LONG EXPOSURE TECHNIQUES

 

Sergey Kosov

 

S.Kosov@jacobs-university.de

A photographer was once visiting a very nice couple for lunch. They (probably wanting to pay a compliment) said
- Your pictures are very beautiful. You must have a very good camera.
The photographer just smiled sweetly in response. After lunch, he went up to the hostess and complimented her on her lunch.
- The lunch was very good. You must have very good pots.

Planning
Capturing
Postprocessing

Planning

How to be in the right place at the right time?

How to be in the right place at the right time?

How to be in the right place at the right time?

How to be in the right place at the right time?

Capturing

What makes a photo outstanding?

What makes a photo outstanding

What makes a photo outstanding

What makes a photo outstanding

Wonderful world of

Long Exposure

Why limit yourself to what your eyes see when you have an opportunity to extend your vision?

- Edward Weston

Long exposure means the exposure time is generally between 30 seconds to 5 minutes

The 5 Essential Tools

1. Camera

2. Lens

3. ND-filter

4. Tripod

5. Shutter Release Cable

5s | F32| ISO 50 | 70MM

Canon 6D | Canon 70-200 | Polarizer

13s | F32| ISO 50 | 200MM

Canon 6D | Canon 70-200 | ND 64 + Polarizer

30s | F9| ISO 200 | 35MM

Canon 6D | Canon 16-35 |  ND 64

90s | F16| ISO 50 | 50MM Pano

Canon 6D | Zeiss 50 | ND 1000

174s | F22| ISO 50 | 18MM

Canon 6D | Canon 16-35 | Gold-n-Blue + ND 1000

~ 10'000s | F2,8| ISO 800 | 15MM Stack

Canon 6D | Canon 15 Fisheye

Anatomy of a Long Exposure

  1. Higher F number lets less light in (like F22 or F32)

  2. Decreasing ISO to the lowest setting (ISO 100 or ISO 50) making the sensor less sensitive to light

  3. Selecting Shutter Priority, selecting longest shutter and letting the camera adjust the ISO and F number up or down to compensate

3 Essential Long Exposure Techniques

1. Getting critically sharp long exposure images

  • Switch your lens to Manual Focus mode
  • Use Live View with 5x or 10x magnification

 --- or ---

  • Use Lens Depth Scales

3 Essential Long Exposure Techniques

2. Composing with ND-filters

  • Set the ISO to the maximum value
  • Take short test shots for framing the scene

3 Essential Long Exposure Techniques

3. Light leak and Hot Pixels

  • Use light blende
  • Use camera's hot pixel filtering 

 --- or ---

  • Remove artefacts in post-processing
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