LONG EXPOSURE SHOOT

Long exposure is a great photography technique for capturing movement or the passing of time. From the flow of water in a river or waterfall to the light trails of traffic or the hustle and bustle of a train station. It doesn’t have any set parameters, if it captures movement its long exposure, if it’s an athlete at the track a second or two may be all that’s needed – if you want to capture the arc of a sunrise, you’ll need a lot longer!

When setting your camera up for long exposure you’ll definitely need a tripod, otherwise you’ll end up with a bad case of camera shake, when using a tripod you will also need to turn any VR or IS settings off as this can actually introduce blur.

Depending on your location/light you’ll have to adjust your other settings accordingly, outdoors (or in the studio if using a flash) you’ll really have to use a high f/stop to close down your shutter to prevent over exposed images, whilst trying to maintain as low an ISO as possible to produce sharp noise free images.

Long exposure in the studio gives you a good degree of control, positioning of lights can alter shapes and shadows, and a dark backdrop helps focus on the subject. Torches and flashing lights can be great for forming light trails and make some fun and interesting images. It does come with its own set of health and safety considerations, as you may be in dark surroundings trips and falls are morel likely than usual, you need to be aware of electrical safety too – all equipment should be PAT tested, studio lighting can become hot.

If on location you may be stood in one position for quite some time, so be aware of people and traffic, I used some spinning burning wire wool, so fully covered arms and legs, eye protection and some water and an extinguisher were vital too.