Hi, I'm Holly.
I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a coffee drinker. I am a wine lover. I am awkward. I am quiet, but if I’m loving wine at the moment you can’t shut me up. I hate clutter, but I hate to clean even more… that makes me an amazing homemaker (can you detect my sarcasm?). I’m a planner, but I’m not very organized. I am the world’s worst procrastinator, but I always get things done. I love nature and being outside, but I also love being at home. I love to travel. I love people… except the mean ones. I’m unapologetically me.
I am married to my high school sweetheart, and we live in a rural town in Michigan with our three girls. We have lots of animals… 5 dogs, 5 cats (three outdoors, and two indoors), 12 chickens, three ducks, and a bunny. We love country life, but we are actually converted country bumpkins, having lived in the suburbs most of our lives. We moved out to the sticks in 2016 and haven’t looked back since. You will often find me outside, in any season, enjoying the outdoors with my family and fur-babies. And my favorite thing to do is hop in the car with no destination in mind and see where the road takes me.
In 2005, we welcomed our first daughter, and I became a mother. And 8 months later, I lost my own mother. My mom had been sick during my pregnancy and I didn’t know then how to help her. After my first daughter, Sarah, was born I started photographing her and my mother with my point and shoot (the only camera I had at the time), making prints for my mom to help lift her spirits. After she passed, I no longer had her as my reason to photograph, but in its place, I had a bigger purpose to pick up my camera. My family. My three girls. My everything.
“A still photograph is called a still photograph because the picture doesn’t move, not because the objects in the picture are not in motion. The photographer's mission, should he decide to accept it, is to capture motion with stillness.“
~ Vincent Versace
Photography, by nature, is a still medium. No matter what we do, we are clicking the shutter to capture a moment that is a fraction of a second. However, you can create the feeling of movement by using different photography techniques. This heightens the senses for the viewer and brings images to life adding an element of interest and dimension to your scene.
There are a few techniques you can use to capture motion. All of them have to do with your shutter speed. This is the length of time a camera shutter is open, allowing light into your camera sensor. You can freeze motion with a very fast shutter speed capturing action as it happens. And you can blur motion with a very slow shutter speed, making it feel as if the image is actually moving.
Movement: Fast Shutter Speed
This is probably the easiest method of capturing movement, and one you will use most frequently. To freeze motion, you will need a high shutter speed and a good understanding of how to use the exposure triangle (ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed). To capture and suspend action of my fast moving children, I like to keep my shutter speed at 1/1000s or higher. Doing this during golden hour or low light situations will require that you increase your ISO to allow more light into your camera, and/or open up your lens with a wide aperture. On a bright sunny day, you’ll have more wiggle room all the way around with your exposure triangle. Just be mindful that if you are trying to freeze movement mid-air, like my girls jumping down below, you’ll need to think of your shutter speed first, and then adjust your other settings accordingly.
Here are some examples of freezing movement.
Wind
Wind is one of my favorite things to capture. I LOVE a windy day and strive to make the viewer feel like they can almost feel the wind themselves.
In this image of my daughter collecting rocks on the beach, it was an extremely windy day. I normally wouldn’t use a shutter speed to freeze motion with only 1/400s. But she was rather still and the wind was doing a great job of creating movement on its own.
Water
In this image, my girls are at an indoor water park and they were racing down the slides over and over. I wanted to freeze the water splash as they came down and highlight the texture of the splash. I used a fast shuter speed of 1/1250s and captured the water all around them in beautiful suspended ripples.
Water Freelensed
I shoot movement in water ALL the time. I literally have thousands of images over the years of suspended water as my girls splash and play in the pool or run in the sprinklers. One of my favorite ways to capture frozen water is by freelensing. I have a rain sleeve for my camera to keep it dry (trust me, the hose has been turned on me and I’ve had a few close calls). I always use my 85mm as well so I’m farther away from my subject to avoid getting wet. The magical bokeh you get with freelensed water is so amazing! I used a shutter speed of 1/3200s for the shot on the left.
Freezing Action
In this image my girls were running through the fog on a trip to the sand dunes. I composed the image so my girls were framed and in layers and wanted to freeze them actually running. I used a shu8er speed of 1/2500s to catch them midstride.
Movement: Slow Shutter Speed
Using a slow shutter speed is the perfect way to imply movement in your images. Again, you will need a good understanding of your exposure triangle, as you are going to have to have a very low shutter speed and adjust your other settings accordingly. I typically always keep my ISO at 100 for these types of shots, and move my aperture up higher than I normally would so I can get my shutter speed down low enough to show movement.
