Breaking the Fear Cycle: How I Sharpened My Photography with a Simple Settings Shift
Photography is a continuous learning process—one of experimentation, refinement, and pushing past self-imposed limits. Like many other photographers, I used to hesitate when it came to increasing my shutter speed. I worried that pushing it too high would degrade image quality—leading to more noise, underexposure, or reduced sharpness.
As a result, I found myself stuck in a cycle of playing it safe, often settling for settings that weren’t truly optimised for capturing movement.
However, after months of testing and fine-tuning my approach, I finally broke free from that mindset. I started consistently increasing my shutter speed to 1/2000–1/3000 of a second, and the difference has been remarkable—particularly when photographing fast-moving subjects such as birds in flight.
I’m still relatively new to bird photography, and it comes with a steep learning curve. Birds move unpredictably, often in challenging lighting conditions, making it difficult to capture sharp, well-exposed shots. I’m by no means an expert, but when I have something on my mind, I’m like a dog with a bone—I don’t let go until I’ve figured it out. And lately, getting sharp shots has been that bone!
To maintain a high shutter speed without underexposing my shots, I’ve embraced auto ISO. This setting automatically adjusts ISO to compensate for lighting changes, ensuring I can focus on tracking my subject without worrying too much about exposure settings. For static subjects, I still switch to manual ISO for greater control, but when it comes to fast-moving wildlife, auto ISO has been invaluable.
Another key adjustment has been using an aperture of around f/5.6. This provides the perfect balance—wide enough to let in sufficient light while still creating a shallow depth of field that beautifully separates the subject from the background.
By adopting these settings—a fast shutter speed, auto ISO for action shots, and a moderate aperture—I’ve seen a noticeable improvement in my bird photography. The hesitation to push my camera’s limits held me back for far too long, and I know I’m not alone in that struggle.
If you’ve hesitated to increase your shutter speed for fear of losing image quality, I encourage you to experiment. You might be surprised by the results!
