Long Exposure Photography

Have you ever seen a picture where the water looks silky and you get the feeling of movement. Or where the waves look soft and wispy almost as if in a dream. Or where the cars look like long red tail lights and nothing else.
This is a trick of long exposure photography and I'm going to tell you how to do it.

To take a picture of a waterfall or ocean waves is pretty easy. First you need to set your camera to Aperture priority mode. Then set it to the highest F stop there is. On my camera, i can go as high as F/32, some its F/22. So set you Aperture open to the highest number you can. This means a few things, It needs more light or a longer exposure to take the picture. And more of the picture is in focus. Next you need to put your camera on a tripod. Set it up facing your waterfall. If you have a remote shutter this is the time to use it, if not set your camera to the self timer mode. Now take your picture. While taking pictures with long exposure is best done in low light or night, by setting it this way you can get a longer exposure time and get a better photo.

Now to take a picture of the car tail lights is almost the same. Except you need to take it at night. Its the only time that the tail lights really stand out. Set your camera up on a tripod and set your camera to Aperture priority mode and adjust your aperture to a middle aperture such as F/11. You can put this where ever you like but i suggest a middling aperture to get most of the image in sharp focus. If you want more to be in focus, set your aperture to the highest number you can. Again using your shutter cable or camera self timer take the picture.

You might find in the car tail light pictures that the shutter does not stay open long enough to get the image you desire. You will need to take yourself into full manual mode. Set your aperture to the highest F stop you can, and adjust your shutter speed to as slow as you can. Now take the picture again. This might take some fiddling with each setting in order to get the image you desire. Depending on your light and your subject ( city lights or just a night sky for instance are different amounts of light) it might take longer or shorter amounts of time to get the picture. Don't be afraid to change your settings.

Its pretty simple once you get the hang of it. to take a picture that looks soft and wispy. Give it a shot and be creative.