Using the shutter priority mode on a digital camera lets you set the shutter speed and the camera adjusts the aperture to maintain correct exposure.

The shutter controls the amount of time that light is allowed to enter the lens and reach the image sensor, or the film. Along with the aperture setting, the shutter speed controls exposure.

The other function of the shutter speed is to control motion. You would use the shutter priority setting when motion control is an important factor in a photo.

The shutter speed is the main control you have to capture motion in a photo. Anything that moves during exposure can potentially cause the final image to be blurred.

If you want a moving object to be rendered very sharply in your photo, you would need to select a fast shutter speed. And if you want to show the blurring effect you’d select a slow shutter speed.

Controlling Motion

Controlling motion in still photography calls for a few choices to be made, and in this section we’ll look mainly at the technical choices that need to be considered.

These technical factors are such things as camera movement, and how focal length, subject speed, direction of motion and distance can all affect your choice of which shutter speed you need to control motion.

Camera Movement

Camera movement happens whenever the camera is moved while the shutter is open. It is commonly caused by not pressing the shutter release button smoothly, but instead pushing down too quickly and too hard.

A shutter speed that is set too low increases the chances of camera movement.

When taking pictures in low light conditions, and you have chosen not to use flash, then using shutter priority to select a faster shutter speed is a good option. As a general rule of thumb, a shutter speed that is equal to the focal length of the lens reduces the chance of getting camera movement.

For example, with a 125mm lens, use a shutter speed of 1/125 of a second or faster. A tripod and a cable release are also options.

Subject Movement

Whenever you have anything moving in the scene you’re about to photograph, your choice of shutter speed can be very important. Subject movement can be frozen, so it appears sharp in the picture, by using a fast shutter speed. But how fast is fast enough will depend on a number of factors.

On the other hand, capturing a sense of motion may be more effective than a sharp image, so choosing a slower shutter speed would be the better choice. Once again, several factors will affect how slow is slow enough. So lets look at these variables and see how they influence the results.

Actual Speed vs. Relative Speed

The actual speed of the subject is less important than the relative speed. The direction of the motion in relation to the camera is your primary concern.

For example, photographing a car going 45 mph. would require a faster shutter speed if it is moving parallel to the camera, or more precisely, parallel to the film plane or image sensor.

The same 45 mph. vehicle moving straight towards or straight away from the camera wouldn’t require as fast a shutter speed.

And if it were moving at an angle towards or away from the camera, the shutter speed would be somewhere between the two previous examples. This would apply regardless of whether you were trying to freeze the motion or blur it.

The distance between the subject and your camera is another important factor that influences your choice of shutter speed. The closer the moving subject is to the camera, the faster its relative speed will be.

Therefore, a faster shutter speed is necessary when the subject is very close to the camera and a slower speed will work when the subject is further away.

The focal length of the lens you use will also influence your choice of shutter speed. A telephoto, or zooming in on your subject has the same effect as moving closer, and requires a faster shutter speed.

Using a wide angle lens would be the same as moving further away, and a slower shutter speed could be used.

Putting It All Together

The first decision you will make is do you want a sharp image or do you prefer to use blur in the image to emphasize the motion. Once you’ve decided this, then you must consider the direction of the motion.

You might be able to reposition yourself so the motion is easier to control, but to get the best composition or good lighting you might decide that is not a good choice. Your decision will affect the shutter speed you’ll need to create the desired photos.

Next you should consider the distance factor. Moving closer or farther away might be possible, and using a telephoto or wide angle might be the best option.

Once you have chosen the best position to take the shot, then you can choose the shutter speed that will best give you the result you want.

Naturally, because of the variables involved, the only sure way to determine the exact correct shutter speed is to experiment. With experience, however, you will find that your initial choice will often be correct or very close to the correct speed to get the result you want.

The more you practice shooting motion the sooner that experience will pay off.

Here’s to better photography …

Al Hannigan

Using Portrait Mode on your digital camera can often help you separate your subject from a busy or distracting background.

This mode is based on the premise that using a limited depth of field emphasizes the subject, making it stand out sharply against a softer background.

In portrait mode, your camera will use a larger aperture and a faster shutter speed.

You can see below how less depth of field helps make a subject more prominent by blurring out distracting background detail.

Assignment: Using Portrait Mode…

1. Begin with your camera in the auto mode and position your subject in front of a busy background.
2. Compose your picture as a head and shoulders portrait but include some of the background in the picture.
3. Take the first shot and check it. Your subject should be sharp, and the background will probably be sharp too.
4. Next re-set your camera to the portrait mode and take the same picture. Your subject should be sharp in both pictures. But in the second shot the background should not be as sharp, making it less distracting.

TIP:
Because depth of field is affected by distance as well as f-stop, be sure to position the subject away from the background as much as possible so you can more easily see the effects of the portrait mode.

Focal length can also affect DOF, and digital cameras have much shorter focal lengths than traditional 35mm lenses. For this reason, even portrait mode may not effectively blur the background enough to be noticeable.

There are several ways to control depth of field when shooting portraits and they will be covered more thoroughly as we progress. But for now, using portrait mode will give you one more option when using your camera’s automatic features.

Here’s to better photography…

Al Hannigan

One of the most common digital camera features is the night scene mode. This mode combines flash with a slow shutter speed.

It is a good mode to use when you want to make your subject stand out while still maintaining detail in a darker background.

The flash will properly expose your foreground subject, while the slow shutter speed will provide the longer exposure necessary for the dark background.

A typical situation might be a picture of a person at dusk or after dark. While using straight flash might be fine for lighting up your subject, the background would turn out very underexposed.

