Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is used in conjunction with the aperture setting to produce a picture with good exposure.

Shutter speed is also referred to as TV which stands for time value, meaning the amount of time given to the image sensor to capture the light coming through the lens and aperture. Faster speeds only allow very short periods of time for capture and if the aperture is set to a high f number (small aperture) then the image will be very dark. An advantage to a fast shutter speed is that moving objects in a frame appear nice and sharp, as they have moved very little during the period in which the image is captured. In the picture below the Shutter Speed is shown as 1/200, this particular speed is fast enough to capture moving objects in an image with good sharp clarity.

The Shutter Priority mode on your camera gives you the ability to set the shutter speed and let the camera automatically set the aperture. Below is an instance where the shutter priority produces a misty water effect using a slow shutter speed.

This technique is called long exposure. Because the image sensor captured the picture over a long period, anything moving, in this case the water, becomes blurred. Notice that everything in the picture that is still, remains sharp.