Project365 - How Shutter Speed Interacts with Ambient Light

Introduction

Shooting at night can be challenging. Often, the photographer is dealing with different kinds of lighting. Sometimes, there is very little light reflecting off the subject. Sometimes, the photographer adds light to the subject from an external source, such as a flash. And sometimes, the subject of the photo is a source of light itself. These all create challenges for the photographer to overcome.

The Setup
Camera - Canon 60D, lens - Canon 24-105mm f/4
We were walking around Las Vegas, and while I had scouted the shoot, I hadn't planned to run it when I did. Hence, I was a little unprepared. But since we were in the right place, at the right time - may as well make the best of it ! So I shot handheld, using a railing to steady the camera.
The Photos

In this photo, the image is very dark. We can see the fountains clearly enough, but we can really only see the spotlights on the building behind. It was shot at f/4, 1/500th of a second. Further, the lights under the fountains are the only appreciable light source.

This photo is better, having been shot at f/4, but at 1/200th of a second. You can start to make out the details of the building in the reflected lights of the fountains.

Finally, this image is the best, shot at 1/125. This small increment of shutter speed allows a little more light to get onto the sensor, while still being quick enough to still negate any camera shake.



Lessons Learned
You will notice that I had three nearly-identical images to demonstrate the effects of shutter speed relative to the ambient light. This was not done because I was mindful of writing this blog. The fact is that I was experimenting with my shutter speed to achieve the results I wanted. I do a LOT of learning by trial and error. The beautiful thing about digital photography is that I can experiment to my heart's content, without having to incur any incremental "costs" !