In order to have enough exposure for your background, a longer exposure is necessary. With night scene mode, you can properly expose both.

When using this mode, it may be necessary to use a tripod, or some other camera support, and to have your subject remain motionless to prevent blur during the longer exposure.

Assignment: Using Night Scene Mode Outdoors

1. Choose a scene that would make an interesting shot, such as an evening sky just after sunset or perhaps a city skyline with the buildings lit up at dusk.
2. Now place a person in the foreground and turn the flash off. Shoot the scene with the correct exposure for the background.
3. Then shoot the scene again using the auto flash setting.
4. Finally, make a third shot with the night scene mode selected.
5. Now compare your results.

The first shot should show the background properly exposed, but your subject could either be overexposed, or somewhat blurred due to the long exposure.

In the second shot, the subject will be well exposed, but the background will be very dark, or even black.

In the third shot, your subject should stand out nicely while the background still has good detail.

This mode is also useful when shooting people indoors when the room light is low. You may have taken flash pictures inside and noticed that the room turns out very dark or even totally black. Using night scene mode is one way of preventing this.

Assignment: Using Night Scene Mode Indoors

1. For this assignment you will want a situaion where the level of light in the room is low and calls for a long exposure time or will require the flash to get a good exposure.
2. Repeat the same three shots you used above in the outdoor setting…flash off, normal auto flash and night scene mode.
3. You should see 3 very different effects in these shots. While all 3 shots may be quite good, each one will be noticeably different.

From these examples you can see that the choice of settings you use will produce entirely different images. Your choice of which mode to use will depend on what you are trying to convey in your photo. The more options you have available, the more creative freedom you will have to make your pictures unique and personal, reflecting your own individual style.

Here’s to better photography …

Al Hannigan

One of the handy digital camera features to have is Landscape mode. This is also one of those features on your digital camera that can be used in other situations, not just when you are doing landscapes.

Landscape mode is designed to set the f/stop for maximum depth of field. It combines a smaller f-stop with a slower shutter speed so everything is sharp from foreground to background.

By combining nearby objects with distant objects you can add a sense of depth or distance to your image and this is when landscape mode is most effective.

When using this mode, you should focus on a point that is about 1/3 of the distance between the nearest and the most distant objects in your scene.

Also, remember that a slower shutter speed is used in this mode, so be sure that you hold the camera steady during the exposure.

Assignment: Using Landscape Mode

1. Look for a scene that has both near and far objects, all of which you want to be in focus.
2. To achieve maximum depth of field, select an object that is about one-third of the distance from the nearest point to the most distant point in your composition. This will be your focus point.
3. If necessary, use focus lock…pressing the shutter release button half-way down and holding it…and focus on the object you chose as the focus point.
4. Once focus is locked, recompose your scene and take the picture.

The result should be a photo with acceptable sharpness throughout the entire composition.

Landscape Mode doesn’t have to be used only for landscape photography. Anytime you want greater depth of field, you could use this mode if you prefer it to the other options, such as aperture priority or manually setting the f-stop and shutter speed.

Stitch Assist for Panoramas

Another feature that is popular with landscape photographers is Stitch Assist Mode. This mode is used for creating seamless panoramas. If you enjoy shooting landscapes you might want to give this feature a try.

Here’s to better photography

Al Hannigan

Among digital camera features aperture priority is an excellent feature that will give you more control over depth of field.

Using aperture priority mode allows you to select the aperture and the camera then selects a shutter speed that will give the correct exposure. The aperture is used to control the amount of light that reaches the image sensor or film during exposure by adjusting the size of the opening. These sizes are known as f/stops.

In addition to controlling exposure, the aperture (f/stop) also affects DOF, or depth of field.

Whenever it’s very important that you to control those areas that you want to be in sharp focus as well as anything you don’t want to be sharply focused in your picture, you can select aperture priority. This allows you to choose the correct f/stop needed to control the depth of field.

In some situations, you may prefer to have everything from foreground to background appear sharp in your photo, so choosing a smaller f/stop will give you more DOF.

At other times, however, you may want only a small part of your image to be sharp and will need to use a larger f/stop for limited DOF.

Keeping It Sharp

If you have important information in your picture in both the foreground and background, such as in a landscape photo, or whenever several important objects are at different distances from the camera, you will probably want to have everything in focus.

Using a small f/stop is one part of the solution to getting as much DOF as possible. But where you focus is also very important.

Depth of field is an area of acceptable sharpness that extends both in front of and behind the point of actual focus. Sharpness gradually decreases from the focus point until eventually you will be able to see this lack of sharpness. This fall off occurs more quickly in front of the focus point than behind the focus point.

A good way to pick the best focus point is to look at the nearest object in your scene that you want to appear in focus. Next look for the most distant object. You then mentally divide this total area into thirds and focus on something that is about 1/3 of the distance from your camera.

This is referred to as the hyperfocal distance, and will give you maximum depth of field.

Using Selective Focus

There are also times when having everything sharp is not your best option. A good example is in a portrait. If you want to make sure your subject stands out from a distracting background, you can use selective focus to keep your subject sharp while throwing the background (or foreground) out of focus. This will help to emphasize your subject and make for stronger composition.

Controlling what is sharp and what is blurred in your photos gives you more control and makes aperture priority an important feature to have on your digital camera.

It is simple to use and if you have this feature you should experiment with it and explore the creative possibilities that controlling focus can open up to you.

There are many other options available on today’s advanced digital cameras. Some of these will be added to this section in the future.

Here’s to better photography …

Al Hannigan