This lesson will teach you how to choose the right shutter speed for different situations, as well as how to use it to create creative effects.
Step 1 - What is exposure in photography?
Without going into unnecessary detail about how the shutter works, shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter opens. If you use a shutter speed slower than the specified one, you will get blurry pictures in most cases. Shutter speed controls exposure stops just like aperture, only much simpler. since the dependence in this case is directly proportional. For example, to reduce the exposure by half, you need to cut the shutter speed in half, say from 1/200 to 1/400 of a second.
Step 2 - Motion Blur and Freeze.
Assuming you're not taking blurry photos for creative effect, you'll need to choose a fast enough shutter speed (fast shutter speed) to prevent blurring. Blurring also depends on the focal length of the lens. A telephoto lens requires a faster shutter speed because even the slightest camera movement will be amplified by the lens. A wide-angle lens can work with slower shutter speeds.
As a rule, the average person can take a sharp, blur-free picture if you set the shutter speed to the reciprocal of the focal length. For example, to take a picture at a focal length of 30 mm, you need to set the shutter speed to no longer than 1/30 sec. If it is longer. then the probability of getting a blurry or smeared image will increase significantly. However, it is worth noting that this applies to a full-frame camera. if the camera sensor is smaller, then the shutter speed should be shortened by the crop factor. For example, for a crop factor of 1.5, the shutter speed will be 1/45 s.
There are exceptions to the rule, for example, if the lens has an image stabilization system that allows you to use much slower shutter speeds. As you learn how to handle your camera, you will gradually improve your skills, such as the ability to properly hold the camera in different situations, you can take sharp pictures at slower shutter speeds.
Here is an example of creative motion blur
Freezing
Freezing is much easier to do when shooting. This happens when shooting at very fast shutter speeds (1/500 sec or faster). Such a shutter speed freezes any movement, and the photo is clear, without the slightest blur. Personally, I don't like shooting at such fast shutter speeds, as the photo will come out flat. Instead, when shooting fast-moving subjects, I try to include some movement, otherwise the subject looks unnaturally frozen in place. This is shown in the bottom picture, the object seems to be hovering in the air.
Step 3 - Proper Exposure for Different Situations
Fast shutter speed for telephoto
Since the photo below was taken with a telephoto lens, it was important to use a fast shutter speed (1/500). If you had a tripod, you could use any shutter speed and cable release to prevent camera shake. A tripod allows you to keep the camera still.
Shooting moving subjects in low light conditions.
When you are filming a subject in low light, such as a concert, the performers are more likely to be moving around the stage. In this case, there is a contradiction between using a fast shutter speed and low light. In this case, you need to use the most open aperture and high ISO, which allows you to shoot without moving.
Step 4. Creative use of shutter speed
Creative blur.
With a remote shutter release and a tripod to hold the camera still, you can play with the shutter speed and create interesting blurry, out-of-the-box photos.
Adding a flash to a photo with a blur lets you freeze some subjects, which means you can move the camera around for an artistic effect.
Pan
Panning is a technique where you move the camera following a moving object, resulting in a blurred background and a sharp object. This picture was taken from a moving car that was traveling at the same speed as the train.
painting with light
To paint with light, you need a slow shutter speed and a light source. This photo was taken at a shutter speed of 30 seconds, during which I moved and shone a flash on the beach houses. This method is excellent for shooting at night and allows you to add light there. where do you want to go.
A slow shutter speed, combined with the movement of a small constant light source, allows you to add a graffiti effect to the image.
Because this photo was taken at night, I used a slow shutter speed and a tripod to get a decent exposure. You can also place the camera on a flat, fixed surface.
This photo required a long exposure, but for a different reason. I had to wait for a passing car to get into the frame, it took a sufficient amount of time. It took me about half an hour to find the best camera position and shooting angle before I got the final image.
Excerpt- the time during which it remains open and transmits light for exposure of a photosensitive film or a matrix of a digital camera.
Like and , is one of the two main ways of influencing how much light reaches the camera sensor (), unlike . But in addition to the exposure value, the exposure value used depends on how the depicted object will look in the picture (Fig. 1).
Rice. 1 - Influence of shutter speed on the depicted object
With the same aperture value, a shutter speed of 1/125 s is twice as long as a shutter speed of 1/250 s. Thus, twice as much light will fall on the matrix, i.e. exposure at a shutter speed of 1/125 s is one stop more than at a shutter speed of 1/250 s.
Values taken by the shutter speed of the camera
On the full-scale shutter speed scale, each step means halving or halving the amount of light: 30s, 15s, 8s, 4s, 2s, 1s, 1/2s, 1/4s, 1/8s, 1/ 15s, 1/30s, 1/60s, 1/125s, 1/250s, 1/500s, 1/1000s, 1/2000s, 1/4000s, 1/8000s.
This scale does not apply to all cameras. Some may be more limited, others will use intermediate values of a third (1/3) or half (1/2) of the main step (1/30 - 1/40 - 1/50 - 1/60).
Shutter speeds of 1/500 s or faster are commonly referred to as " fast”, shutter speeds of 1/15 s and longer - “ slow”, shutter speeds shorter than 1/1000 - "super short".
