I’ve come across one or two attempts at long exposures by students over recent months which have been very bravely tried and with varying degrees of success, but there are one or two issues here and there and need ironing out. I very quickly realised that, though we talk about and set projects on shutter speeds quite regularly, we never go into much detail about the sometimes daunting world of long exposures! So this month, we’re going to tackle them head on.
What is a long exposure?
A long exposure refers to a period of time – usually around 1 second and above – that the shutter is open to capture a scene. The longer the shutter is open, the more light is being let in to hit the sensor, the more chance you have of capturing things like movement, blur, energy, etc.
It’s important to note that a long exposure is a technique, not a type of image. I’m sure many of us will hear the term and instantly think about star trails, motorway scenes with car lights painting the road or epic Milky Way shots in National Geographic. In fact, we can use long exposures to capture any image to create incredibly creative and unique results, it just takes a little bit of ingenuity, curiosity and some bravery.
The initial set up
If you’re even remotely thinking about setting up for a long exposure, there are certain processes you should be ready to go through before shooting. Here are the main ones:
Concentration and consideration
Firstly, you should be willing to take your time. Think everything through and enjoy setting up. You don’t need to go shooting frantically. The smallest of errors can be disastrous for long exposures so give yourself lots of time to prep, think and experiment.
Tripod
If we think about it logically, the minute an LE is considered, we know we are going to be shooting on a shutter far slower than we can handle by only holding the camera. Get that kit set up on a tripod and make sure there is no chance of any movement on the part of your kit when that shutter opens. It also really helps to set your shutter timer while doing this. This means that once you press your shutter button, you have 5/10 seconds to get out of the way and leave the set up to do its thing
ISO
So, if we know we’re going long and are aware we’re setting up on a tripod, we should be entirely happy with really pushing the boat out and getting our ISO as low as it can go so that there’s no chance of unwanted noise or grain entering our image. Images involving movement vs. static can suffer from that heightened ISO as the comparison between the two can be drowned and knocked back a little, making that ultimate impact far less.
Aperture
Your aperture will subsequently depend on what you’re shooting and what your desired outcome is, of course, but if it’s anything to do with a deep depth of field and lots of detail – an interior or a landscape for example – then why not boost the aperture as far as it will go? We’ll touch more on this when we go into the specific scenarios for our LE, but remember that a sturdy and non-moving set up means an ability to push settings further with a longer shutter. Is this what you want in your image? If you’re outside, what might move in the time frame the shutter is open? Do you want this or not? Think, take your time and experiment until you’re happy.
Scenarios
Now that you’re all set up and thinking hard about how each of your settings will affect the scene you’re shooting, we’ll go through a few examples which best depict your decision-making when setting up for long exposures.
Nighttime
We’ll start with that classic long exposure set up; night and outdoors. You may be shooting a cityscape or landscape. Either way, make sure you’re set up robust and sturdy as above. If you’re shooting a city or townscape, then your first thought should be a very narrow aperture. Not only are your buildings and structures going nowhere, but there will almost certainly be a high contrast in dark areas of nothing such as the sky, and bright areas of light such as street lamps, office lights, signage, etc.
A wide open aperture in these scenarios would mean little to no real exposure in your sky, and instant glare from your artificial and brighter lights. A super high F will condense this exposure time, and while you slowly get some exposure gradients into the likes of your sky and darker areas, you’ll also squeeze out the light from street lamps and the like crisply and with clarity. In fact, most artificial lights that are in direct view of the lens will tend to expose their rays out in these wonderful star formations.
The narrower the aperture, the longer the shutter, the crisper and more detailed these formations. Remember, absolute rigidity is needed on the part of your kit. If you just so happen to have a car or 2 drive through the shot, perhaps even a person, it can only act as experimental. Maybe it works within your frame; maybe it doesn’t change, either way, it’s all these mixtures of texture and energy that can make long twilight exposures stunning processes.
TIP: Remember not to go throwing your focus to the brightest or darkest point of the image. When the camera reads the brightest area, it will up the shutter. When it reads the darkest, it will lower it.
You’re in control here. If you’re having trouble knowing where to start then take a shot in Aperture Priority with the aperture you think you’d like and when focussed on a reasonably bright part of the frame. Then look at your stats and input these stats into Manual mode as a starting point. Simply tweak to your liking until you’re happy.
Daytime
Landscapes
Daytime LE’s can be a little more difficult, but your starting point can always generally be assumed as thus; Aperture as narrow as possible, ISO as low as possible and a shutter reading somewhere in the region of 1-2 seconds – assuming you’re in Aperture Priority. In general daylight hours and open space, this may be the best you can get without using the likes of filters and other extras that alter the way the light enters your lens, but it’s all your need when in these conditions. You may be looking for that classic smoky water shot. As before, setting up nice and sturdy and playing around with apertures at incremental stops will give you a lovely range of intensities in the way the running water exposes.
Towns and Cities
Perhaps your back in the city environment and want some more of those wonderful architectural and structural shots but in daylight. Perhaps it’s a busy day, and the general public hinders your frame, so you decided to open that shutter up as much as you can to create a comparison between solid, sturdy rigidity in the architecture and ghostly subtleties of passing members of the public. In a set, up very similar to the one above 1-2 seconds can seem like a lifetime, and you’ll find that the effect you get from a walking passerby is on that can all but make them vanish into a ghostly aura.
A figure walks into frame as I shoot down the archways at Manchester Town Hall, 2009
Indoor
When shooting indoor, you’ll often find that the way the light is muted and contained within window areas, door, through blinds, etc., means that you can extend a longer exposure into the 10-20 second bracket, depending on just how bright the scene is. Again, this is a perfect opportunity to take your time, and it’s pretty essential you keep a nice, low ISO. Remember, nothing will be moving in this scene, so take as much time as you need. It may be that you’re shooting a commercial space and that there are customers within the scene. Don’t be afraid to use them. It may be that you’re not getting the composition you need. If this is the case, why not use yourself and simply walk into the shot in the required area?
A shoot for a student housing company.
Aperture as narrow as possible to get those wonderful star-like beams from the spotlights.
Commercial shoot for a local gallery, including oneself as interest in the frame
Effects and Ambiguities
What then happens if we break the rules a little? What happens if we consider all the different variables in speed, movement, energy when that shutter is wide open? An image that we then move through also? I often see the idea of movement in a long exposure to be not unlike a brush stroke. Each and every person, car, animal, tree-branch caught by your frame in that LE has a certain amount of intensity and energy, based purely on their own, individual movements. This means we can play around in built up and urban environments, with the idea of movement and passing time.
A busy Falmouth High Street, 2009
TIP: If you are in a city or a town and shooting in daylight, you can take advantage of the idea of light vs. dark and B&W photography, while using long exposure too. Bridges, alleyways, arcades are all great areas to give yourself a little extra time in your LE and to take those images to ambiguous and almost painterly heights.
Street shooting while walking through public spaces makes for some wonderful, obscure and painterly shots. Bridges and darkened shopping arcades are perfect places to increase the shutter. Don’t be afraid to move the camera and explore what effects are possible.
So there we have it. This has hopefully shed some light on all the different ways we can get out there – day or night – and use long exposures to full and incredible effect. I’ll be looking forward to seeing all your submissions in the coming month’s forum project!
