With film cameras the shutter sits in the camera body just in front of the film plane, it functions similar to a curtain that would open and close according to the time you set, I suspect a digital camera operates in a similar way.
The Speed equates to the Time you allow your camera to open and let light in, this ranges from Bulb (anything longer than 30 seconds) to a fraction of a second, this range can be represented as a standard scale that I recommend everyone try and remember:
Bulb, 30" to 1" 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/500, 1/1000
On a digital camera a second is represented using inverted commas "
You will also notice on your digital camera the scale is in increments of a 1/3, essentially a 1/3 as much light or less light is entering the camera as apposed to 1/2 as shown above,
You can adjust the shutter speed using two main controls, 'S' or 'TV' which is stands for Shutter Priority meaning you only have control over the shutter speed or 'M' which stands for Manual, as the word denotes you have full control.
Images courtesy of dpreview
The Shutter essentially does two things:
It controls light to affect the brightness of your image and,
It gives you creative control over how your images will look.
Controlling Light
The faster the shutter speed (e.g. 1/2000) the less light entering your camera - the darker your image. The slower the speed (e.g. 1") the more light - the brighter your image.
Creative control
Fast shutter speeds allow you to freeze movement, 1/2000 will be fast enough to capture in full sharpness the dog as it jumps for a ball, a slow shutter speed would only capture a blurred motion of the dog. However slow shutter speeds have their use, they can smooth the motion of water for example and is particularly effective in landscape photography, giving a silky smooth appearance to water as it wraps itself around stones or laps against the sea shore.
Image by Michael Kenna
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