Feeling exposed
Night time photos are tricky to get right. Using a flash often results in washed out colour and less vibrant detail, producing a rather uninspiring photo. One of the ways to avoid this is to use a longer shutter time. Meanwhile, long exposure shots are not only useful for night time photography. Slow shutter speeds can be used to take beautiful, surreal looking images in any light, and it’s easy to get started. Here are some hints you’ll need to start experimenting with your own long-exposure photos.
Tools of the trade – You don’t need any fancy SLR camera lenses or professional equipment to take long exposure shots, but there are a couple of basic tools to get you started. A tripod is important, as it will minimise any (unwanted) blurring by keeping the camera stable while the shutter is open. A remote shutter release is another good investment, as it will eliminate the need to touch the camera and reduce movement when taking the photo. If you’re shooting in bright light, a natural density (ND) Filter will reduce the amount of light entering the lens and avoid overexposed daytime shots.
Set it up – Your digital SLR camera will have a setting which will allow you to automatically set the shutter time to 30 seconds. For exposure times of longer than this, you’ll have to set your camera to B (bulb) mode, which will keep the shutter open for as long as you hold down the shutter release. Be sure to also set both the camera ISO and aperture to the lowest setting.
Trial, error… and possibly more error – Keep trying, and you’ll slowly learn the best camera settings for different situations. You’ll eventually be able to automatically judge how much exposure time you’ll need in a certain light. Scope out new photo opportunities while you’re capturing one photo, and don’t be afraid to make a mistake and mess up your first lot of photos – the beauty of digital is that you can delete the not-so picturesque pictures.
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