We conclude the series on long exposure photography by looking at some case studies of some the types of long exposure photography that you might like to try.Â
Photographing car light trails
Don't forget all of the basics discussed in the previous weeks articles (especially use of Manual mode, using a tripod, using a remote release or timer to trigger the shutter and basic composition rules). However, when photographing light trails, the main additional considerations will be:
- Light: You need a certain amount of darkness for the light trails to show up effectively. However, it's often best to take these types of shot at dusk when there is still a little light in the sky as this tends to give you a more sky interest than in completely dark skies.
- Shutter speed: You normally want your shutter speed to be long enough to capture the whole length of the time it takes the cars to pass through the scene (since you normally want complete trails rather than partial trails). This will generally need at least a 30 second shutter speed (and often longer). Rather than doing very long shutter speeds, it's possible to do a number of identical 30 second shots and then merge the trails in Photoshop.
- Aperture: You will normally want an aperture that ensure a reasonable length of speed, but also not so small as to cut out too much light. I suggest starting at around f8.Â
- ISO: As always in landscape photography, it's always best to keep your ISO low to reduce noise. Since you are using a long shutter speed, you don't normally need to increase your ISO too much to still get a good exposure. I normally start at ISO 100 and only increase it if I absolutely have to. nt of the sparks, creating circular, dynamic patterns of light in a long exposure shot.
Photographing Waterfalls
When photographing waterfalls, the main additional considerations will be:
- Light: It's often best to photograph waterfalls on cloudy days, since this reduces the amount of dynamic range you will need to deal with (think of the bright sun coming through the trees, and the very dark shadows). Dry but cloudy days are a great time to visit a waterfall!
- Shutter speed: Although it's a matter of personal preference, I prefer the flowing water to be motion blurred, whilst still retaining a little bit of texture. Therefore I tend to shoot waterfalls at around 0.5-2 seconds. I always use a Circular Polarising filter (CPL) to reduce glare on the water, this will reduce the light entering the camera by around a stop; this often means that on a cloudy day, under the trees, you can achieve these shutter speeds without needing to use ND filters. However, if you find you are overexposing you may need to use a weak ND, such as a 3-stop filter.
- Aperture: You will normally want to use an aperture that gives you a deep depth of field, and also
shuts out plenty of light so that you might dispense with needing ND filters; I often start around f16.Â
- ISO: As always in landscape photography, it's always best to keep your ISO low to reduce noise. Since you are using a fairly long shutter speed, and a small aperture, you can simply use your ISO on the lowest setting (normally 100).
- Unwanted movement; Although you usually want to blur the movement of the water, if there is a breeze and the trees around the waterfall are also moving, you may not want these blurred. I therefore often use bracketing so that I also have a faster shutter speed image (hopefully with less tree movement) that I can blend in post processing.Â
Photographing the aurora
When photographing the aurora, the main additional considerations will be:
- Light: In the UK, the aurora is usually very faint and you need skies to be properly dark to see it. You also usually need a low light area well away from towns and cities (although in the recent displays, there have been times that the aurora has been visible by eye even in cities, this is the exception and not the rule).Â
- Shutter speed: As it will be dark, you will need to use a fairly long shutter speed to get a decent exposure (even with a large aperture and a high ISO). However, you don't necessarily want to go too long, since this could blur any structure that there might be in the aurora, such as the distinctive light pillars. This means that I normally shoot at a maximum of 10-15 seconds.Â
- Aperture: As there is very low light, you will need a fairly large aperture to let in lots of light. In the most recent aurora display I was actually shooting wide open at f2.8; although this could cause problems in terms of shallow depth of field, there were no objects close to me that I needed to be in focus, and I made sure that I was focussing some distance into the scene to ensure the aurora was in focus. If you're just learning, I would recommend perhaps starting at around f5.6.Â
- ISO: As it's dark, you will need a fairly low ISO to give you a good exposure. Once you have set your fairly long shutter speed, and fairly big aperture, you should then adjust your ISO until your light meter tells you that you have a good exposure. This is likely to be an ISO of up to around 5,000 [although as an aside, during the most recent aurora, the light was so intense that I had to keep on reducing my ISO so that I didn't overexpose, and at one point I was on an ISO of just 800!]Â
- Focus and composition: Both focussing and composition are tricky for the aurora. It's often best to focus using Manual focus mode, turning your lens focus ring until a bright star comes into crisp focus (this is best done whilst zooming into the scene, if your camera allows it). Composing also becomes tricky, as often you can't see very much! It can therefore often be a case of taking a photo, seeing what composition you have got, and then recomposing and trying again until you get what you want.
Photographing the sea
When photographing the sea, the main additional considerations will be:
- Light: You can take long exposure photos of the sea in any light, however if you want to take long exposures in the day time, or at sunset, you will need to use ND filters to allow you to extend your shutter speed without over exposing. Â
- Shutter speed: It's a matter of personal preference, but I like the sea to be completely flat, with all waves smoothed away. Although it depends on the sea state, most of the time this will need a shutter speed of 20-30 seconds, although the longer the better (sometimes I might go up to 1-4 minutes if I also want to blur cloud movement)
- Aperture: You will generally want a good depth of field, so I tend to start at around f11.Â
- ISO: As is often the case in long exposure photography, you should keep the ISO as low as possible, and generally leave it at ISO 100; good exposure is obtained by adjusting shutter speed and aperture (and using ND filters if necessary).Â
Photographing the Milky Way
The considerations for shooting the Milky Way are almost identical to shooting the aurora (covered above). The only difference is likely to be that without light from the aurora, skies will be even darker, and as a result you may need to use even higher ISO (around ISO 6,000) to get a good exposure. More guidance on shooting the Milky Way is here.Â
Intentional Camera Motion (ICM)
The process for ICM photography essentially involves setting a shutter speed of around 0.5-1.0 seconds (you may need to use an ND filter to get to this if you are in bright light). In fact, the process is very similar to taking waterfall photos (see above). However, rather than putting your camera on a tripod and using the long exposure to blur the movement of something in the frame, we instead hand hold the camera and intentionally move it during the time that the shutter is open! For a complete guide to this specific technique see here.
Want to improve your photography skills?
Don't forget that if you want some direct help with your photography, I offer a range of 1-2-1 photography courses for Devon based folks. If you're not nearby then I also  offer residential weekends for beginners or improving photographers.
About me
I first got into photography after walking the beautiful South West Coast Path: I was so disappointed that my photos didn't do justice to the beautiful coastal scenery that I decided to walk all 630 miles all over again, but this time to also teach myself photography along the way! Â
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A few years later and I find myself as a professional photographer, widely published and with landscape photos which have won national awards. But I do much more than landscapes, providing photography training to businesses & individuals on how to take beautiful photographs, and providing professional photography services to businesses across the South West. My commercial specialisms are property photography, business photography, people photography & aerial (drone) photography.
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I’m also an author with a number of published books and I give regular talks about my passion for photography, and for Devon, to camera clubs and other groups.
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