There is a shutter at the front of a camera lens that opens when a photograph is captured. Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open for. A slow shutter speed opens the shutter for a long amount of time, whereas a fast shutter speed only opens the shutter for a short amount of time. A slow shutter speed will capture motion. Anything that moves while being captured with a slow shutter speed will be a blur. Because of this, photographs taken with a slow shutter speed must be taken with a tripod, otherwise the inevitable hand shake will make the whole photo blurry. Conversely, a fast shutter speed will "freeze time", meaning everything will be sharp and crisp.
Diagram from https://photographyhero.com/ultimate-guide-learn-shutter-speed/
below are some examples of different shutter speed settings:
fast shutter speed
1/4000
slow shutter speed
1/2
fast shutter speed slow shutter speed
best photo
This is my best image because the shutter speed has been set to clearly capture the crisp details of the water droplets. Furthermore, I have used exposure and white balance to create a dark, almost cold setting with the red of the flower hugely contrasting the background.
worst photo
In this image, I attempted to make a trailing effect with a slow shutter speed. However, I did not account for the exposure that had to be lowered, resulting in an overexposed, bleached out photo. Also, I should've used a tripod to ensure that the shutter speed didn't capture the camera shake.