What Is Shutter Speed? - Beginner Friendly Tutorial

[@k9aerial567]

I almost didn’t watch this series of videos based on a wrong first impression! This is not a teenager trying to “sound like” an expert. This is a deceptively young looking man who IS very knowledgeable and articulate! I am watching all of his videos and learning and relearning a ton of very useable information. Great stuff!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, K9! It is one of those odd things that I hope doesn't turn away too many viewers. I'm 22 but look younger, and even 22 is quite young to be doing high-level tutorials on KZbin. (This one is a comparably simple concept, of course, but I have much more complex ones in the works.) Anyway, I can't change the things I can't change, so I appreciate it when photographers like you look past the surface!

[@lindaschuett4486]

I like how you explain processes etc., great job.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Linda! Glad you liked it.

[@kendallbrannon1070]

Thank you! This was extremely helpful for a beginner. I've been starting to take pictures at my church, which is a low light auditorium. It's difficult to balance wanting to use a slower shutter speed to let in light to expose the room and the subjects, but then to also use a faster shutter speed to avoid blur...I'm looking forward to learning the other settings that you mentioned will help with this!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Happy you found it useful, Kendall! That's going to be the tricky part; there's one "ideal" shutter speed - the longest one you can use which has zero motion blur - but finding it is hit-and-miss at best. Practice is the best solution, of course, but reviewing your pictures occasionally while on assignment is helpful as well. Good luck with it.

[@johnelder150]

Church is tricky. Often a flash is unwelcome (or not powerful enough) and a tripod will be in the way. Sometimes you play with raising ISO (increasing noise) or underexposing a bit (not ideal). Sometimes getting the blur of a choirmaster's or preacher's hands with a longer exposure on a tripod works nicely. The question is, are you aiming for photojournalistic pictures or are you able to take some artistic latitude? If you're going for the photojournalist look, remember that they have expensive cameras ($2,000+) and expensive lenses (the sky seems to be the limit) that let in much more light.

[@dennisk.7149]

I am completely new into photography and videography and I've seen your videos about shutter speed, iso and aperture. Your explanations are simple yet incredibly informative so a newbie as myself can easily follow and understand. Thank you so much for your content!

[@adams.555]

Good lesson on shutter speed . One of the best I’ve seen so far on YT

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you thought so, Adam, much appreciated!

[@wimalranaweeratunga850]

This is, by far, the best video I came across to learn about the 'shutter speed'. The speed, examples, some captions used to emphasize certain points, logical explanations and the voice all come together to make a great end product which is this video. Thank You. I am gonna start watching your other vids.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s awesome! Glad it could be so useful. Welcome to the channel.

[@wimalranaweeratunga850]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel please do more videos.

[@tshuvahavodah237]

You are a great educator speaking at the right speed for us beginners.

[@lizvargas8971]

Excellent way of explaining your point. Excellent voice and easy to understand in plain English. Thank you:)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@KevinQGray]

You have the best camera lessons on KZbin. Nicely done.

[@aimevarkerti5879]

Excellent video - love that you used examples. I am a total visual learner and appreciated that component to your video. :)

[@payumo777]

Hi there.. Thank you I am new to photography but the way you explained it is very clear and easy to understand for beginner like me.. Thank you

[@MrSunnyBhoy]

Great video and well explained and presented as I'm new to photography and this will help me a lot

[@catherinetremerryn]

Thank you for coming back so quickly. Things have suddenly started to click together and due to yr videos and response. I am not having to do so much processing with light and am getting the detail. Have a lovely weekend, C

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You are quite welcome! Glad the video and my earlier response were helpful. Good luck!

[@daquiksta]

Great video. Really well explained, always good to refresh even for hobbyist photographers. Thanks! Greetings from France 🇫🇷

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

I'm happy you enjoyed it! Agreed, even the fundamentals are worth revisiting from time to time. Shutter speed especially, because it affects so much about a photo.

[@hsuanlee6577]

This has helped me a lot!! Thanks for such clear explanation!!!

[@sageakporherhe783]

Came here from your blog. The videos are more my style and your explanations are very easy to understand. Thanks.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sage, awesome! Glad to hear you found it useful, thanks for the feedback.

[@sageakporherhe783]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel definitely

[@Matt-lc6bs]

Finally understood shutter speed, answering the 4 questions at 08:25 was especially helpful. Thank you!

[@chihlo8770]

Really good! I wonder when Spencer will post new tutorial video again?

[@RyanArchibaldSmith]

Great video! I'm basically on Day 1 with my new camera and was able to follow along pretty easily with this video. I especially liked the examples you used. They were pretty easy to recreate myself for some easy hands on learning.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

That’s awesome, congrats on your new camera! You’re starting in the right place - shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are by far the three most important camera settings.

