Shutter Speed Assignment

Shutter Speed Assignment

We will begin this in class - possibly complete it then

Here are some nice examples of how a change in shutter speed changes how motion is rendered.

You are to take the same photo (as much as possible) using all the shutter speeds that your camera offers. You can go by full stops; you don’t have to include fractions stops. So, it is likely that you camera has a range of 30 seconds - 1/4000 of a second.

You may have to complete this as two different sets of images. One set that includes the very fastest shutter speeds to a normal working range and another that includes the very slowest shutter speeds to the normal working range.

Let’s say you want to start with your slowest shutter speeds. Let’s say you have 30” as you slowest shutter speed. It is going to have to be pretty dark to use that shutter speed and not overexpose even when using your smallest aperture (likely f32) and your lowest ISO (likely 100). Since you can’t hand hold your camera at that speed and expect an image that isn’t blurry, you should set the camera up on something stationary and use the self timer to release the shutter. Been bags/ cornhole bags work well to position your camera. Of course, if you have a tripod, use that.

Determine the correct exposure. You need to change your aperture and/or your ISO each time you change your shutter speed. For example, let's say you start with f32 @ 30” using ISO 100. When you change the shutter speed to 15”, the camera only requires 1/2 the amount of light so you must either change your aperture to f16 or your ISO to 200.

Your exposures must be reciprocal (they should all be the same in terms of brightness). As such, the histograms should be nearly identical for all the shots.

Most of you will have a subset of the following shutter speeds. Just worry about these standard whole stop shutter speeds (don’t worry about the fractional stop shutter speeds such as 1/50, 1/40, etc.)

1/8000

1/4000

1/2000

1/1000

1/500

1/250

1/125

1/60

1/30

1/15

⅛

¼

½

1”

2”

4”

8”

15”

30”

Do not use a car or other automobile as your subject. Any other subject is allowed. Be creative with this.