Shutter Speed

1/250 ISO 800 by: photographylife

Shutter Speed is the amount of time the shutter is open to let the light in. It is one of the three factors that determines proper exposure. It is measured in seconds, usually fractions of seconds (ei. 1/60 means that the shutter will close 1/60th of a second).

Shutter speed will usually double-- 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/120, etc. Keep in mind that as you increase shutter speed by one step, make sure that you decrease aperture by one stop as well to give you a similar exposure. Increasing shutter speed without without changing aperture will result to a dark picture because the amount of light the comes inside the camera is very short.

There's is a "B" (bulb) option for shutter speed, it means that as long as you hold the shutter down, the shutter will remain open until you release it. The Bulb option is basically having your own shutter speed, but not a lot of photographers use that because it results to a blurry picture.

Tips:
- When taking a picture less than 1/30, make sure to use a tripod to avoid blurry pictures
- When taking pictures with city lights, I recommend taking pictures at night. It'll give you the perfect color contrasts. Use a low shutter speed (1/8 or lower) and decrease the aperture to the lowest as possible. Bring a tripod.
- Use a fast shutter speed when taking action pictures to freeze the moment.
- If you want to take pictures of the car lights at night, make sure that the shutter speed is at 30" (30 sec). Don't touch the camera because it will ruin the picture. You need to be really patient when taking a picture like that. It'll result to this:

By: Wallpapervortex

Aperture

By: Jiat Photography

If you want to start using Manual mode, you need to learn the basics and how they work. The three most important once are:

- Aperture

- Shutter Speed

- ISO

Before proceeding to Manual mode, you need to fully understand how these three works because they are very connected with each other. 

Aperture is basically known as "the opening of the lens". It is a device that controls how much light goes into the camera.

As you can see on the picture, different aperture has different effects on the picture. The higher aperture means that the opening of the lens is going to be really small. The smaller the aperture means that the opening of the lens is going to be really big. The lighting will affect the picture.

Some camera lenses doesn't go up to f/1.4, sometimes it only stops at f/4. Macro lenses has the ability to go up to f/1.4 because you usually use apertures that small when taking close up pictures.

Tips:

- When it's dark outside, use a a very small aperture because you have limited lighting. You would want as much light as possible in your camera.

- When it's sunny and bright outside, stay away from small aperture. Use at least f/4 and above preferably.

Quebec City

Quebec City, Canada, November 2012 (CC-BY-NC-ND)

by: Gina Trapani

This picture was taken during our French trip to Quebec City. This is what the city looks like from the top. When I took this picture, my camera setting was in Manual mode, but before proceeding to manual mode I suggest that you learn about the other settings as well. Most photographers use manual mode because it gives them the freedom to adjust their own aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to create a dramatic effect on the picture, and also to produce a stunning photo. Just click the link to know more about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. *Remember* Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO are connected with each other.

Settings I used:
- Manual mode
- f7-f9 (aperture)
- 1/120 (shutter speed)
- ISO 400

As you could see, the picture that I took is edited. I used a filter for it to look more dramatic, but one of my biggest goal for this project is to take a picture without editing it. The biggest mistake that I did on this picture is that I didn't save the original picture. Another thing, when you take pictures and you would like to post them, put a watermark on your picture. Watermark is just anything that you want to put on your picture, for example your name, a logo, etc. It prevents other people from stealing your photos.

Tips:
- get to know your camera
- play around with other settings
- always save the original picture
- put a watermark before posting
- experiment and have fun