What is long exposure in photography? Discover tips for impressive long exposure image ideas to make the most of your DSLR camera or smartphone. Long exposure can create beautiful and imaginative scenes like misty-like flows in waterfalls, silky streams, smeared skies, and milky seas. Despite the headache this technical play with light may cause beginners, it is worth trying.
According to photographer Dieter Appelt, “a snapshot steals life that it cannot return, but long-exposure creates forms that never existed“. Long exposure photography is a technique where the camera’s shutter is left open for a longer time to capture stationary elements sharply while blurring, smearing, or obscuring moving elements. It creates dreamy effects like smooth water, light trails, or motion blur.
“A snapshot steals life that it cannot return.
Long-exposure creates forms that never existed“.
photographer Dieter Appelt
To achieve these time exposure results of a silky continuity of the moving elements, shutter speed should be less than 1/4 of a second, ISO should stay lower than 200, and the aperture should be more than f/5. As the number of the f-stop increases, it gives more clarity on the captured movements but also leaves the stationary things sharp and clear with all their details.
Due to the nature of this technique, over-exposed scenes would look white and ‘burnt’ on a sunny day. That’s why long exposure is usually accomplished in low light conditions, like night, low light hours of dawn and sunset, cloudy and rainy weather, etc. In the daytime, you should use neutral density filters and a tripod to minimize noise, as the long exposure increases sensitivity by capturing even the tiniest shakiness.
Here are some useful tips for taking long exposure photos with your DSLR camera:
1
Cars at night, city streets are captured as light trails with long exposure.
2
Capturing waterfalls, rivers, oceans with long exposure adjustments creates a beautiful misty or glassy effect.
3
To capture the starry night sky, shoot in raw, use manual focus, and set:
4
Trace light patterns.
5
Especially dramatic with long exposure on windy days.
6
Make people disappear or blur in busy settings.
7
Create circular motion effects.
8
For fiery spinning effects.
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