To set the scene for today’s post on shutter speed, the second of a series of three about the exposure triangle, I wanted to use Henri Cartier-Bresson’s quote.

In part one of my three-part series, I spoke about aperture (the opening through which light travels through the lens). For me, aperture is one of the less complicated concepts to grasp, making it the natural place to start when trying to understand how to use light in your photography. I used the analogy of the pupil of your eye to explain how we can control how much light travels through the lens to the sensor of your camera, and how that amount of light affects the end-result. Once you have the concept of aperture down, the next one to get to grips with is that of shutter speed. While the whole of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s quote is quite magical, there are two words to keep in mind for this post: “fleeting reality”. That’s really where shutter speed comes in.

First of all, let’s understand what shutter speed is. It’s the speed at which the shutter closes, or the length of time that your image sensor ‘sees’ the scene you want to capture. Being a measurement of speed, it is measured in seconds (more accurately, in tenths of seconds), and, as with the other two parameters of the exposure triangle, has an effect on aperture and ISO when adjusted.

Let me digress very quickly to explain how shutter speed fits in. Imagine that the exposure triangle is the window to a room, with big, heavy curtains hanging on either side. Aperture would represent the size of the window, and would thus affect the amount of light that is let into the room. Imagine closing the curtains really quickly, allowing the room to be exposed to light for a short period of time. That’s shutter speed (and a fast shutter speed at that). Finally, and this is something I will touch on in my next post, imagine you are standing inside the room with a pair of sunglasses on. The strength of your sunglasses represents ISO, making you less or more sensitive to the light that is coming in through your window.

An easy way to remember the exposure triangle- think of a room with a window (or in this case a door) letting in light, a set of curtains that can be closed fast and slowly and yourself standing inside the room with a pair of sunglasses on, making you less or more sensitive to the light coming in.

The speed at which you shut those curtains determines how much of the light gets let into the room, and for how long you are exposed to the light. Remember that the shutter equals the curtain. A fast shutter speed (a measurement of 1/4000 of a second for example) will only allow light to be let into the room for a very, very short amount of time- barely lighting the room up at all. Conversely, by slowly closing the curtains (using a slow shutter speed, 1/10 for example), plenty of light will be let into the room, over-exposing things quite drastically.

Shutter speed and exposure 

Hopefully my analogy of the curtains has made some sense. Moreover, I hope that you understand a little better how the speed at which your shutter closes affects exposure. Below, I have taken four photos of exactly the same scene- the beautiful Sand River that flows in front of Londolozi’s five camps. I have used four varied shutter speeds, which you will see next to each photo. Note the exposure on each- where a fast shutter speed allows only a small amount of light to reach the sensor, giving an end result that is quite dark. As I slowed down my shutter speed, light was let into my camera for longer, affecting the exposure and giving it that typical blown-out look to the photo, where barely anything but white light can be seen.

Four versions of exactly the same scene taken with varied shutter speeds. Note that my aperture (amount of light let into the camera) stays exactly the same, yet the exposure changes drastically as I slow down my shutter.

Shutter speed and clarity of image

So, you know that shutter speed lets light into your camera at various different speeds. This affects the amount of light, and results in under, or over-exposed images. The second important thing to understand about shutter speed is its effect on capturing movement. Again, understanding that the faster the shutter speed, the quicker a moment is captured, and the slower the shutter speed the slower the capture, you will need to consider your shutter speed when your subject is anything but standing dead still, or posing for you. Below, you will see a set of four photos that I took, again varying my shutter speed as I went. While my previous point about exposure is also nicely illustrated in these photos, the most important thing to notice is how sharply the movement and flow of water is captured with each shutter speed.

By adjusting shutter speed, you can capture movement with varying degrees of clarity and sharpness. Image 1 was taken with a fast shutter speed, and captured a single moment where the water droplet separates from the rest of the flow. Image 2 is a slightly different angle, with the same shutter speed showing lots of detail in the bubbles of the water. In image 3, I have slowed the shutter speed right down, and you begin to see that there is more light in the photo, and the water looks smoother. In image 4, my shutter speed is very slow, letting in too much light, and capturing lots of movement in the water.

Shutter speed in the bush

While my two examples above illustrate my point well, they aren’t particularly related to what you might experience on one of your world-class Safaris at Londolozi. But, they are very important principles to know when out on the reserve. Here are my top five things to remember about shutter speed when capturing wildlife and the surrounds through your lens:

1. Analyse the situation: Try to determine if the animal is likely to move away quickly, or if it is lazing around, eating or sleeping. If your sighting is of a pride of lions playing in the river, you’ll need to increase your shutter speed to capture those playful movements with clarity, so be ready and prepared to freeze each frame accurately. Photograph by Mike Sutherland

2. Move with your subject: Try to predict (as best you can) which way the subject is going to move. With bird photography, in particular, try and move with the bird as it flies off. Again, your shutter speed will need to be as high as possible to capture the bird in flight, and by moving the camera with the bird, you up your chances of catching that beautiful motion. Here James Tyrrell captures the glorious colours of the Carmine Bee-eater in flight with a shutter speed of 1/4000

3. Adjust your settings as the light changes: While early morning and evening light is, quite literally, gold for photographers, these conditions are not always the best for shooting moving subjects. Remember to keep adjusting your shutter speed as the light increases or decreases to eliminate the risk of under or exposing your photos, and giving you the best chance to capture the bush with clarity. This Hyena was shot at dawn at a shutter speed of 1/640 at f/2.8; ISO 320. Photograph by Sean Cresswell

4. Gear up: In the bush you’ll want to make use of your longer lenses. Invest in some stabilisation gear like a bean bag, or a monopod (read my review on some gear here) to minimise motion blur, especially in low light. Remember that as your lens length increases, so too does the need for a faster shutter speed. Click here to find out about some of the great gear that is available to rent during your stay at Londolozi.

5. Keep your camera out after dark with a tripod: Just because the sun has set doesn’t mean you always need to put your camera away. Grab your tripod and experiment with a much longer exposure to capture the stars,  a star trail or a lowveld lightning storm. To capture the stars, set up your camera on a tripod on a clear night, with lots of sky and an interesting subject in the foreground (like the beautiful Jackleberry Tree outside Varty Camp in Rich Laburn’s photo above) and leave your shutter open to capture the beautiful twinkling stars, and the trails that they leave as the earth moves.

There you have it- that is shutter speed in a nutshell. By now, you should know that I always end off my posts by imploring you to get out and practice these, and other theories of photography. Virtuosity is the key: being able to do the common uncommonly well. Go out and find varied light conditions and moving targets and practice on shutter priority. You will learn a huge amount!

Next time, I will finish off this series by talking about ISO. Please let me know what else you would like me to feature, and let me know what you thought of this post.

Happy photographing!

Written and photographed by Amanda Ritchie- Photography Studio Manager