This week’s tip is very straightforward. Do you ever find yourself shooting without a tripod and wondering what the lowest shutter speed is that you can use without having any motion blur? There’s a simple rule of thumb in photography called the “reciprocal rule” which states that your shutter speed should not be slower than the reciprocal of your effective focal length. Ugh, I hate the way that reads. All it really means is that if you want to determine the lowest shutter speed you should use, look at the focal length of your lens. So if you are using a 70mm lens, your lowest shutter speed would be 1/70 sec. A 200mm lens would be 1/200 sec. You get the idea.
This is a very general rule and really only applies to handheld shots, but it’s a good one to know. In all honesty, when not using a tripod I just try to make sure my shutter speed never drops below 1/60 sec (as long as my zoom lens has stabilization, anyway).
Have a great weekend!
