actually I dont do much of a long exposure...I used tripod as a stand for drop or smoke shots
rule of shutter speed is simple...you just need focal length on crop sensor to get sharp pics
I go as low as 1/20 on 17-50 or 1/30 on 35mm prime..not lower then that
Ok. I too follow that rule to get sharp photos but sometimes due to insufficient light I had to slow down (i.e less then 1/100s at 200mm) but that cause shaky or blur photos. I'm not good in keeping the camera stable either. Thanks to VR feature otherwise results would be worst for me.
Last question. Your photos in Flickr look sharp and vibrant in color. Are they really actual photos or did you make them better in post processing? if so, which are those settings?
I take raw photos, develop/edit in zoner photo studio (Make changes to exposure, contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, crop & etc) and export as jpg. Still no match to your photos.
I think its because you shot in good lighting and lenses you use have high quality elements.
p.s Those macro shots and flower shots are heartbreaking ones.