Photoshop... In Camera

I have been revisiting a lot of my old wedding and portrait photography in preparation of getting them touched up, re-sized and re-branded when I came across one of my favorite shots. This one was taken back in April of 2008 and that is Sherri and Tom that you see there. This photo really goes to show you how an artists technique and know-how can turn the ordinary into extraordinary to create memorable images that just "Wow". Who needs Photoshop, this 'blur' effect was done entirely in-camera. No Photoshop was used to achieve that effect here people!


So how the heck did I shoot this photo?

First off, Sherry and Tom were in on this... There guests were not. They didn't know the specifics though. All I did was tell them that I requested the DJ to play a slow song and I want them to stand still on the dance floor embracing and looking at one another until I give them the go ahead.

There reception was held at a location where they had a second floor balcony around the place. I had my Giottos tripod setup there already and waiting for me to snap the camera on.

Next was my camera settings. I needed to take a properly exposed photo but had to ensure that the shutter speed was slow enough so I that moving subjects would blur some. I was using Canon at that time. I had my Canon 5D set to ISO 400, aperture at f/2.8 and shutter speed was 1 second... THAT shutter speed setting is what gave me the blur effect. My focal length was 70mm and I was using either the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for it. This was all shot with ambient light and no flash was used at all.

I ran upstairs, hooked up my camera to the tripod and took the shot. Since the bride and groom were standing still, there was little to no blurring of them. All the dancing couples on the other hand had no idea and were moving around so they were blurry...

I DID use SOME Photoshop BTW. All I did was add a vignette and cropped in a little.

You might be asking why did I use ISO 400 and why did I choose that combo? Well, because it was a dark reception venue and I wanted to introduce blur while also having a clean file. ISO 400 seemed right to me. I could have also shot this at any number of settings:

For example:
- 1" @ f/4 and ISO 800
- 1/2" @ f/2.8 and ISO 800
- etc..

Long story short, there are many ways to take a properly exposed photograph. Where we, the photographer, come into play is in deciding on how we want to portray what we are photographing... If you are a sports shooter and want the sports player to freeze in time, then do everything in your power to have a fast shutter speed (e.g. use fast f/2.8 or less lenses and higher ISO). If you shoot landscapes then maybe you want to blur the water in a stream or waterfall. Use a slow shutter speed there...

Thanks for stopping by!
Mike