The speed that your subject is moving will determine how low of a shutter speed you’ll need to capture the motion blur. Our backyard swing is actually a pretty slow and smooth ride, so in the image below I had to lower my shutter speed to 1/20s to get good blur. I also asked my older daughter to stand still within the frame to add some juxtaposition in the image.
When capturing movement with a slow shutter speed, you will want to steady your camera on a stable surface or use a tripod. Even the slightest camera shake will make the entire image blur instead of just your subject.
Whenever I come across one of these retro merry-go-rounds, I hop on with one or more of my kids and give it a whirl. You can’t use a tripod when you are on the merry-go-round. So instead I set 6 my camera to shoot in burst mode (or continuous shooting mode). This way, I only have to push the shutter one time and it fires multiple shots, reducing camera shake from pressing the shutter. I usually wrap one arm around one of the bars as well to hold myself as steady as possible. The merry-go-round moves fast, so I don’t need as low of a shutter speed to show the movement. In these two images, my shutter speed was 1/60s. I was able to get sharp focus on my girls, with motion blur in the background… and I hopped off quite dizzy!
As much as I love to freeze movement when shooting water, I also love to show motion blur in water. Sometimes it’s difficult to get motion blur in water with a still subject, but if you have a cooperative kiddo, and a particularly wavy day at the beach like the one above, it can be an amazing shot to capture. In the shot above, my oldest was sitting on the shoreline letting the waves crash over her. I didn’t have a tripod, so I set my camera settings and just asked her not to move. I waited for the next wave, and with my camera set on burst mode, I fired away.
Shutter Speed: If you are capturing motion blur in a waterfall or waves and want that silky effect, use a shutter speed of 1/15s or slower. If you have a subject in your frame, you will likely have to have a higher shutter speed, but you will still capture that feeling of the rushing water.
ISO: Use a low ISO setting. I typically leave mine at ISO 100 so I can get a slow shutter speed and a small aperture for a larger depth of field.
Tripod: Use a tripod whenever you can to reduce camera shake. If you don’t have a tripod handy, find a stable surface or steady yourself against a wall or a piece of furniture. Also, holding your arms in tight against your body and taking a deep breath and holding it before you press the shutter will reduce camera shake as well.
Filters: If it’s bright out, you may not be able to get your shutter speed low enough to show movement. A Neutral Density Filter acts like sunglasses for your lens and will let you get a slower shutter speed with proper exposure.
In these shots I wanted to capture the stage where my daughter loved to finger paint. Her little hands and fingers moved so fast smearing the paint all over the canvas. I wanted to highlight her speed and enthusiasm so I chose a slow shutter speed of 1/25s.
The easel was obviously still, so I could concentrate on the movement of her hands and the brush. I set my camera to shoot in burst mode, stood over her and shot several frames as she worked away. Not only did I capture her artwork, these images take me back to being right there as she was creating it.
Movement: Panning
Panning is a bit more difficult than simply using a slow shutter speed to capture motion. But when executed properly it makes the viewer almost feel the movement and speed. In simple terms, panning is when you move your camera in the same direction and time along with a moving subject. When done correctly, you’ll end up with the subject in focus and a blurry background. These images work best with images moving in a straight line in a forward trajectory.
Shutter Speed: Just as in our other method of creating motion blur, you’ll need a slow shutter speed for panning. I typically choose a speed between 1/20s and 1/60s depending on the speed of my subject.
Placement: Stand parallel to the path of your subject.
Movement: Release the shutter, and move your camera smoothly with the movement of your subject. Release your shutter gently to reduce camera shake or set your shutter on a 1 second delay. Continue to move with the subject, even a[er you hear the “click” of the shutter. This will smooth out the movement and motion blur from start to finish and reduce the risk of a blurry subject.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to panning. And the results can be very hit or miss, especially when you first start doing it. It may be helpful when you first start trying this technique to set your camera to Shutter Priority mode. This is kind of like shooting in Semi-Auto. You’ll be able to choose the shutter speed and the camera will take care of setting the rest of your exposure for you. You can also use a tripod with a swivel to help smooth out your movements. Using a lens with image stabilization can make it much easier as well.
Get Creative
I also find that using a few creative techniques like freelensing or shooting with lensbabies can add just the right touch to an image when trying to show movement.
Lensbabies come in many varieties. I personally have a Lensbaby Sweet 50 and a Twist 60. The Sweet 50 creates a zoom-like blur around your focal point and the Twist 60 has a radial bokeh around your focal point. Both can make your image come to life with movement! Freelensing always adds a dreamy blur and I love the effect it has on bringing the element of movement within your frame. Both techniques require some practice, but are well worth the effort!