Shutter speed display on the camera
On the display of most cameras, shutter speeds in fractions of a second, such as 1/500, are abbreviated and simply written "500". Therefore, confusion may arise, it may seem that the value "1000" indicates a shutter speed twice as long, although in reality it is half as long. When using shutter speeds in seconds, an additional sign appears near the value - 30ʺ. You need to get used to this and be careful not to confuse 1/4 with and 4".
Features of choosing the right shutter speed
When shooting handheld in low light conditions, it is necessary to limit the movement of the subject and the camera itself during exposure, as a photographic defect occurs - shaker (lubrication, shaking, pulling) (Fig. 2). To avoid such a defect, it is necessary to ensure that the denominator of the shutter speed in seconds is not less than the focal length of the lens in millimeters. For example, when shooting handheld with a 50 mm lens, you should set the shutter speed to no more than 1/50 s. When shooting with a 200 mm telephoto lens, 1/200 s.
Rice. 2 - Shake example photographic shutter
The shutter speed is controlled by the shutter of the camera.
Modern digital cameras use electronic and focal shutters.
electronic shutter
The electronic shutter is understood not as a separate mechanism, but as the principle of exposure dosing by a digital matrix. The shutter speed is determined by the time between zeroing the matrix and the moment the information is read from it. This principle allows you to achieve faster shutter speeds (including flash sync speeds) without the use of expensive high-speed mechanical shutters. This principle is also used in compact digital cameras.
Rice. 3 - Camera shutter. 1 - shutter frame; 2 - First curtain; 3 - Second curtain; 4 - Frame window; 5 - Mechanism for moving curtains. The most common shutter is the focal shutter (Fig. 3). The shutter speed is controlled by the time that elapses between the opening and closing of the first and second curtains 2, 3. When the shutter is released, the first curtain 2 is moved by the mechanism 5, opening the way for the light flux. At the end of a given shutter speed, the light flux is blocked by the second curtain 3. At short shutter speeds, the second shutter starts moving before the first one completely opens the frame window 4. The gap formed between the curtains runs across the frame window, successively illuminating it. The duration of exposure is determined by the width of the gap. The principle of the focal plane shutter is shown in animation 4.
Rice. 4 - Influence of the shutter on the exposure time Conclusion
Since shutter speed is one of the most important exposure parameters, it is necessary to correctly determine and control it in each specific situation. In modern digital cameras, shutter speed can be determined automatically, through the lens (TTL metering) or manually, based on metering values.
by Thomas Larsen
Many photographers, especially beginners, neglect the possibilities offered by exposure control. Most often, the aperture is set, and the shutter speed is used only for compensation in order to obtain a normal exposure. In this little photography tutorial, we'll look at how you can use shutter speed to be creative and some of the mistakes photographers make when choosing shutter speeds.
You should always know what you are shooting, why you are doing it and what result you can expect.
Five classic camera shutter speeds
1. Freeze motion, or shoot 1/250s or faster
Using a fast shutter speed helps to get a fairly balanced shot, but makes the picture too static. Any movement in the frame will be frozen. You can fix this by trying to slightly tilt the camera to get a more dynamic photo composition. But the best option- use the technique of shooting with wiring, which we will write about later.
The faster the subject is moving, the faster the shutter speed should be. For example:
- fast moving cars or animals: 1/1000 s;
- mountain bikes or running people: 1/500s;
- waves: 1/250 s.
It should be remembered that individual parts of the object can move very quickly. A striking example of this is a helicopter. The fuselage itself can be frozen at shutter speeds and 1/250, but even 1/2000 may not be enough for the blades. Or, for example, when photographing a girl waving her hair to freeze the ends of her hair, it is also necessary to use shutter speeds of the order of 1/1000 or even less, while the model itself is moving relatively slowly.
How to solve the problem of "lubrication"?
You can take a lot of shots, but knowing the laws of physics and the features of recording frames on a memory card, they do it differently. First, about physics: if you throw the ball up, then when will it have the highest speed, and at what point is it the smallest? That's right - the largest when the ball just comes off the hand, and the smallest at the point where it stops to fly down, i.e. at the peak of its movement along an up-down flight path.
When shooting competitions, where, say, motorcyclists take off on a springboard, the most interesting point is the peak, which is also the "slowest" in terms of movement. Shooting as many frames as possible is not the best approach for solving the problem. At some point, the camera will simply stop to record everything on a USB flash drive, and in sports competitions, such a delay is fraught with the loss of the best frame.
Instead, use a series of 2-3 frames, but while the main subject is at the peak of his movement. This approach gives the photographer the best chance of getting the best images by allowing the camera enough time to record the frame onto the memory card without being blocked.
2. Shooting with wiring
When shooting with panning, when the movement of an object is tracked using the camera, the shutter speed plays very important role. It must be in the range from 1/15 to 1/250 s.
If you have a lot of time, then you can do calculations - what shutter speed is needed to shoot cars moving in a certain area, but in reality everything is a little simpler. If everything in the frame is too blurry, then you need to make the shutter speed shorter.
