Night - Long Exposure Photography

A useful technique in night photography is the long exposure. The effects that can be captured with a long exposure are stunning and have an ethereal quality. The most important tool that you will need is a sturdy tripod, and a DSLR camera that allows for long exposures.

1. Photographing the Ferris Wheel:

To photograph a Ferris wheel at night, move close and use a wide-angle lens to get as much detail as possible. Place your camera on a tripod and frame the image. Because we want all the elements to be sharp, choose a small aperture between f/11-f/32. Set your camera to either Manual or TV (Shutter Priority) mode and choose a shutter speed according to the speed of the lighted Ferris wheel, and the style you are after (anywhere between 1-30 seconds). You should take the image using the camera’s self timer or a cable release so that you avoid touching and jiggling the camera. The image captured will be full of light trails against a black sky, yet the center beams that hold the wheel will be sharp.

 2.Making Stars Trails:

A long exposure on a starry night can produce beautiful light trails created by the stars and the rotation of the earth. The best way to frame the image is to include an element of interest such as an old tree in the foreground. Place your camera on a tripod and focus the lens to infinity. You’ll want to use a cable release to eliminate camera shake of any kind, as it will RUIN your photo. Set the camera to B "Bulb" shooting mode and set your aperture between f/2.8 - f/4 for optimal results. Depress the remote to open the shutter. You should keep your ISO at 100 to keep the digital noise at a minimum. To complete the photo after your desired elapsed time, depress the remote again, and release the shutter. These exposures can be 15 minutes to several hours long..

3.Stunning Light Trails:

Traffic head light and tail light trails give a stunning effect and are a great way to get acquainted with long exposure times. Select a busy road that has lots of traffic at night. Use a sturdy tripod and position the camera so that it has an overview of the area. Use a small aperture of f/16 or smaller for a greater depth of field, making most of the image in focus. The longer the exposure, the more lines will appear and the longer they will look.

       
   4.Determining Exposure:

The exposure of your night time image will vary depending on certain factors. If there is a lot of ambient light then the shutter speed will be shorter. If you are shooting somewhere very dark, then the shutter speed will need to be longer. To capture the effects of light trails you need a shutter speed of at least 1/15th of a second, which means you must use a tripod. The image of the Houses of Parliament required a 6 second shutter speed, which is slow enough to capture the traffic trails. The f/8 aperture allowed the building to be sharp. The more you practice the more you will become tuned to the exposure you need for the effect you want.