Brian and I had the honor of shooting an amazing wedding in Denver, CO, where I was able to utilize slowing shutter speed down to capture the romance.  It was a three day event with no expense spared from custom linens to an 8 piece band being flown in. There are so many wonderful photos to share, but for now, I leave you with one of my favorite. The First Dance.
Every year Brian and I pick something new to focus on for improving or exploring with our photography. This year, I’ve been focusing on capturing emotion through means of showing movement. There is so much focus these days on photos only passing if they are sharp, sharp, sharp. But sometimes we lose the emotion, the romance, the mystery when all the softness is removed.  You can capture that softness by slowing shutter speed.
When Preston and Anne started their First Dance, I happened to already have my camera on a tripod. I had just been getting some big, wide angle room, scene setters (promise to show you later). I decided to take advantage of my camera being on the tripod and get in close with the wide angle. My ISO was all the way down to a 100 ISO to allow as much velvety, color saturation as possible. My aperture was up at a f/5. That’s a bit high for me, but I wanted the suspended ball lanterns and onlookers to have a bit of definition. The shutter speed was where it all came together.
Since my camera was on a tripod, I could slow my shutter speed all the way down to 1/2 a second. This slow shutter speed gave me the motion blur in Anne’s wedding dress sweeping the floor. Since everyone else was standing relatively still as they watched the couple dance, they are not blurred but more defined then the couple. This makes Anne’s motion stand out with so much more significance. When I look at this photo, it reminds my heart of the romance, the elegance, the passion that filled the tent during their First Dance. I want my photos to be sharp when sharpness serves the story I’m wanting to tell. But at the same time, I never want to close my heart to the idea of slowing a moment down by showing the motion.
As you are embracing your camera this summer, pick one thing to work on instead of everything at once. And while you work on that one thing, be slow to delete the blurry photos. You never know what magic they may hold.  Or, take a bold step in a different direction and intentionally slow your shutter speed down to capture the motion, like I did above. The joy of photography will continue to grow as you enlarge your space to experiment.
A heartfelt thank you to Anne, Preston and their family and friends for giving us the honor of capturing their wedding event.
Share your romantic photography when slowing shutter speed down on my Facebook page, I’d love to give you feedback!
Much, much love,
Me Ra
I really appreciate you giving us “permission” to embrace the images that aren’t perhaps technically perfect or perfect according to “they.” I shot a wedding recently and I was very focused on telling the story of that day. During the reception I chose to shoot with no flash (I had one… but I didn’t like the story it was telling). Instead I chose to raise my ISO and embrace the grain. For me the grain and lack of flash enhanced the story of the reception. There were a couple images I took that at first glance weren’t sharp. But I couldn’t bring myself to delete them. Now… they are some of my favorite images of the day. The softness, grain and backlighting tell such a dramatic story of the couple dancing together as man and wife. Thanks for the reminder that photography isn’t always about perfection. Because of you I always keep story telling at the forefront of my mind. 🙂
movement in photos is one of my favorite things lately. so many happy accidents, too, with the slow shutter speed. gorgeous abstracts. I love your image above. The bride and groom in their own world, absorbed in one another.
I have a photo of my daughter Grace that I always return to – when she was beginning chemo, exhausted from radiation, so still, but with nerves and energy and motion all around her. So much story in a still image.
thanks for sharing.
I can certainly see why this is one of your favorites! Beautiful!!!
This just beautiful MeRa & so romantic. Makes u want to dance with the newly weds…….Love much, Grandma :o)
Slowing down and becoming aware of the possibilities, is a wonderful exercise for life in general! This is such an easy recipe to try out anywhere one thing is moving and the rest of the scene is relatively still. Great post Me Ra!
So glad you liked this post! Thanks for all the feedback and your own stories. (And thanks Grandma for posting a comment! You are the BEST Grandma ever!)
xoxo,
m
I love and appreciate the confidence aspects of photography to which you constantly inspire, espouse, and remind business women to embrace. Thanks for the inspiration!
Theresa
http://www.theresaminnettephotography.com
I love this picture. So often I’m so focused on getting the image sharp and well exposed and I don’t think outside of the box. I hope you post more from this wedding. I love your wedding images, they are always so beautiful. 🙂
HI Me Ra…I shoot Sony as well. What lens do you like for this type of shot? I am shopping for a wide angle for this toy of shot along with large group shots and don’t know if I should go with a 24mm prime or a 24-70mm (or something similar). Any thoughts?