# Shutter speed of 10..or 1/10



## Natural_Disaster (Feb 11, 2010)

While reading through some tutorials i came across some that say to use a shutter speed of 10 seconds...or 8 seconds....
This means 10 not 1/10 and 8 not 1/8.....right?


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## R6_Dude (Feb 11, 2010)

what type of pictures was the tutorial about?


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## bgaideski (Feb 11, 2010)

If its a photography book, if it says 10 seconds, it will probably mean actually 10 seconds. Not 1/10, or 1 tenth of a second.

10 seconds is a long time, and would most def require a tripod. Night time shooting?


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## Natural_Disaster (Feb 11, 2010)

_*Fireworks*
For fireworks, try a film speed of ISO100, with a shutter speed of 8  seconds and an aperture of f8.  Digital cameras are particularly good  for this, because you can check your results as you take the photos and  make any adjustments as needed.  A tripod is essential for this type of  photography, due to the very long exposure time.  Also, fireworks  photography is often actually several exposures that are combined  together to give plenty of fireworks in the image while avoiding any  light glare from a single long exposure.  Use manual mode for this  situation, or the camera may try to expose for a dark sky instead of  fore the bright burst of the fireworks.  Remember, the actual burst  lasts only a second or two.  If you use program, Aperture or Shutter  modes on your camera, the burst will be over by the time the camera  meters off it.  Also, set the lens to manual focus mode and set it to  focus on infinite, or you&#8217;ll lose the shot as the camera tries to focus  on the brief burst of the fireworks._
Tutorial by Tiberius47

Hope its ok to copy and paste that...


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## bgaideski (Feb 11, 2010)

I've never had a go with fireworks but want to this summer for sure.

A long exposure sounds right, but depending it could be too much, depends on the type of firework shot you are looking for. I would think with 8 seconds your more likely to get long streams of light as the firework falls towards the ground. Def use a tripod or else they wont turn out.​


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## Big Mike (Feb 11, 2010)

Yup, when shooting fireworks, it's not uncommon to have long shutter speeds like 8 or 10 seconds.  

One reason is that it's often hard to judge exactly when the fireworks will explode, so with a longer shutter speed, you don't have to be exact.  
Another reason is that you can sometimes catch more than one blast in a single exposure, making it more interesting.
Thirdly, a longer shutter speed allows you to capture the whole life span of the firework...from the spread to the downward trail of the sparks.  Sometimes that looks good, sometimes not.

Of course, there are other factors.  For example, if it's not very dark, then a long shutter speed like that may cause you to overexpose the image.  Or it might give you a slightly exposed foreground, which might be an improvement over a pure black sky for a background.  

Shooting fireworks is one of those things that can be done in very different ways.  There really isn't a right or wrong and experimenting can be lots of fun.  The only problem is that you don't have all night to experiment because the show is usually over way too soon when you finally figure out what is working for you


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## Iron Flatline (Feb 11, 2010)

Thank Goodness for Grand Finales!


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