Enhancing the art through long exposure photography.
Long exposure photography is a great way to capture breathtaking landscapes. As Canon mentions, it is taking a photo with a shutter speed anywhere from between a few seconds to a few hours.
Under the Bridge
I took this photo right after blue hour. Blue hour is the time right after the sun has set. It creates a beautiful blue and purple scene. To create the warm glow on the bridge, a yellow light was shined from underneath the bridge. My shutter speed was at 8 seconds, with an aperture of f/8 and ISO 400.
In post production, I dodged and burned to create darker shadows and brighter highlights, especially in the smooth water. I also enhanced the colors.
Starburst
For this photo, we had the model stand in the river while someone slowly spun a light tube around them. This created the halo while also keeping the starburst around the model. My shutter speed was at 20 seconds, with my aperture at f/10 and ISO 100.
In post production, I used content-aware in the sky to move my subject to be on the one-third line and create a better balance. I enhanced the colors and brightness as well.
Swirly Twirly
For the setup of this photo, someone ran around in a river and a light tube spinning around to create this swirl of light trails. My shutter speed was at 13 seconds, with an aperture of f/5 and ISO 1600.
In post production, I darkened the blacks and increased the highlights and saturation.
Lonely Nights
With this gorgeous, abandoned cabin as the subject, I was able to photograph its beauty during blue hour. As the sun went down, the flashlight came out to shine on the face of the building and highlight it among the dark night sky. My shutter speed was at 20 seconds, with an aperture of f/11 and ISO 400.
In post production, I made the sky a deeper blue and straightened the photo.
Downstream
This photo is a bit different than the other ones I have posted throughout this blog post. Can you spot the difference? It’s during the day! Because of this, I had to severely edit my settings. To capture this beautiful, slow-moving water, I put my camera on a tripod in the river and bracketed three different images. My main shutter speed was at 2 seconds, with an aperture of f/22 and ISO 100.
In post production, I enhanced the saturation and sharpness in certain areas. I really wanted the rocks and tree branch to stand out, so I focused on those.
Long exposure photography can truly transform a photo into something magnificent. As I continue to practice these skills, I know the quality of my photography will increase.
