![The Impact of Shutter Speed on Images [Case Study]](http://digital-photography-school.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/impact-shutter-speed.png)
In this post Lyndzee Ellsworth (see their blog at epblog.net) shares some images from a shoot to show what impact shutter speed can have on images.
Do you ever get confused with all of the different functions on your digital camera? What about at night? Don’t worry you’re not alone. In this post I show you how experimenting with shutter speed impacted taking a shot of Downtown San Diego at night.
I’ve got four photographs of Downtown San Diego and have varied the shutter speed on each so that the shutter stays open a little less each time. I kept the ISO at 100 to keep the noise level at a minimum, which is crucial in night photography to allow the optimal amount of color and darkness at the same time. I kept the aperture at F/5 through all of the photos because at F/5 your lens is still wide open enough to get a good amount of natural light.
Starting with the first photo, I set the shutter speed for a 15 sec exposure (which on your camera should look like 15”). With the shutter open for 15 seconds, all of the light that the lens can capture in that 15 seconds is recorded and processed. By the photo below you can tell that 15 seconds was too much, so I changed it to 10, then 8 and then finally landed on 5 seconds to achieve what in my eye was the best shot.
These differences were achievable by only changing the shutter speed. Please look further on the DPS archives for more understanding of aperture, ISO and shutter speed to see how these elements work together.
See more of Lyndzee’s blogging at her blog – epblog.net.
Tags: Case Study, Shutter Speed
24 Responses to “The Impact of Shutter Speed on Images [Case Study]” - Add Yours
February 7th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Nice demonstration. I’d also like to point out the differences that occur not only in the brightness of the shot, but with the level of reflection achieved in the water. At 15 seconds, the reflection looks a lot smoother, yet more “foggy”. At 6 seconds, you see a bit more water texture. I think I would like this shot best if you took it at ~20 seconds at f/10 – this would give you that smooth foggy reflection combined with the exposure you preferred.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Nice demo. Longer the shutter speed the brighter the shot. If only it were that simple all of the time but it only is if your subject is still and you have a tripod. The key is understanding the limits you need to work to depending on your situation and the photo you want to achive.
http://jfletcherphoto….shutter-speed-in-beginner-speak/
February 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
This is just what I needed. I haven’t purchased a tripod yet, but by the end of the month, I’ll be taking night photos. With a backdrop like LA, I can hardly wait.
Thank you…………………….:)
February 7th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Ok I have a question. Wheres the line that looks like a contrail between the buildings in the background on the 10 sec and 6 sec pictures?
These were all taken within about 2-1/2 minutes
15 second one 1/14/2009 at 12:58:09
10 second one 1/14/2009 12:58:44
8 second one 1/14/2009 12:59:45
6 second one 1/14/2009 1:00:31
February 7th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Hi Richard!
Good question. The line you’re talking about in the background is an airplane taking off. The San Diego airport is on the bay to the left, so that explains the lines to the right.
Aaron Brown,
You are so amazingly right! My favorite shot of the night was taken at 15 seconds with a F/7
check it out here:
http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42058
February 7th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
@aron: That’s exactly the same that I thought first!
February 7th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Thanks for sharing!
February 7th, 2009 at 7:33 pm
This is a great case study. I often take a few different shutter speeds when I’m doing the same. The photo below of Parliament House was 12 seconds, and it just seemed the ‘right’ length for that particular shot!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/azhure/365/02-01-09a.jpg
February 7th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
richard:
The light strip in number 1 and 3 must be aircrafts on final approach. You see that the second trail is pulsating, like the navigation lights on an aircraft.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Talking about favorite night shot, this one’s my favorite I’ve ever come across:
http://1x.com/?viewpic=22220
It almost doesn’t look like night shot but supposedly it has been taken at midnight.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:00 am
Your discussion was more about exposure than shutter speed. If you had changed the aperture as well as shutter speed, each of the exposures would have been a lot more equivalent, and we could really see the impact of shutter speed on night photography. I looked at the 15 second picture, and said to myself, the levels are all way too high! I could have produced the best one by adjusting the brightness and contrast of the 15 second exposure in post-processing.
The shutter speed you use has a subtle impact on photos, which is what I was expecting this piece to be about. Instead, it was more about exposure. Trying to capture the motion of the water, the contrails of the jet, etc. are all reasons why you would shoot at 15 sec. and f11 or so, instead of 6 sec. and f5.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:21 am
a good demonstration :)..
muti exposure is also another nice thing to do for these types of shots, because as well as getting more detail in the shadow area’s and better highlights you can also take say 9 (on a k10d anyway) shots at 15seconds to give a total of 145s exposure without making the image any brighter but making the water look really smooth/dreamy.
February 8th, 2009 at 4:38 am
It’d be interesting to see how smaller apertures work on those shots. The 15 second shot is overexposed, but that could be fixed in other ways than changing shutter speed.
February 8th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Thanks for this case study, interesting and something I will hopefully use in the future for night photography!
February 8th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Thanks everyone.. Thats what I thought it wasn’t 100% sure.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
So what ?
The only thing this post tells me is “if you expose longer, you get more light” … This can be summarized in a Twitter post … I see much more interesting points in the comments. Sorry but I’m used to seing more interesting posts in DPS.
Anyway, the picture is nice at least … :-)
February 9th, 2009 at 3:38 am
I did a similiar shoot at Christmastime with our local County Court house. Not only was there a difference with each shutter speed but also with changes in the White Balance. Out of curiosity what white balance where you using?
February 9th, 2009 at 11:17 am
I did this too when I shot the better moon last time. Nice demo!
February 9th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
While I suppose it was ‘helpful’ to some people, this really has more to do about exposure. If you were referring to the effects of shutter speed on the images, you should be adjusting the aperture as well. In these examples, you are not which changes the exposure on each of the images (as can clearly be seen in the blown highlights).
So if you wanted to do this properly, you would have to adjust both shutter speed and aperture.
I would also argue that keeping your lens wide open for night photography is completely unnecessary. Your camera should be attached to a stable tripod and you want your image to be sharp. Most lenses will be at their sharpest around F8-12 or so.
Geez, since the new format it seems like all these tutorials are half-assed with terrible examples and arguably do more harm than good for newbies trying to learn proper techniques. It’s a shame. I used to love this site when it first started a few years ago.
February 11th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Great illustrations showing the different effects with adjustments of in Shutter Speed, F-Stop and ISO. Most people have the misconception that a picture taken this time of evening would require a higher ISO.
February 13th, 2009 at 3:46 am
The aperture on these shots was probably a little off, but I was basically playing with shutter speeds on this series of shots of the airport in Nice, southern France. The point about adjusting aperture for correct exposure is absolutely correct though. When you get into using external flash too, the shutter speed has a huge impact on the amount of ambient light on the scene (whereas the aperture tends to manage the flash impact)
http://www.greytrilby.com/night/CRW_6513.jpg
http://www.greytrilby.com/night/CRW_6520.jpg
http://www.greytrilby.com/night/CRW_6527.jpg
July 24th, 2009 at 1:30 am
I just want to thank you for practical, fun to understand information on how shutter speed works.
August 28th, 2009 at 5:06 am
I could not see if the tripod was used while making the perfect pix like those.
October 24th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Comments about this not being about shutter speed but more about exposure are true, but this case study is a really good practical example to people new to manual of how shutter speed can affect the overall exposure (motion or not). It is important to catch this concept, so it can be at the forefront of your mind when setting up for a shot somewhere else. So yes it is about exposure overall, but this show the impact it can have on exposure. Remember the obvious negatives of slow shutter speeds being where there is motion there is blur.
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