Shutter Speeds

''In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time a camera's shutter is open when taking a photograph. The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time.'' - wikipedia

Movement
If you are trying to create the impression of movement in an image, a slower shutter speed is used. A faster shutter speed is needed to achieve a more static, lifeless image. 

The light levels you are working in will also have an impact on the image. The light levels combined with the shutter speed will determine how much blur is captured. 

Below are images I have captured using a mixture of different shutter speeds, blur and flash.

1/500 second f/4.8 ISO 500  

A fast shutter speed. No camera shake

 1/125 second f/5.6 ISO 400
Slightly slower shutter speed, there is no camera shake but there is some motion blur coming from the vehicles.

1/8 second f/25 ISO 400
Slow shutter speed, visible camera shake, this could be caused by movement coming from myself or the camera mirror that can sometimes wobble when the image is captured.

3.0 second f/14 ISO 200
Image captured with camera movement.

 3.0 second f/29 ISO 200
Image captured with camera movement.

3.0 second f/18 ISO 200 

Image captured with camera movement.

1.0 second with flash f/10 ISO 200 

Image captured with camera movement, using the flash. 

Chris Friel

Chris Friel is an abstract landscape photographer. Originally an artist (painter), he bought is first camera in the 90's. Experimenting with his camera he ended up producing abstract photographs. Even though his images have been taken with a camera, they still give the impression of a painting.

Below are two examples of Freil's work;

Example 1 - Chris Friel

Example 2 - Chris Friel 

I tried to create my own abstract images that have been modified in Photoshop, to enhance the images. My aim was to try and produce painting like photographs similar to Friel's work. Below are the results:

Image 1

I am very pleased with this image. I captured the image using a 3 second shutter speed, but kept the camera as still as I could whilst it captured the image. There was enough shake on the camera to blur the image, but not so much that it completely distorted the image so the tree shapes could no longer be seen. In Photoshop I darkened the barks of the trees and enhanced the greens so you can see the contrasting colours clearly. There are still flecks of blue from the sky in the background which also keeps the shapes of the trees at the top.

Image 2

This image was also captured on a 3 second shutter speed, holding the camera still and letting any natural movement from myself or the camera create the blur. I've used bright contrasting colours to try and give the impression of a painting rather than a photograph. I think the downfall to this image are the markings on the middle tree and a small pink dot to the right. I would have preferred this image if I had been able to darken the tree barks whilst keeping the rest of the colour vibrant and bold.