How do i pick the perfect shutter speed?

Shutter speed is one of the most important things in capturing an image. Shutter speed can completely alter your image.

So what is shutter speed?

"Shutter speed is the length of time your camera sensor (or film) is exposed to light" - basically a fancy way of saying how long it takes to take your picture. So long shutter speed means that it will take longer to take photos, overall letting more light into your image.  The lighter the image the more exposed or bright the picture gets. With a slow shutter, it's the opposite. So less light and less exposure, making a darker image. If you shoot handheld, then your handshake will add motion blur to the image. Summing that up is basically it's impossible to not have a blurry image without a tripod or high shutter. Now, what is motion blur? Motion blur is when the image stretches or looks blurry because you didn't hold still. Or in fancy terms, it is "the loss of sharpness at slow shutter speeds due to movement in your scene."