[@kukrejasanjay]

Good video !! .. as I said in my comment to your last video I look forward to the series and I also want to suggest some topics to be covered as I feel these can be explained more lucidly in a video format rather than an article.. hopefully you will consider my suggestions. 1. Use of back button focus. - there are very few videos that explain this topic properly and even those that are they don't really go into detail regarding how you can use this in different situations. 2. Use of AE-L/AF-L button (other than using it for assigning back button focus) - again there is an article on this on the Photography Life website, but I think a video on this would be hugely helpful. 3. Metering modes - how we can use different modes for different photography types eg. Metering to be used for portraits, landscape and street photography. 4. Whether we should click using viewfinder or live view screen and how different are those 2 modes from each other and whether for any particular type of photography should one method be preferred over the other. These are some of the topics.. of course I would like to know more in detail about these topics and to that extent maybe I am being selfish in suggesting these.. but I believe many other would also be benefited from these. 😃😃 Pls do let me know your thoughts also about the above. I look forward to your reply. Thanks. 👍👍

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you liked the video, Sanjay. Actually some of the topics you mention are already in our future plans. The only one I probably won't do is #4 - the difference between viewfinder and live view is just too much about personal preferences. On a DSLR, the viewfinder autofocus is faster and better at tracking, but if you're shooting something stationary like landscapes, it's really down to which one you're more comfortable using. I prefer live view most of the time myself. Thanks for the ideas and I'll take them into account!

[@kukrejasanjay]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel thank you so much for your reply..glad you liked the suggestions, look forward to future videos

[@karen9517]

Your explanation was simple and to the point. Excellent! Thank you!

[@josernben]

OMG! I had to watch 4 different videos and none of them explained it the way I would understand it but this one. I needed a video that would explain how shutter speeds work like I'm a 5 year old and I found it! Thanks for making it simple and not intimidating.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Thanks for the kind feedback. Very glad this helped you get the hang of shutter speed.

[@SoloBikeTrips]

Your Tutorial is nice and clear.

[@hanahtan8553]

I just bought my camera and want to create some video and take more photos. This the most perfect and the best video I've ever seen with best helpful explanation about shutter speed. Thank you so much, I'm writing down lots of notes today :D The job is beautiful :x

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Brilliant! Glad you found it so helpful. Much appreciated.

[@oneonlynono]

Outstanding explanations 👏 👏 👏 thank you for that Video 📹 😀 helps heaps

[@tranduy8553]

Your pace of explaining is perfect

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you thought so! Thanks.

[@alexandruginj3392]

One of the best explanations I ever seen ! Well done !

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Very happy it could be so helpful!

[@Obrubko]

Love your explanations - logic, sequence, digging into the subject. Thank you!

[@warwickgreen7358]

Thank you Spencer, I am also on complete day 1 and have just purchased a Sony a7iii with a 55mm 1.8 Prime Zeiss lens separately, I am so glad I found your videos, I have learnt so much already and it makes a lot of sense, really looking forward to putting these tips into practice and watching more of your Vids, thanks again mate :)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re quite welcome! Congrats on the new camera, it’s a great one.

[@finnmurtonz7062]

Thank you so much, i was reading a beginners guide, and i was a bit lost with the definition, now I actually understand it .3.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Excellent! Glad this could help you understand shutter speed.

[@Cashdudex]

Nice video! I am here from school, this video helped my understanding a lot. Thanks!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re quite welcome, glad it was so helpful!

[@Mrigler1999]

thanks my friend.. helped me out on my journey!👍💥

[@JennyontheStreet]

I enjoyed your video. You were clear with great examples including photos. I will watch your other ones too. I hope you have one that also includes all 3 pieces - ISO, F-stop, shutter speed.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you! I actually do, here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/el6ql5WIoKunq9k

[@thaydiygirl]

Thank you for this video! I’m new to photography and this video has been so helpful!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re very welcome! Happy to hear that it helped.

[@Balanceiskey-nd6el]

Thank you so much for this video. This video was clearly very well thought out, and your communication skills are perfect. Could not have asked for a better video to watch on Shutter speed. I am looking forward to watching the ISO and Aperture videos. I want to eventually capture the Northern Lights, so I want to learn as much as I can before doing so.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Happy to hear it! We do have an article on photographing the Northern Lights that you may find useful as well: photographylife.com/how-to-photograph-the-northern-lights

[@Balanceiskey-nd6el]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel You guys rock. you've well earned my sub. Keep up the great work!

[@cinemaunitestheworld]

Excellent video, excellent commentary. Thank you!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re very welcome, glad you enjoyed it!

