Technical language
I've referred to shutter speed in previous articles, but for the sake of completeness I thought I'd write a quick entry on the subject.
What does 'shutter speed' mean?
The term 'shutter speed' refers to the time for which the camera shutter is held open while a photograph is being taken in order to allow light to reach the image sensor (or film in a non-digital camera). Shutter speed is measured in seconds - on the Canon EOS 400D the available shutter speeds range from a maximum duration of 30 seconds (very slow) to a minimum duration of 1/4000th of a second (very fast).
Before I got my Canon EOS 400D I had only ever used point-and-click cameras and so never had to think about the aperture value on my camera. Being non-technically minded I genuinely did not know what the term 'aperture' meant when I first heard it, so I have done some reading and experimenting with my camera to try to get a better (if still somewhat basic) grasp of what the term 'aperture' means, how it is measured and what effect it has on photographs.
My current photography goal is to get comfortable using the Advanced Modes on the Canon EOS 400D. However, for me it is helpful to know some of the theory behind relevant technical terms before I actually try to put anything into practice, so in the next few blog entries I am going to attempt to get a basic grip on some of the technical features I have encountered when playing around with the various Advanced Modes.
