Project365 - Experiments in Shutter Speed

Introduction
Pat & I are in Las Vegas this week, escaping the icy cold of winter in Calgary. It's a beautiful place, and I am taking literally hundreds of pictures. So I thought I'd take a minute and share a fun little technique I learned, which illustrates how your shutter speed affects your overall photograph.
The Setup
Today, nothing fancy. My canon 60D, handheld, with my general-purpose 24-105mm f/4 L series lens. Enough gear to be good for walking around, doing a little "street photography".
The Photos

This first photo has the shutter speed around 1/125th of a second. The water appears to be frozen in time. Chunky & droppy...

Here in this second image, the shutter is left open for just a little longer, at 1/8 of a second. See how silky & smooth the flowing water looks ?



Lessons Learned
Admittedly, in order to change the shutter speed to change the "feel" of the photos, I also had to manipulate the Aperture. These two combined, along with ISO, create the "golden triangle" of perfect exposures. By slowing down the shutter, more water flows past, making the water look silken. Speed it up, and the water looks choppy.