Shutter priority

How it is used

Useful when movement matters most, as with sports, wildlife, cars and children. Tv stands for time value, Canon's term. If the light is too low, the lens may run out of aperture and the photo will be underexposed.

Example sentences

1. At the match I used shutter priority at 1/1000 to freeze the action.

2. Shutter priority is handy for panning shots at motorsport events.

Common collocations

• shutter priority mode
• shoot in shutter priority
• switch to shutter priority

Related terms

• aperture priorityA semi-automatic mode, marked A or Av, in which you choose the aperture and the camera chooses the shutter speed for a correct exposure.
• manual modeA camera mode, marked M on the dial, in which you set the aperture, shutter speed and usually the ISO yourself, and the camera changes nothing.
• shutter speedThe length of time the shutter stays open to let light reach the sensor, such as 1/1000 of a second or two seconds.
• motion blurThe streaky, blurred look of something that moves while the shutter is open, or of the whole image when the camera moves.

More terms: Camera Parts & Settings

• DSLR
• mirrorless camera
• sensor
• shutter
• viewfinder
• white balance
• tripod
• megapixel
• memory card
• burst mode
• full-frame
• crop factor