The Shutter Speed Progression

Shutter speed settings are simple to explain because they represent just one thing: how long your camera’s setting remains open. When it comes to remembering which shutter speed lets in more light, it’s fairly simple (provided you paid attention in your fractions class in second grade) because there’s no abstract or trick math going on — each shutter speed number represents a fraction of a second of exposure time. In other words, a speed of “30” indicates 1/30 second, and “1000” is 1/1000 second. Most cameras these days also have an extended range of shutter speeds that includes full seconds and, in some cases, minutes. Usually, full seconds are indicated by a quote mark after the number, but you should read your manual to see how these sp....