Long-Time Exposure Overview

Long-Time Exposure

A long-time exposure is when an image is exposed for several seconds. There is no fixed limit from when exposure will count as a long time exposure. Subjectively, I would say upwards from one second. Of course, there is no upper limit. This type of photography is primarily used in landscape photography.

Important Basic Settings

Aperture

The optimal aperture is about:

f4 – f16

I’m convinced that simply try it out.

Tip:

If you also want to make long exposures during the day, you should use ND filters.

ISO

The ISO value describes the light sensitivity of the image sensor. Best is a value of :

ISO 100

Due to the environment and the comparatively long exposure time when photographing this type of image, a low ISO value is preferable. This reduces the later noise on the picture but also increases the exposure time. Another advantage is that the dynamic range of your camera increases as the ISO value decreases.

Shutter Speed

In the field of long-time photography, there are no recommended shutter speeds, so experimenting is the order of the day. Most SLR cameras, system cameras, and higher quality compact cameras allow up to 30 seconds recording time.

Tip:

Switch your exposure time to the “Bulb” mode to be able to react better and faster to the individual situation. As soon as you press the button of your remote shutter release, the exposure starts and continues until you rerelease it.

Further Adjustments

I usually shoot long exposures in manual mode, because here all degrees of freedom are given to you. So you can influence all variables according to your wishes and correct them quickly.

I take the pictures in RAW format to get the best picture quality and to be able to adjust my white balance in post-processing.

A particular difficulty at night is focusing. Especially in almost total darkness, it’s impossible to find the right focus point, so it’s important to set the focus manually. This is also why it is advantageous to focus manually during the day because if you use ND filters, the autofocus won’t work properly anymore.

Due to the long-time exposure, it is important to have a stable stand, because even minimal wobbles can influence the end result to a maximum. Therefore a safe and stable tripod is not to be renounced. Moreover, the camera does not know that it is firmly fixed, and the image stabilization could still try to compensate for something that does not exist. Therefore the image stabilization should also be switched off.

After all, settings have been made, it is not easy to give tips on image composition, because everyone has their own ideas about what should be in the image. In general, I would say: Less is more. Try to only include elements in the picture that should be part of it and perhaps have a relationship with your central motif.

Special Features

Make Places Deserted

At places in which many tourists are present, it is possible to make the place empty with a long exposure. This requires long exposure times from 10 minutes upwards.

Traces of Light & StarTrails

I’m sure you’ve seen this picture with the light trails of cars. While you are making an exposure, the car moves through your image and draws its tracks with the headlights. If you take this approach further, you’ll come to light painting.

A special type of long-time exposure is photographing the night sky. I have already described this here before.

Smoothing Water & Clouds

Long time exposure can be used to simplify an image. In a 60 seconds exposure, you have the movement of the clouds on the picture. This can be an interesting effect, but it should also fit the expression of the image.

This can also be used with water. Sea and rivers often show many details that lead the attention away from essential elements in the picture. By using a long time exposure a simplification and a surreal effect can be achieved.

Accessories

ND Filter / Gray Filter

If you want to make a long exposure in normal light during the day, you need the right filters. If you make a long exposure without a filter in the midday sun, the resulting image is simply white because too much light falls on the sensor. So you have to make sure that less light reaches the sensor.

For long exposure you need ND filters, also called gray filters. These block a large part of the incident light like sunglasses and ensure that you don’t take an overexposed picture even at exposure times of several minutes.

POL-Filter

Ein Polfilter wird in der Fotografie immer dann eingesetzt, wenn man Reflexionen entfernen will. The following scenarios are common:

Removing reflections from glasses or windows
Photograph through the water surface
Enhance colors in landscape photography
Amplify the blue of the sky

Design Samples

Skills needed

Mastering the basic understanding of your own camera
To be able to operate your camera safely even in the dark
Manual focusing your camera
Be well rested & have fun by your photography

Planning 26%

Shooting Time 89%

Selection & Editing 34%

Publication & Recognition 24%

Tripod

As with long time exposures you have to get by with little light and long exposure times when photographing fireworks, for example. For this reason, a tripod is indispensable. It’s even more important than photographing buildings at night. Because of the glowing effects, every wobbler will be visible on the photo immediately.

Since most of the suitable photo positions are in the open, there is no possibility to place the camera anywhere. For this reason, you should use a stable tripod to avoid camera shake. A tripod is therefore mandatory for fireworks photography in any case!

Remote Trigger

When you take pictures from a tripod, you do it, so the picture doesn’t jitter. However, the moment you press the shutter button on the camera, you may be shaking the image.

To avoid this error, I use a remote shutter release. To my knowledge, there are wireless, infrared, and cable remote triggers on the market. All three fulfill this function.

Batteries & Storage

Long-time exposures consume a lot of battery power because the mirror has to be kept permanently up, for example with SLR cameras. So you should not only have the battery fully charged but also a spare battery with you. Batteries have lower performance at low temperatures, which you should keep in mind.

You should have your memory cards properly formatted and choose the right size for your purpose.

Flashlight & Gloves

For example, since you almost always move in the dark during light painting photography, you need to be familiar with the functions and settings of your camera. It’s also very helpful to carry a flashlight.

Especially in the later seasons, it gets faster colder in the evenings and at night, so think of gloves. The best thing to do is to try out whether you can still operate your camera well with them.

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