Thank you very much.
Slow shutter shots in daylight will usually require some filters to help darken down the scene so you don't end up blowing out all the highlights and getting a big mess of white. Most cameras set to their minimum apertures will still not be able to shoot more than fractions of a second or so to get a proper exposure.
Neutral Density, or ND, filters are used for this purpose, though you need alot of stopping power during bright daylight. Typically, an ND4 filter would be a 2-stop reduction of light...enough to get you roughly two more stops of shutter speed than without it. An ND8 is roughly a 3 stop filter. By themselves, they wouldn't reduce the light enough to take a slow shutter shot in daylight, but if you stack a few of them together, you might be able to get there.
I used an ND400 filter, which is a 9-stop filter, which is very strong. The filter itself is almost black and you can't see through it. So when you put it on your camera, the camera thinks it's nighttime, and requires a much longer shutter speed to properly expose the shot. In most of the above cases, I was able to use as much as 5-second shutters...which ends up exposing the backgrounds and all still things properly just as they would in a snapshot, but anything in motion turns into a blurry streak.
It's a fun type of photography - if you already like night photography, it's a natural transition. I actually look forward to taking alot more shots like this in December when I'm up there - it's alot cooler out, and I won't mind lugging my DSLR, tripod, and camera bag with me. Last month and this September, it's still too hot for that!
Just make sure you get your Just Married pins when you go for your honeymoon! We got lots of free snacks, and we were given special fast passes and stuff just for wearing them. Plus everyone told us congratulations, so we felt very VIP!
