Shutter Speeds

[gpdexplorer 46]

What is a good shutter speed to use when trying to get a shot of a emergency vehicle with its lights on. So far, my guess is that I've used a shutter speed that is too slow because my shots have been blury. When I use automatic, most of the time you can't see that the lights are on.

I appreciate all of the advice that anyone puts forth.

Andrew

[Porsha911gt3 8]

You probably need to shoot at around 1/1000th or possibly more, it's all about timing just like everything else with photography. If the vehicles are moving then you must also account for that.

[Guest]

What is a good shutter speed to use when trying to get a shot of a emergency vehicle with its lights on. So far, my guess is that I've used a shutter speed that is too slow because my shots have been blury. When I use automatic, most of the time you can't see that the lights are on.

I appreciate all of the advice that anyone puts forth.

Andrew

←

You should drop a note to JT Camp....he is an expert....just look at some of his shots...the guy has quite a talent with the camera

[Guest emtb23]

the rule of thumb is that anything under 1/60 you need a tripod. If you're using 1/30 or something around there, or maybe even a little slower, you can get away with just bracing the camera against a ledge or something like that. tripod will give you the most options, though.

the reason your pictures are blurry is that under 1/60 the shaking of your hands starts to be visible in the photos.

also, make sure your flash isn't on. even at low shutter speeds, flash will be compensate and freeze the image.

edit: what I wrote above assumes that you're trying to get a shot of a still emergency vehicle with lights flashing. If you want a shot of a moving emergency vehicle you're going to want to use a lower shutter speed and pan the camera. I've never tried this, but I imagine that if you use 1/60 with no flash you should be able to pan with the moving vehicle and have the lights look good/vehicle be in focus.

Edited May 12, 2006 by emtb23

[gpdexplorer 46]

THanks for the info guys. I have some pictures to develop now, I hope they come out good. But, now I have to either try to get my lens fixed or buy a new one because I broke the zoom over the weekend.

[Guest]

look on sites like

popphoto.com

and

photography.com

I use 1/1000th or more for lights and stuff