1. Three Pillars of
Photography
Photography

2. Three Pillars of
Photography
• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• ISO (film speed)

3. Shutter Speed
• What is a Shutter?
• The shutter is a curtain that covers the
camera sensor until the shutter button is
pressed. When it moves, light is allowed to
hit the sensor to create an image.

5. Shutter Speed Defined
• Shutter Speed refers to the length of time the
camera sensor is exposed to light. It is the
length of time the camera shutter is held
open.
• Shutter speeds range from 1/2000 of a
second (pretty darn fast) to 1 second and
longer.

6. Effects of Shutter
•
Speed
A fast or quick shutter speed freezes motion
and can be used in situations with a lot of
light. Because the shutter open for a very
short period of time a lot of light is required
for a proper exposure.
• A slow or long shutter speed (anything
longer than 1/60 of a second) will allow more
light to enter the camera and causes motion
blur.
• A slow or long exposure requires the use of a
tripod or stabilizing method in order to make
the blur localized to only the moving element.

7. This photo was taken at 1/1600 second

8. This photo was taken at 1/250 second

9. This photo was taken at 1/2 second

10. This photo was taken at 5 seconds

11. Shutter Speed and
Aperture
• A fast shutter speed requires more light to
create a proper exposure.
• How does this impact your aperture setting?
• If you use a fast shutter speed you need to
have a large aperture.
• A slower shutter speed needs less light and
therefore a smaller aperture.

12. Shutter Speed,
Aperture and Depth of
• The depth of field of a photograph becomes
Field
shallower when the aperture is larger
(smaller f-stop number).
• To take photographs with a shallow depth of
field you typically need a large f-stop (f1.7 -
f2.5) and a fast shutter speed (1/250 - 1/2000
second)
• If there is a lot of light the camera will want to
"stop down" or decrease the size of the
aperture which will result in more of the
image being in focus.

13. The image on the left used a large aperture (f1/7) and
a fast shutter speed (1/800 second). The image on the
right used a smaller aperture (f14) and and a slower
shutter speed (1/100 second).

14. You've just learned
about shutter,
shutter speed,
motion blur, and
how shutter speed
and aperture
interact to impact
depth of field.