Shutter speed is one of the most basic important controls on a camera. Shutter Speed is one of the three exposure controls. Shutter speed controls the amount of time that your film, or digital sensor, is exposed to light. In effect, the shutter determines what image is captured on your film. The shutter is a small plastic sheet that opens and closes to allow light onto the film or prevent light from reaching the film. The shutter is opened when you press the shutter release button on your camera to take a picture. The shutter speed determines how long the shutter remains open.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds - or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).

In cameras with TTL (through the lens) viewfinders, the shutter release button also moves a mirror out of the way of the film and shutter curtain. It is this movement of the shutter curtain and the mirror that gives taking a picture its distinctive “click” sound.

As you become more familiar with your camera and shutter speed you will begin to notice the difference in the sound of the the “click” based on the speed of the shutter. In time, you will be able to tell about what shutter speed any camera in the room is using just by the sound of the shutter.

In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. This is because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your photos.

If you’re using a slow shutter speed (anything slower than 1/60) you will need to either use a tripod or some some type of image stabilization (more and more cameras are coming with this built in).

Shutter speeds available to you on your camera will usually double (approximately) with each setting. As a result you’ll usually have the options for the following shutter speeds - 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 etc. This ‘doubling’ is handy to keep in mind as aperture settings also double the amount of light that is let in - as a result increasing shutter speed by one stop and decreasing aperture by one stop should give you similar exposure levels (but we’ll talk more about this in a future post).