6/08/2011

5 Tips For Long Exposure landscape photography

By Samuel Burns


1. Three's a charm. Yep, we all love a good third leg with it invaluable usefulness and charming demure. And now that we mention it a tripod is just such a three legged beauty. Strong, independent, stable and always willing to lend you a hand, those are the traits of a great tripod, how do you go about finding such a model? Don't rush out and buy the cheapest you can afford, I like to use tripods from Manfrotto or Gitzo and would suggest reading reviews and paying attention to supported weights before throwing your camera on any old thing. A poor quality tripod will not work in keeping your camera stable. Period.

2. Shoot with a low ISO. Contrary to what may first make sense when shooting in low light with a tripod don't jack up the ISO, simply use a longer shutter speed. By increasing the ISO you will increase noise, this particularly becomes an issue in long exposure photos so set your ISO nice and low.

3. ND is for me. The neutral density filter can be used to great effect in landscape photography. Sometimes you are shooting on your lowest ISO and smallest aperture yet you still desire a slower shutter speed. This is where the humble ND filter steps in. Available in a variety of strengths I recommend picking up a couple and having a play with slowing your shutter speeds even further.

4. Long live king Kodak. Now Kodak is often not the film of choice for me, but what is important is that film still has it's place in photography. One area where film still outshines digital is in long exposure photography. Whereas digital cameras produce harsh noise during long exposures film chugs along nicely with few ill effects. One thing to be aware of if shooting long exposures on film is an annoying neighbour named reciprocity failure. Reciprocity failure likes to come in and ruin long exposures on film and must be dealt with accordingly. Basically find yourself a reciprocity chart specific to the film you are using, make any necessary exposure changes and all should be well in the world.

5. Guiding light. No I'm not referring to a golden light emanating from the sky and leading you towards the path of forgiveness, that's called acid and was big in the 70's. What I am referring to is a cheap, battery operated torch. Trust me when I say it is an essential piece of kit. As you start shooting long exposure photos you will start finding yourself in situations of fading light, a torch is a great asset to help you change camera settings and find your way out of locations in the dark.




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