[@dayvenewman]

Love this one too. I would maybe splice in a part emphasizing!!!!! how faster ss ie 800 etc in the daytime will make most cams take crisp and Awesome shots. It took me FOREVER to figure that out since most teachers stressed the ap virtues..so just wasn't getting why so many event shots were blurry n WISH someone had stressed the POWER of a faster shutter speed... especially when you don't have time to do manual.. which is to say a LOT of times at least when taking moving ppl photography. You explain things great though and much appreciated. Rock on! :)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

A very good point to emphasize for sure! If motion blur is the cause of your images not being tack sharp, a faster shutter speed - or a tripod - is how you fix that.

[@shubaprabhakar]

well done. clearly explained. thanks

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing!

[@mackenziemoore8303]

Thank you! Very helpful!!

[@smooth111012]

Excellent advice

[@PiotrStarWars]

Great explanation! Thank you 😊

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad you found it useful.

[@PiotrStarWars]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel I did! I'm going to watch more of your videos as well 😉

[@Laladeduh]

Spencer, I caught the "full frame" reference, so to confirm, the starting point for shutter speed is 1/(focal length * crop factor) For example, the starting point for a DX Nikon at 100mm would be 1/150" ? Great video as always!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sorry for the delayed response! The answer is yes, although I'll caution that this "starting point" is quite rough. The actual starting point depends on the movement of the subject, your personal stability when handholding the camera, whether your lens has vibration reduction, and so on. It's best to double check from time to time that you're getting sharp photos, rather than relying on it without question.

[@antonio0000x]

Awesome vid!! Thanks.

[@chillovmusic]

Thank you!You explain everything very good !!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you like it 😄

[@pradeepb7987]

Very well explained!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Much appreciated!

[@50deserteagle]

Thank you again!

[@batdroid2705]

Very, very helpful. Thanks

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing!

[@sanmarcosphoto]

Was an ISO and Aperture video created similar to this video? This was an awesome video and I liked the single topic. I usually teach the same way but I was hoping for ISO and Aperture to have their own videos?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

I did make a video about all three together: kzbin.info/www/bejne/el6ql5WIoKunq9k I don’t have an introduction just to aperture or ISO on their own yet, but I will make one later this year!

[@lizzyshengshengzhou]

Love your video! Thank you!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing! Glad to hear it.

[@Pookie1-q2w]

Thank you, this was very useful !

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Awesome, happy to hear it!

[@usernamemykel]

Spencer, I'm confused about using flash and the shutter speed of the camera. Given , that one should not exceed the manufacturer's sync speed limit for a flash unit with their camera. Does one determine the shutter speed of the camera for the best exposure of the image, as if the flash component doesn't exist? Even if the flash, being much brighter than the metered ambient light, makes the ambient light irrelevant? Obviously, one doesn't choose the camera's shutter speed for blur/freezing since the flash will freeze the subject, so choosing the shutter speed is based on the exposure triangle - with aperture playing the dominant role (especially in macro photography, for depth of field)? Please respond - I'm trying to wrap my head around this! Thank you!

[@courtneysimons3344]

Great teacher!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you! Glad you liked this video.

[@michaelvail2446]

Well done (as always)!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Michael!

[@josea2123]

Great content man! I thought shutter speed was only meant to create those blurry lights / water flowing images but you opened my eyes! In regards of lighting, if you have a long enough shutter speed can the picture end up being "too bright"? or is that more dependant on the ISO? Thanks again!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks! Shutter speed is so versatile, you’re right, it does way more than just allow for long exposure photos of moving objects. To answer your question - there are four-ish variables in photography which affect how bright your photo is. Shutter speed, aperture, ambient light/flash/filters, and ISO/brightening in post-processing. It’s possible with any of those variables to take a photo that is “too bright.” Set your shutter speed to 30 seconds on a bright afternoon, and no combination of the other settings will get you a dark photo!

[@MorpheusMushin]

Pretty good speaking voice. Excellent intro.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thank you, Robert! Glad you liked it, especially the intro. It was really fun to film that part.

[@jasonrich8074]

just got a olympus sp series sp-600UZ. Its an older camera. do you still think i could get some good pics still? 12MP

[@catherinetremerryn]

Great lesson thank you. I’m shooting with Olympus Micro 4 thirds with 150 mm lens with a x2 extender and am finding my shots are v noisy. and dark. Pls will you recommend a S/dream setting I can practice for capturing small birds in relatively shady surroundings. Many thanks

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Glad you liked it! I recommend using manual mode with Auto ISO for this purpose. Set the widest aperture on your lens, and play around with shutter speed settings to see what value you can “get away with” (i.e., the longest shutter speed you can use that doesn’t lead to a blurry bird). The camera will float ISO, so you don’t need to worry about it. If your photos are too dark, boost your exposure compensation by 0.3 or 0.7 stops. And if your photos are still too noisy, I’m afraid that’s all you can do, aside from photographing subjects in brighter light. Shutter speed, aperture, and surrounding light are the only three variables that affect how much light you capture (and therefore how noisy your photos are). Raising ISO is more like brightening your photo in post-processing; it will get you a brighter photo, but if you didn’t capture much light in the first place, your photo will inevitably be noisy.

