Long Exposure Photography

One of the types of photography that has interested me is long exposure photography. When a photographer uses a long exposure on images such as a stream/river to give the water that white blur effect as it is rushing over rocks or urban photography where passing vehicles appear to just be light trails.

Linked below is an article written by photographer Barry J. Brady on the Digital Photography School website. In this article, he discusses how to go about doing this long exposure photography. He first mentions what you need to do the shots. This includes a camera that has the ability to shoot manual and/or a shutter priority setting, a tripod because the stability of the camera is essential when using long shutter speeds, and he also recommends a cable release so you are not shaking the camera by pressing the shutter release. When it comes to the subject and composure he recommends having a moving element such as water, clouds, or passing cars while everything else is stationary. He then goes into the settings he recommends. First, he says shutter speed should be a few seconds or longer depending on the speed of the moving subject. He recommends an aperture between f8 and f16 depending on how much light there is. he also recommends keeping the iso as low as possible given the lighting conditions. He says the best time for these shots is as the sun is setting or shortly after or early evening when shooting light trails.

Just like Barry states in the article, I think it brings a new perspective to things we see every day. I  find these shots beautiful because they capture something the naked human eye could never see. This style of photography is appealing to me and something I would like to do myself.

https://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-do-long-exposure-photography-and-light-trails-at-night/