Exercise: Shutter Speeds

f/45 1sec ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/45 1sec ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/25 1/8" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/16 1/15" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/16 1/15" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/16 1/15" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/11 1/30" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/8 1/60" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens 

f/5,3 1/125" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

f/5,3 1/250" ISO 200

270 mm focal length

Nikon d90 and Nikkor 70.0-300.0 f/4,0-5,6 lens

I’ve chosen the street in front of my appartment. So I’ve chosen the telephoto lens and have taken those pictures from my balcony. It’s a rainy day and they are taken in the afternoon. I’ve chosen that street because several vehicles go past there, as well as pedestrians and I want to practice about the different kind of movements. 

First, I’ve chosen 1 second shutter speed because I now it’s a slow exposure. As shown in the first and second pictures, which are a little bit overexposed, moving elements are blurry and the sensation of movement is very high. Furthermore, in the first picture only a ghost of the passing car can be seen, which is hardly noticeable.

Then I’ve set the shutter speed at 1/8” and still the sensation of movement is very high. The next three pictures are taken with a 1/15” shutter speed. Vehicles cause still a great sensation of movement but this sensation is decreasing with people, because they move slower.

I continued taking pictures and setting a faster shutter speed as 1/30”. Here the sensation of movement remains on the car but people’s movement is frozen. I’ve continued changing the shutter speed to faster values such as 1/60” and 1/125” and the sensation of movement is decreasing in each one, until the 1/250”, in which the movement is frozen.

As I could see here, I need a slower shutter speed to freeze peple's movement because they move slower. The speed of the subject and their distance to the camera lens are important when you choose a shutter speed. If you want to give a picture a sensation of speed you should choose a lower shutter speed, but if you want to make the picture more static and freeze movement, then you should choose a higher shutter speed.