[@NotfromDateline]

Thank you so much. Liked and subscribed! :-)

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Much appreciated!

[@schalachi]

awesome. subscribed!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Much appreciated, and welcome aboard!

[@stephanelarochelle1800]

Thanks! You are awesome help!!!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

You’re very welcome!

[@jackwillard3879]

When I’ve already seen the video my photography class assigned to me lollll

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Watch it again! Keep watching it! Don’t stop until it has a million views!

[@Gabe_HappyFeet_Tucker]

thanks bud

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Sure thing!

[@ibrahimjacobi1689]

Thank

[@119-l8r]

Here is a stupid question: when you say long shutter speed, do I hold the shutter release button for that long? or press that button and just hold the camera steady?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

# 119 No such thing as a stupid question! Shutter speed has no relation to how long you press down the shutter release button (except for the unusual case of shooting in Manual mode with a shutter speed of “B” or “bulb”). Instead, it is a value you set manually (if you’re in M, S, or Tv on the top dial) or that the camera sets automatically. If you’re in a mode where you set it manually, you do so on most cameras by rotating the main command dial (usually an unlabeled large dial on the back of the camera). You’ll know it’s changing (even in the automatic modes) because the 1/X icon on your camera will change numbers - 1/125, 1/8, 0.4”, 10”, and so on. Hope this helps! (And yes, holding the camera steady is also critical :)

[@119-l8r]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Wow, the video was really helpful, now your reply as well!! Thank so smuch!!

[@TheDoll_InsiderPodcast]

i have a question i have a canon t7i and want to use self timer but usually when i change the shutter speed the pictures come out blurry only on self time mode please help!

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Not sure, that’s a surprising problem... You’re saying that, at a given shutter speed, you are only getting blurry photos with the self-timer? If you’re shooting handheld, I guess it’s possible that you’re moving the camera away before the photo is actually taken. But if you’re holding the camera equally steady both times, and your shutter speed is identical, both photos should be equally sharp (at least on average). It could just be a camera malfunction, or I may not be understanding your situation properly. Let me know if you have more details about what conditions cause this issue. Are you shooting handheld or from a tripod?

[@TheDoll_InsiderPodcast]

Photography Life im on a ring light stand trying to take photos of myself but i always have to run in front of the camera click on me to try and focus then the 10 second timer starts and then i review the image and its blurry and all out of focus my iso is 400 apeture is around 15 or 30 ish and my shutter is around 60 i believe

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Gotcha, I think I know what’s causing the problem. If you’re still in autofocus mode, the camera will try (and often fail) to re-focus right before it takes the photo. So, either make sure to put your focus point directly where you’re going to stand, or more easily, switch to manual focus first. It’s not an issue with shutter speed, which you’re using correctly. Hope this works!

[@TheDoll_InsiderPodcast]

Photography Life okay thank you! That works but i hate having to do that everytime for a photo with self timer:(

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Agreed! One thing you may consider is switching to back-button focus (found in your camera’s setup menu, by setting “Shutter/AE Lock Button: AE/AF, No AE Lock”). This will switch the focusing button from a half-press of the shutter, to pressing the * button on the T7i (the button with the demagnifying glass). It takes a bit to get used to, but I strongly prefer back-button focusing, and so do most photographers I know. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that will prevent the self-timer from automatically focusing right before it takes a picture. Just a thought though. You’ll probably get used to switching to manual focus too, if that’s the route you choose instead.

[@Coffeemaker640]

10/10

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Thanks 😄

[@some_one_2_3]

I saw this video on: photographylife.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography Brilliant video. That was an extremely clear explanation with some really good examples. Very helpful. Question, does the lens have any effect on the shutter speeds available?

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Awesome, RP, thanks for the kind feedback!

[@some_one_2_3]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel Sorry I had a question too. Does your lens have any effect on the shutter speed available? I understand that image stabilisation is a feature in some lenses, but let's ignore those ones.

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

No, not directly. The shutter speeds you can select depend only on the camera. It’s actually one of the specifications you’ll see if you look up most cameras on the manufacturer’s website - “shutter speed range.” Indirectly, the lens you use may make it a *bad idea* to use certain shutter speeds - for example, you wouldn’t get sharp photos handheld at 1/25 second with a 500mm lens (VR turned off at least) - but those shutter speeds are certainly still available.

[@some_one_2_3]

@@PhotographyLifeChannel I've just bought a Canon 6D and now I'm researching which lenses to buy. It's good to know I have 1 less factor to consider. Thank you that was really useful!

[@voramai6286]

You're sicc af I actually understand

[@PhotographyLifeChannel]

Awesome!

[@dangrafart]

👍📷👍