ABSTRACT
Sports photographers probably know more about this than anyone else, because success often hangs on getting the key bit of the action, like a ball, frozen sharp, as well as in position and in focus. It’s a matter of shutter speed, naturally, but different actions call for for different shutter speeds, and for all the calculations that will tell you what needs what, only the experience of shooting often is of any real use. In the exposure triangle of shutter, aperture, and ISO, there is always a trade-off, and a fast shutter speed may come at the price of noise or shallow depth of field. In this image of a Keralan fisherman hauling in a net, the straining movements of his body were not the issue. A modest shutter speed would have dealt with them. The key is the spurt of sand, frozen at 1/500 second by his feet. It catches the eye because it’s sharp and slightly unexpected, and makes the shot. At a slower shutter speed, the image would still have worked to an extent, but without that extra finesse.
