Shutter Sisters

sunday school: how i learned to stop worrying and love the blur

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I love natural light.  It is my illumination of choice when shooting photos.  However, since I don’t have the power to keep the sun up high on the horizon or to crank up the moonlight to an acceptable level whenever I want, I sometimes find myself at the mercy of the glow from a lamp, candle, stagelight, chandelier, streetlight, cellphone, etc.  I’m sure many of you have also experienced this lack of supernatural power.  What’s a Shutterbug Mama to do in a situation like this?  Put away the camera?  Use the flash? Crank-up-the-ISO-and-set-the-aperture-wide-open- then-underexpose-and-fix-the-shot-later?  I have to admit that the last option is the one I usually chose, often with *bleh* results.  That is until I finally came to my senses and learned to stop worrying and Love The Blur.

I came to the realization one day that sometimes life happens so much, so fast, and the light available to take it all in is so limited, as is the ability (for most of us, anyway) to bend the time-space continuum, that even a single moment in time comes out to be a blur.  And you know what?  That’s okay.  If that’s how life is, then that’s how I want to capture it in that moment.

So now, instead of performing technical gymnastics to get a crisp shot, I simply slow down the shutter speed a few notches and let the shot be what it will be.  I now love doing long(ish) exposure photography, especially at night and especially with artificial light.  

And it’s not always a lack of light that makes life blurry.  Spend 5 minutes with my daughter Cadence (or any kid, for that matter), and you’ll know what I mean.  Sometimes the natural light is there, but when you’re dealing with your own little whirlwind, it may not be enough to freeze the frame, and sometimes a blur is the most appropriate way to capture the playfulness and energy of that moment.

Whatever the situation may be, it’s so liberating To Embrace The Blur, To Love It, To Make It My Friend.  Cuzamora,  Shama-Lama Mama and  Molly |A Certain Slant of Light know what I’m talking about.

How about you?  Do you Love The Blur too?  Let’s see your favorite Blurry Moments!

Comments

  11. I’ve been coming to your blog for only a short time but I love the photos. Today I feel like I can share something as well. I hate to use my flash. I took this pic just hanging around the house. I like how it came out. I think it shows how much my daughter loves to dance.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/16566180@N05/2304037629/

    I noticed that a lot of the other contributers have kids in their pics. They’re always on the move.

  28. Thanks for the link! Here are some more of my blurry shots that I still love:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/550040672/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/550460218/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/552410034/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/549366493/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/549421463/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/565489692/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/565939150/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/552790574/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/576949579/in/set-72157600359127874/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/acertainslantoflight/668136615/in/set-72157600359127874/

    Huh. I apparently am really into the blur. 🙂

  32. oh, I forgot about this one. It’s one of my favorites… trying to catch a picture of a bluebird and it took off right when my camera snapped. I was SO bummed, but actually liked it in the end.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/marycalissa/2139292571

    I’m loving seeing everyone’s pictures…. so excited to have found this blog!! 🙂

  34. Totally guilty of deleting blurry photos on instinct. I still need to embrace the blur, love the blur. Thanks for the reminder. Sometimes we get so caught up in the technical aspect of photography that we kill the fun of it. And the story while we’re at it. And by we, I mean me because I’m a control freak who just can.t. let. go. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s photos! 🙂

  46. Very timely post, coicidentally, I’ve had a lot of them lately, both due to low light (art museum-no flash allowed) and fast kids(tball season)! I took this one with no flash, and like you mentioned hi iso and lower speed, so a bit blurry and grainy.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandaroo/2308647415/
    this one my daughter was flying by during her tball game
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mandaroo/2308641661/in/photostream/
    Not sure how I feel about them, but one of a kind moments that I have to keep!