Long Exposure Photography!

Long exposure photography is when you take a picture and the shutter is open longer than say, a second.  Your camera takes in all the light and everything that it can "see" while the shutter is open.  One way to think about it is when you look at a picture, can you tell that something is moving?  That's usually a long exposure image!  

I really love taking pictures at night because it's a different look at what people normally see.  Adding car trails or “painting” an object with light, can really make a picture pop!  

I made a video to go over the basic function of what the camera does when it takes a long exposure shot.  I’m hoping this way, you can get an idea for how the picture is “made”,  (I don’t get into the technical things and settings of the camera; iso, aperture, etc., just basic stuff).

It's all about that shutter :)

Now that you have a better idea of how it works, let's take a look at some pictures!

                               messing around with a flashlight 

These pictures show you a good example of what the camera picks up or “sees” while the shutter is open.  You can also use all kinds of different light sources for long exposure and light painting too.  Flashlights, sparklers, glow-sticks, candles, your phone!  There are even places that specialize in light painting.  You can get things to make shapes or spell stuff out!

Sometimes I luck out and don’t have to use anything at all!  On a night where there is a full moon, it’s almost too bright!  The moon light will light up pretty much everything in my shot.  And you can’t forget about good ol’ headlights from people driving by!  Those suckers light up just the right things, at just the right times :)

                                                                                                                                                                      Headlights and the moon lit up these shots

You can also do long exposure during the day!  Sometimes you need a dark filter so you don’t over exposure your image.  That would be like putting a pair of sunglasses on your lens.  Those can be really good for water and cloud shots :)

I’ll try to make a video one of these times I go out at night so you can REALLY see what I do.  It’s a lot easier than you would think once you understand how it’s done :)  Check out my gallery here to see some more pictures!