As my activity this semester is to take photos of spring sports, I thought it would be interesting to explore just how much shutter speed can affect photos, but more specifically, sports photographs. Often when looking at sports images there is a variant of techniques used to produce successful photographs, yet it seems to me shutter speed is the most important technique.
For this post, I decided to go to a baseball game and focus on the pitcher. This is because I noticed his body position while throwing the baseball stayed pretty constant, which would make my images easier to compare. Once I decided on my subject, I found a good place with a clear background to take my photos. The overall process of taking the photographs probably took around thirty minutes because they kept on changing positions, but other than that it was all really smooth.
For my setup, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera paired with a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I did not use a tripod while taking these photos because I had not planned to shoot slower than 1/30 for my shutter speed. Any slower than 1/30, I would have had to use a tripod or else my images would turn out completely out of focus. Furthermore, I captured all my sports images in manual mode. This is because I prefer to shoot in manual as I like to have more control over my settings, however Tv mode would work just as well.
Below are my images, the settings that were used to take each of them, and a small description of each image.
ISO: 200 Aperture: 22 Shutter Speed: 1/30
As you can see in this image, the pitcher is almost completely blurred due to his fast motion and the slow shutter speed. Details are hard to spot.
ISO: 200 Aperture: 22 Shutter Speed: 1/50
For this image I made my shutter speed faster by 1/20 of a second. I would not say it is clearer than the 1/30 image, but it is darker as less light was let in due to the faster shutter speed.
ISO: 200 Aperture: 22 Shutter Speed: 1/80
At the shutter speed 1/80, the image starts becoming slightly clearer. It is easier to spot details on the subject and less of his movements are captured.
ISO: 200 Aperture: 13 Shutter Speed: 1/200
Once I moved the shutter speed to 1/200 I had to also change my aperture. If I had stayed at the exact same settings as the previous three, my image would have become overexposed. In addition, the image of the pitcher is getting clearer, but not in complete focus.
ISO: 200 Aperture: 10 Shutter Speed: 1/400
This was the last image I shot of the pitcher. Similar to when I shot at 1/200, I had to change my aperture in order to get a regular, exposed image. At this speed, it is clear to say from 1/400 and faster, any photo taken of the pitcher would be without any blur of prior movements.
After downloading and comparing the images I took I confirmed an opinion I have always had: I enjoy clear sports photos. While there are many successful images with slower shutter speeds, that is just not the style of sports photography I enjoy taking. Personally, my clear-cut, focused sports images always seem to be better to me than the alternative.
However, I am not here to tell you that you should agree with my opinion. If you want to test this out for yourself and decide what shutter speed you like to take sports photos at, this comparison test is really easy to do! All you have to do is pick up your camera and find a subject to focus on. Once you do that, all you need to do is take photos from a variety of shutter speeds and compare. I would recommend staying towards the lower shutter speeds as it is easier to see the effects at numbers from 1/200 and lower. In addition, I would suggest taking more than one photo at each shutter speed just in case you want more options to choose from.