Shutter Speed

Article: http://digital-photography-school.com/shutter-speed/

This article said that shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter is open. This affects how your picture comes out. Shutter speed is measured in seconds, including fractions of second. Having a shutter speed with a large number as the denominator means that the shutter will be open for less time than a shutter speed with a low denominator. The shutter being open for less time means the picture will be taken much faster than a shutter that is open for a long time. You would use a fast shutter speed when taking pictures of things moving fast (soccer game, surfing). The fast shutter speed freezes the scene without any blurs. You would take pictures with a slow shutter speed when you want to let movement blur. Examples of using a slow shutter speed is to take pictures of moving stars in the night sky, or to show that water is moving and not just frozen if you were to take a picture with fast shutter speed. Usually when taking pictures with slow shutter speed you are going to have to use a tripod, because since it takes a while to take the picture you might shake the camera if you are using your hands. Using a tripod avoids extra unnecessary blur in the picture. Shutter speed numbers can range from 1/4000 (fast)  to 30 (slow) seconds, but it all depends on your camera.