Long Exposure Photography Lesson 1 (Of 4)

Long Exposure Photography Lesson 1 (of 4)

1) What is “Long Exposure Photography”? 2) Why use long exposures? 3) General categories of long exposure images a) Motion blur (including obscured moving subjects) b) Night landscapes c) Urban scenes d) Artificial lighting using flashlights, lanterns, strobes, etc. (light painting) 4) The technical stuff: a) Equipment needed b) Camera setup c) Focusing in low-light or at night d) Exposure settings 5) Assignment

What is “Long Exposure Photography”?

Let’s start with a definition of long exposure photography so that we all have a shared understanding of what it is:

Long exposure photography (aka time exposure photography, from the days of film) is the use of slow shutter speeds (aka long exposure times) to capture the fixed elements of the image sharply, while blurring, obscuring, or streaking the moving elements. In this way, long exposure photography allows the photographer to convey the passage of time, something that conventional photography cannot do.

If you spend some time thinking about this definition, you will come up with endless applications. That is what this course is about – learning the techniques you need to record long exposures and then finding creative ways to use them.

30 seconds, f/14, ISO 100 Lee “Big Stopper” Neutral Density filter (adds 10 stops) Nikon D810, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens @ 38mm This image combines the stationary elements of the foreground rocks (which act as an anchor for the image) and the dock with the moving elements of the water and the sky.

Why use long exposures?

In photography, the shutter speed, or exposure time, is one of the most powerful creative tools for making your images. It affects motion. In this way, still photography actually allows a high level of control over how motion is conveyed. For example, you can render a subject as an unrecognizable streak or as a slightly defined blur. Or, you can make the same subject sharp while everything else is blurred. As you learn the nuances of long exposure photography, it becomes a creative tool to achieve different motion effects. The more you practice, the more you will be able to “engineer” these effects and make intriguing images with detail and depth that the naked eye could not or did not see. After this class, you will enjoy having control over these and other motion-related choices. © Beth Ruggiero-York

Types of Long Exposure Images

I have defined four categories of long exposure images below, but keep in mind as you look at the images that most long exposure images involve a combination of two or even more of the categories.

• Motion blur Blurring motion with a long exposure can be used for any type of motion, water, stars, cars, clouds, people, amusement park rides, etc. It is often used in conjunction with stationary elements in an image to further emphasize the motion of the subject.

20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 1000 No filters Nikon Df, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm In this scene on the “Big Island” of Hawaii, the long exposure is used to capture the motion of the water against the stationary rocks as well as to reveal more stars in the moonlit sky. © Beth Ruggiero-York

2.5 seconds, f/4.5, ISO 100 No filters Sony SLT-A77V, Sony 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 lens @ 40mm (effective focal length 60mm) A creative street image in downtown Boston. During the 2.5 second exposure, I rotated the focal length ring to convey false motion to the lights while keeping the bike and rider and the Customs House tower clock (upper left) stationary.

• Night landscapes Shooting at night requires long exposures by default because of the lower light, so the entire realm of night photography qualifies as long exposure photography. The examples range from exposures less than 30 seconds to capture starry skies and avoiding star trailing/streaking (because of the rotation of the earth), to longer exposures to capture the apparent motion of the stars as “star trails.” Extremely long exposures at night with specialized astronomical equipment yield amazing astrophotography images, which are exclusively of star clusters, nebulae, and other deep sky objects, but do not include earthly foregrounds.

20 seconds, f/1.4, ISO 3200 No filters Nikon Df, Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens @ 24mm July and August in the Northern Hemisphere are the prime months for viewing and photographing the Milky Way. This was shot on Cape Cod in August at about midnight, facing south. The 20-second exposure was long enough to reveal the intricacies of the Milky Way as well as smooth out the water surface.

30 minutes, f/4, ISO 200 No filters Nikon Df, Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 lens @ 24mm Atop Kitt Peak in Arizona, I shot this star trail image facing roughly north towards Tucson. It was a single long exposure of 30 minutes, processed in Photoshop. The star that is almost at the center of the circular trails is Polaris (aka North Star). You need to be careful not to take exposures more than a couple of minutes when the ambient temperature is over 50 degrees, at most 60 degrees, because the camera sensor will overheat, resulting in noise.

