SHUTTER SPEED
GRAB CONTROL. The faster your shutter speed, the better your chances of capturing a pin-sharp freeze-frame of that springbok pronking in the dust outside Twee Rivieren.
Or maybe it’s not your subject that’s moving, but you – like when you’re trying to take a photo of a quiver tree from a moving vehicle in the Richtersveld (and your dad isn’t in the mood to stop). Modern D-SLR and mirrorless cameras can shoot at very high ISO values with increasingly minimal loss in image quality. (In the old days, everything went grainy the higher the ISO.) This means that you’ll almost always be able to shoot at the shutter speed required by the situation you’re in.
GO SLOW. Shutter speed also has a more relaxed, hey-shoo-wow side. When you deliberately use a slower shutter speed, you’ll see photo opportunities when you otherwise might have put your camera away and focused on the braai instead.
Take Annerie’s excellent portrait above. By slowing down her shutter speed to 1/80 second
(at ISO 800; aperture f4) the droplets appear to be moving, and the scene has an extra layer of drama. She also used a remote flash, which was positioned on the ground in front of the farmer – her father – which lit up the droplets and gives them that sparkle. The flash provides rim lighting as he lifts his hands in thanks for the rain.
INVEST IN A TRIPOD. Buy the best tripod you can afford. When slowing down your shutter speed, you need a stable base to shoot from.