Day 3 | Shutter Speeds: Shooting fast vs shooting slow

Day 3 | Shutter Speeds: Shooting fast vs shooting slow

• Put your camera in manual mode. Lock in the same ISO and aperture – keeping them the same.
• Find a subject, take several photos, changing the speed 1 click on the dial each shot; watch what happens to your photos as you change shutter speed.
• Pay attention to how shutter speed can effect the amount of light in your photo.
• Pay attention to how shutter speed can show or freeze motion.

I started today's assignment whilst my eldest boy was at preschool and my younger one asleep - because we all know kids have limited patience with Mummy fiddling with the camera and asking them to sit still. So the first shots I took are very boring pics of the homemade tomato relish my husband and I cooked up last night. 


The relevant specs for these first photos I took to examine shutter speed a little more closely:

Camera: Nikon D80

Lens: AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-80 f/3.3-5.6

ISO: 640

Aperture: f/5.3

Shutter Speeds: 1/60   1/80   1/100   1/125   1/160   1/200

Shutter Speeds: 1/60   1/80   1/100   1/125   1/160

Late this afternoon, I took some shots of the boys playing around in the backyard. They were somewhat reluctant subjects today and so I had to put on some music and get them dancing to convince them to let me take their photo repeatedly. The problem with this of course was they wouldn't stand still causing some blurry-movement with the lower shutter speeds - but I kind of like that this captures the "dance" my son was doing to "We are the Dinosaurs!"


The camera and lens were the same as for the above photos, but the ISO and aperture were a little different:

ISO: 1000

Aperture: f/4

Shutter Speeds: 1/160   1/200   1/250   1/320   1/400   1/500

The best tip from today's lesson:

"If you want children to be sharp, shoot faster than 1/125th second. Children have a hard time sitting still."

This explains a lot of the problems I have had with taking pics of my kids. I have a decent understanding of how shutter speed affects the light composition of my photos, so if I am shooting in Manual mode, it has been my go-to variable to alter when I needed to lighten or darken my photos. But that has come at a cost - often blurry photos if my kids are moving and the light is low. I'm hoping that now that I am understanding ISO and aperture a little more (thanks to reading my manual) I hope can avoid some of that unintentional blur I seem to have mastered. Though sometimes the blur is exactly what you are after.


What unintentional effect have you noticed in your photos which isn't altogether bad - even if it was by accident?