30 seconds, f/3.2, ISO 1250 No filter Nikon D800E, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm Just outside Fairbanks, Alaska, this image of Aurora Borealis over the Alaska Pipeline was shot at about 2:00 AM. The 30-second exposure revealed the “motion” of the Aurora and also allowed the green color to deepen, and the image is “anchored” by the stationary foreground of the pipeline, snow, and trees.

• Urban scenes Shooting in and around cities at night offers versatile and exciting long exposure opportunities. City skylines along a waterfront and the motion of city traffic can be creatively composed and shot to reveal urban activity and to enhance the colors of the lights. A little creativity can go a long way with long exposures in cities.

5 seconds, f/16, ISO 400 No filter Nikon D800E, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens @ 31mm Suzhou Creek skyline, Shanghai, China Shot from the top of a hotel on the main Shanghai waterfront, I had to decrease my aperture to f/16 to get the 5-second exposure because of the bright city lights. With the long exposure, I was able to smooth the already calm water, enhance the building reflections, show car trails on the bridge, and, if you look closely, convey the motion of the pedestrians crossing the bridge.

6 seconds, f/18, ISO 100 No filter Nikon D7100, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens @ 35mm effective focal length Long exposures of moving automobile traffic at night – aka car trails – are fun to compose and photograph. The light streaks indicate motion while the buildings and street lights are motionless. This image was shot on an otherwise quiet street at night in Rockland, Maine. The “Eat” restaurant sign lit up one letter at a time and then flashed its message before it remained fully lit for a few seconds at a time. To capture the sign fully lit along with rear car lights trailing for the full span of my viewfinder took a number of tries.

8 seconds, f/7.1, ISO 100 No filter Nikon D810, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 @ 18mm

The old and the new train bridges run parallel to each other across the Tempe Town Lake in Tempe, Arizona. I envisioned a long exposure of the scene when a train was crossing the new train bridge and lighting up the old one. In addition, the water is smoothed out around the buoys in the foreground, and the light reflections are softer.

• Artificial lighting using flashlights, lanterns, strobes, etc. The use of artificial lights, such as flashlights, lanterns, and strobes, to illuminate unlit subjects, such as old cars, abandoned buildings, and foreground subjects, has become very popular. Light painting can be achieved using a single, simple flashlight, or it can be as complex and creative as you choose to make it. The longer the exposure you use, the longer you have to light the subject creatively. © Beth Ruggiero-York

30 seconds, f/4, ISO 1600 No filter Nikon D810, Nikon 24-120mm f/4 lens @ 24mm

In Apache Junction, Arizona, this huge stamp mill from an old mine in New Mexico has been preserved. The detail and intricacy of its construction lent itself well to light painting against a backdrop of a starry sky. A 30-second exposure and a joint light painting effort by several photographers made this possible. Three different lights were used to illuminate the stamp mill – two different flashlights and one small incandescent lantern in the doorway.

The Technical Stuff

Before we get out in the field shooting long exposure, it is important to get to know and become comfortable with the technical aspects. These are our tools, and without the tools, we can’t do the job.

In the next section, you will get to know your camera better and understand exposure. This is not so much to get the perfect shot initially, but to get to the point where your camera does not get in the way of your personal creativity. Only when you don’t have to think so much about the technical aspects can you truly focus on realizing your artistic vision!

• Equipment needed

For long exposure photography, you will need:

o DSLR or mirrorless camera with Bulb mode capability o Lens of appropriate focal length for your subject o Sturdy tripod and tripod head – essential for long exposure photography o Remote cable or wireless release o Neutral density filter(s), variable neutral density filter(s), and polarizer (more on that in Lesson 2)

• Camera Settings

1. Shoot in RAW mode, not JPEG. You will have more data in the image file to work with in post-processing. This is especially needed in low-light situations, where noise in potentially underexposed areas is a problem. 2. Shoot in manual exposure mode. Long exposure photography is all about you having control over the camera. Only in manual mode can you accomplish this. 3. Turn off Vibration Reduction or Image Stabilization. 4. Use Mirror Lock Up function. 5. Cover the viewfinder while exposing. 6. For low light and night situations, turn down your camera’s monitor brightness. If you leave it at the factory default setting (usually +2), the © Beth Ruggiero-York

contrast between the monitor’s brightness and the low ambient light will make your images appear brighter and lighter than they really are. For that reason, turn the monitor brightness to about –2. This is also the reason that checking the luminance histogram is essential in long- exposure photography. 7. Decide on Long Exposure Noise Reduction (LENR). LENR is a valuable function that most newer DSLRs have. With most DSLR models, however, it doubles the exposure time. (Details will be presented in Lesson 2).

