Long Exposure Basics
My very first long exposure shot was taken from the top of Reservoir Hill in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I had just purchased my first professional camera - Nikon D850 paired with a 14-24mm f2.8 lens. I packed a camera bag and took off from the trailhead just after midnight. The ascent was full of doubt about how well photos taken in the dead of night would turn out… But after setting up my tripod in the meadow beneath the pines - I was blown away by the resulting captures. Bright, vibrant pinpoints of starlight spattered the sky with breathtaking clarity. My shutter count totaled less than 30 by the end of this first shoot, but I immediately knew I had stumbled into a favorite technique. The first frames I captured in turn captured me. My camera had just shown me things I only wished my eyes could see - and a fascination kindled in my creative mind. The hook was set.
Taken from Resevoir Hill, Pagosa Springs, Colorado 2018 - The 27’th photo I’d taken with my D850
I hope in this brief description you are able to tell how much artistic passion I have for this craft. It excites me, enthralls me, and challenges me in ways that no other activity can. I am constantly looking for ways to make a scene epic or magical… to hit this mark - more often than not I turn to the technique of long exposure.
Let’s take a look at the basics. First you will need a camera capable of shooting with manual settings. You can absolutely get great results without completely breaking the bank. You don’t need $5,000 worth of gear to start. Even a smartphone camera using an app for manual exposure settings can get you some impressive captures.
The real key to this technique is stability - which is where your tripod comes in. To ensure complete stability of the camera sensor during a shot - I opt also for a remote shutter release (also linked below). Having a remote shutter gives me the ability to compose my shot, step away, and fire off without causing camera shake. This has become an essential part of my workflow; I recommend it highly to people trying to “make” photos instead of just “taking” them. If you don’t have a shutter release, the same effect can be obtained by implementing a 2-5 second shutter timer to eliminate “tap-shake”. To me this approach just feels a bit clunky - so I opt for my remote.
If you will be attempting any type of daytime long exposure, you will need a set of ND filters. Think of these as sunglasses for your sensor. These range in a variety of “stops” that decrease the amount of light that can reach your sensor. So, what kind of photos can you take with daytime long-expo? The options are endless. I would start out with moving water. Rivers and waterfalls are industry favorites. The resulting photos take on a painted feel. Water drops turn into streaking brushstrokes - literally painting light and motion onto your camera’s sensor.
Notice how the water in motion almost creates brushstrokes on the resulting image.
- Full Stop - This is a suitable time to explain the following: Thinking of a photo as “painting light onto your sensor” is an essential concept to grasp. Stationary objects will be crisp, clear, detailed, and vibrant. Objects in motion will paint streaks onto the photo. If you are trying to convey motion, hustle and bustle, or speed - use this technique!
If you are photographing a busy city street - set up a tripod, dial down your aperture (or snap on an ND filter) and increase the length of your exposure. Play around with different lengths. You will notice that faces will blur, bodies will streak through the frame, but buildings, signs, and statues are in perfect focus. Cars in the background turn into blurs of motion and light - the photo literally “feels” like its moving.
There are many ways to practice this technique, from setting your aperture to f22 on a bright day and increasing your exposure length to a few seconds to capture motion in the current of a river to slapping a ND1000 filter on your lens and taking insanely long frames that can make busy city streets appear barren and vacant. An ND filter that dark can literally give you the creative ability to delete humanity from your photos. Decreasing the light that reaches your sensor so drastically doesn’t give objects in motion the chance to be recorded. Only stationary objects in the landscape will have time to bleed through the dark filter and slowly but surely paint a picture for your camera to see.
Now - let’s talk about the night! My favorite time to pick up my camera is at sunset, and I won’t put it down until well after midnight. Astrophotography is an obvious draw - but I have found myself wrapped up in another awesome practice. Light Painting. This is super trendy right now; you have definitely seen its results on your Instagram feed or on your Facebook timeline. From spinning circles of sparks to the light trails of taillights on the highway… I can’t double tap fast enough!
Notice the red streak of tail lights in the right hand of the image.
These types of captures separate button pushers from true photographers. Photographers Make photographs instead of taking them. Button pushers balk at the thought of using manual mode. Photographers live there and understand it like a sixth sense. These technical skills do not come naturally, they are developed, learned, and earned. Just because you have $10k invested in a body and a selection of glass does not make you a professional. How you use it does. I say this as a former amateur whose equipment pre-dates his skill! If you are looking at a great photo, it is the result of a great photographer - not solely the result of a good camera. You would never give the credit of a great meal to the quality of the stove that cooked it! So - like a 5-star chef - the credit should go to the person utilizing the equipment.
The quickest way to frustrate a photographer is to compliment his kit and attribute the quality of their work to the equipment. If you fail to recognize the artistic vision and technical skill woven into the image - you are overlooking the process entirely.
-Rant Over-To close this out I will give you a piece of advice that helped me get the results I was looking for out of my camera. I call it scalping settings. I would find a photo I liked on Flickr and look at its exposure settings - then replicate a similar scene or setting. Then finalize it with some fine tuning. Emulate the inspiration. I’m not saying to try and replicate photos exactly - but use them as path markers to get to the results you desire. That’s it for this one - thanks for reading and/or watching - catch you in the next one!
Long Exposure Taken from Burns Canyon, Pagosa Springs
Long Exposure taken from the Great Sand Dunes in the San Luis Valley, Colorado