If the frame has frozen the movement of the car, then an increase in exposure time is required. And do not forget that 1/125 is a longer period of time than 1/250
For example, some of the quantities most commonly used by photographers are:
- fast moving cars, motorcycles or birds: 1/125 s;
- mountain bikes close to camera: 1/60s;
- mountain bikes, moving animals or human work: 1/30 s.
by Jamey Price 1/60
3. How to use long exposure
It is also called creative blur - 1/15 s to 1 s.
Here it is necessary to make a small technical digression and recall what a camera is. This is an image capture tool that allows you to imitate the human eye, the human gaze, to some extent. But having created this tool, a person began to receive unusual effects that are difficult to see in life. Our vision conditionally "does 25 frames" per second in normal lighting, and we are used to seeing the world as we see it. But the camera, due to the fact that it is different, can show us the world differently.
In particular, make a frame overlay () or, with a slightly longer shutter speed, show the blur of moving objects, turning them into a line.
A similar effect can be observed with the eyes, if in complete darkness you quickly turn a flashlight. A dark-adapted eye will perceive a moving spotlight as a line.
A slow shutter speed is used to take pictures of a waterfall, for example. Specialists in this case, of course, use manual settings and , but you can simply set the shutter priority mode (Tv) on the camera.
by Roland Maria, 3"
We offer some shutter speeds for motion blur:
- rapid flow of the waterfall: 1/8 s;
- people walking near the shooting point; waves; slow water movement: 1/4 s.
In bright conditions (on a sunny day), it may be difficult to obtain the required shutter speed (below 1/8 s), even by changing the aperture or at low ISO values. To reduce the amount of light, a Neutral Density (ND) filter is used, which is exactly what it is designed for. In ours, you can find variable density ND filters that can reduce the amount of light passing through the lens to almost zero and can even turn a sunny day into night. Well, of course, when using slow shutter speeds, the use of or becomes mandatory.
4. Photo with shutter speed from 1 s to 30 s
There are processes that take a long time, and shutter speeds up to 1 second are no longer enough. These processes differ not only in time, they differ in perception. At shutter speeds from 1 to 30 seconds, all processes that proceed quickly are erased in the frame, only static remains ... soft static. It feels like the world is frozen. Movement disappears again. Only if at shutter speeds of 1/1000 the movement disappears, but a person sees an object that could move, then at a 30 second shutter speed they do not remain.
This effect can only be obtained when using a tripod. At the same time, it can no longer be light, marching, but a stable and heavy model is needed, since even a small wind will affect the image acquisition. Photographers often use a simple trick - they hang an additional load on a tripod, and most often this load in field conditions is a working photographic backpack. On most tripods, you can see a hook on the bottom for hanging the load and, accordingly, giving it more stability. Additionally, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with some other working techniques -.
Excerpts that photographers use to create these photos:
- wind stirring in the foliage of trees: 30 s;
- smooth movement of the sea surface: 15 s;
- fast moving clouds: 8 s;
- waves with some details preserved: 1 s.
If you're planning to shoot before sunrise or after sunset, be prepared for the light to change very quickly, so you'll need to change your aperture (or use a faster or slower shutter speed).
5. Shooting at night - shutter speed over 30 s
Shooting at night assumes that there is very little light. Accordingly, many photographers will want to increase the value, which most often leads to an increase in noise, when individual pixels begin to appear much brighter than the rest.
If you leave the ISO as low as possible and just set a slow shutter speed, this will lead to some reduction in image noise.
Most often, astrophotographers face similar problems - that is, people photographing the starry sky. In addition, with long exposures, due to the rotation of the Earth, an effect arises when the stars line up in a round dance.
In order to avoid this, special equatorial mounts (tripods for telescopes) are used, which allow compensating for the movement of the Earth.
For example, to capture the night sky, you might need next time excerpts:
- individual stars or full moon landscapes: 2 minutes;
- star tracks: 10 min.
Global debugging
Hand shake
In addition to the fact that the selected shutter speed should depend on the speed of the object and the amount of light, we remind you that shutter speed is also affected by such a phenomenon as blurring from natural hand trembling. The longer focal length the lens, the faster the shutter speed should be. You can roughly calculate as follows - the focal length in mm corresponds to the shutter speed in fractions of a second. That is, with a 50 mm lens you can shoot handheld at a shutter speed of at least 1/50 sec without fear of blurring (unless, of course, you are dancing at this time or riding a sightseeing bus), and for 200 mm it will already take 1/200 second.
Even a simple monopod allows you to increase shutter speed by 1-2 times. The photographer has the opportunity to shoot with longer shutter speeds. A good tripod allows you to take pictures at any shutter speed.
The exposure time is a quality indicator even at. According to the observations of professional portrait painters, at a shutter speed of 1/50, the portraits are "live". Longer shutter speeds show blur, while shorter shutter speeds make portraits look too frozen.
The inability to properly use the shutter speed of the camera will lead the novice photographer to stagnation in creative development. No need to be afraid to master the initially difficult to perceive. Ask questions, together we will look for answers from advanced and professional photographers.