• Focusing in low light or at night: Four methods

Method 1: Infinity Autofocus (before dark) Autofocus on a distant subject (at infinity); switch to manual focus and secure the focus barrel of the lens with Gaffer tape.

Method 2: Infinity Autofocus (after dark) After dark, use autofocus to establish focus on the moon or a distant bright light at infinity (e.g., street light); switch to manual focus and secure the focus barrel of the lens with Gaffer tape.

Method 3: Live View Infinity Manual Focus (after dark) After dark, find a bright star or planet in the viewfinder; turn on Live View, be sure you are using manual focus, and zoom to 10x; manual focus until the star or planet is sharp (when it is smallest and irregular in size); tape down the focus.

Method 4: Hyperfocal Distance (low light or after dark) If you focus at hyperfocal distance, everything from half that distance to infinity will be in focus. How do you calculate hyperfocal distance? There are charts or smartphone apps. BUT, using a conservative distance of 40 feet, you can pace it out or eyeball it. Then either shine or place a bright light at that approximate distance and focus on the light.

• Exposure settings – The recipe for the image

The exposure is the amount of light you are allowing to reach the camera sensor as determined by the combination of shutter speed (exposure time) and aperture. With the advent of digital cameras, photographers can adjust ISO as well, which previously was fixed based on the film being used. So, exposure is © Beth Ruggiero-York now the combination of three of your camera settings – exposure time (shutter speed), aperture, and ISO.

There is only one correct exposure, where the image is not overexposed or underexposed; however, you can use many different combinations of exposure time, aperture, and ISO to get a correct exposure, but each of the three settings of exposure time, aperture, and ISO affect different image properties.

As we learn about long exposure photography in this course, it is our use and control of the exposure time that will affect how the image appears; the aperture and ISO may also need to be adjusted so that the exposure is correct for that time.

To review, your exposure is the amount of light you allow your sensor to collect. The amount or quantity of light is measured in increments called stops, and each of the three components of exposure (Exposure Triangle) is calculated in stops.

All three of the components work together to yield an exposure, and there are multiple ways of combining them for a correct exposure under the same lighting conditions.

For most daytime long exposure photography, you will want to shoot at your lowest native ISO (lowest native ISO (LNI) is specific to the camera make and © Beth Ruggiero-York model. For instance, the lowest native ISO for Canon models is 100. For some older Nikon models, it is 200; for newer Nikon models, it is 100. Sony is 200, and Olympus is 160.) With higher ISOs, more noise enters in the image. For long exposure night photography though, you may not have the option to use LNI. I will discuss than in Lesson 2.

If you have not committed to memory the stop increments for exposure time, aperture, and ISO, the tables below will help you to understand how they increase and decrease. It is worth the effort to memorize them; soon you will be easily and quickly making the calculations in your head.

Exposure Time Stops

Longer exposure time to gather more light Bulb 30” 15” 8” 4” ê 2” 1” ½” Shorter exposure time to gather less light ¼”

Aperture Stops

Wider aperture to gather more light f/1.4 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 ê f/8 f/11 f/16 Smaller aperture to gather less light f/22

ISO Stops

Higher ISO to gather more light 6400 3200 1600 800 ê 400 200 100 Lower ISO to gather less light 50

ASSIGNMENT

Choose a potential subject for long exposure photography that is convenient for you to shoot. Shoot the scene first as you would normally, then shoot it two more times, each time adjusting your camera settings to create a longer and longer exposure time without using a filter but at the same time maintaining a correctly exposed image.

Be sure to pay attention to good photography practices – use a sturdy tripod, get sharp focus, and consider your composition. Use a remote shutter release and mirror lockup.

When you submit your images, include the camera settings you used for each one (i.e., exposure time (shutter speed), aperture, ISO) and what, if any, filter you used. Also include any comments or questions you had while making the images.