Level: Beginner.
Shutter priority refers to a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture to ensure correct exposure. – source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shutter_priority
This tutorial will assist in using the Tv mode and will hopefully get you taking some long exposure photos as well as taking some high speed photography using your DSLR, Mirrorless Camera or high end point and shoot. For this tutorial I will be referring to my Canon 550D however for all Canon cameras with the Tv – Shutter Priority mode it should be pretty much the same.
Firstly, lets set it on the Shutter Priority mode. Do this by twisting the top dial on your camera to Tv.
Why would you want to use the shutter priority mode in photography? As a photographer you would want to use it to take control over the time that the photo is exposed. The reason may be that, you don’t have a tripod and would like to take a steady photo without blur in low light conditions, or perhaps you would like to take a high speed shot of an orange slice splashing into water, or perhaps you would like to capture light trails of cars zooming along your local highway/freeway.
How do you set the camera’s shutter speed and what does the number mean? You should be able to adjust the camera’s shutter speed using a dial on the camera, on my 550D it is towards the front of the camera, just behind the shutter button. The number that appears on your camera is usually denoted as either a fraction of a second, or a number of seconds. 4000, or 1/4000(the fastest settings on most camera) means that the photos is taken over the duration of 1/4000th of a second, which is 0.00025 seconds. The longest setting on most camera’s is 30″, which is 30 seconds of exposure. You might notice that if you continue to turn the dial you will reach BULB mode. This mode lets you take a photo for however long you hold down the shutter button. For example, if you hold the shutter button down for 1 minute, the photo will be taken over the duration of 1 minute.
So what setting should I use? If you are using the shutter priority mode to minimise blur when not taking a photo set it at anything faster than 1/8th’s of a second if your camera has inbuilt stabilisation, or 1/50th of a second if it doesn’t. If in doubt take a photo faster than 1/50th of a second. If you are looking to take a image of, lets say a fruit falling into a glass of water and would like to capture the moment the water splashes, use the fastest settings possible in that light condition, anything above 1/1000th of a second would be sufficient. If you are taking light trails of cars travelling along the highway at night use a setting of around 10″ – 30″ depending on the lighting conditions and how busy it is.
What I suggest is rather than reading more on shutter speed, get out there and test it out for yourself, you will find the more that you take photo’s the better you will get at choosing the right shutter speed for your images.
Good luck and stay tuned for the next tutorial on Aperture Priority mode.
