 BetterPhoto Member |
Is there more to shutter speeds and apertures? I know shutter speed stops motion and blurs motion. I know f-stops blur the background or vice versa. And when they are used together, create a good picture. But, is there more they can do, can a higher or lower shutter speed or f stop add contrast, decrease contrast. Is there else they do that effects a picture that I dont know. thank you.
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Jeff Galbraith |
Hi Jason, You've pretty much got it. I can only think of a couple of more points to add. One is that a wider apature (4 or less) will give you better colour saturation, great for sunsets and the like. And there are also certain situations where a very fast shutter speed is your best choice eg. hand holding while shooting with a 200mm lens or higher to avoid motion blur. There may be something that I'm not thinking of--anyone else have something to add?
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
"a wider apature (4 or less) will give you better colour saturation" - That's a new one on me. I'd like to hear the theory behind that one. Jason, you pretty much have a grip on what they control. Another consideration is that smaller apertures (large f-stop numbers) while increasing DOF are also usually not as sharp as those f-stops on the wider end.
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Jeff Galbraith |
Sorry that I took so long to get back with the theroy on the wide apature/saturation thing, but it was something that I picked up from a photographer friend of mine who has been in the business for many years. I never really questioned the technque--I just used it and found it to work. Anyway, she used the example of pouring paint onto a canvas to explain it. It goes something like this: Using a small apature and a longer shutter speed is like slowly pouring the paint onto the canvas. Using a wider apature and a faster shutter speed is like quickly dumping the paint onto the canvas--it results in a more intense saturation.
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
Call me a cynic but even the analogy doesn't make sense. Whether you pour it on slowly or quickly you end up with the same amount of paint. It's the same with light. The only time the exposure time matters is at the very long end and very short end. This is due to reciprocity failure. On extremely long and short exposures with most films you need to compensate due to reciprocity failure. Otherwise you will get color shifts and underexposure.
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Piper Lehman |
Jeff G, I've heard that same theory about increased color sats with wider aps. Can't remember where I read it, but it was a respected source, or I wouldn't have commited it to memory (got enough important data that escapes me as it is...). I want to say it was Lee Frost, but I don't think that's it. Seems like it was from one of the photo mags, i.e., Photography Monthly or Peterson's Photographic. Thanks a lot, Jeff. Now I won't be able to quit furrying my brow over this until I find it again! ARGH! :) Now, let's see if we can't put our thinking caps on and figure out the logic behind this theory.... Until then...
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