We all love our crisp, tack-sharp images, especially when it comes to wedding and portrait photography. This is why we have a tenancy to always think faster in terms of faster lenses and faster shutter speeds to freeze the motion.
But while most images should be captured at motion-freezing shutter speeds, it’s important to explore creativity in all aspects of our photography, including motion blur and exposing for darker scenes. Movement is beautiful, interesting, and even powerful. Movement is action; and action can help improve an ordinary image. For a few select images, consider dropping the shutters to create certain effects.
Here are a few examples of slow shutter speeds in wedding and engagement photography.
… to capture movement of waves
… to capture movement of trains or other large objects
… to capture movement of surrounding people
… to capture detail in dark scenes
… to capture streaks of light
The point of this article isn’t to get into the how-to’s of each shot but to hopefully inspire you to think outside the box and experiment with slower shutter speeds to add interest and action to your scenes. Happy shooting! Of course, we welcome your comments below.
–
These images are post produced using the SLR Lounge Lightroom Presets and are copyright Lin and Jirsa, Los Angeles Wedding Photographers.