Monday, April 16, 2012

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 16 | Long Exposure


Long exposure can be quite a fun trick to play with.
We all see those amazing photos of night cityscapes, misty water, spinning stars...  All of those are thanks to long exposure photography.  I have always been a fan of this technique.  It was one of many reasons I wanted my DSLR.  Then I got my trusty Canon... and have yet to really learn how to master long exposure.

Sad.

While I would have loved to get a more dramatic, awe-inspiring shot for this day's challenge, mommyhood came into play.  And the lack of a second car.  And hubby working late.  And... Pottermore.  (Oh, don't even get me started on that!)

I decided to try a ghost image.  I have seen this here and there, and wanted one for myself.  We have a mirror hanging on the wall in our living room.  Once my kiddos were asleep, I set up my tripod (man am I happy I bought it!) and set to playing around.


Tricks for long exposure photography?
- Tripod!  Any shake can blur the shot.  So tripod it up!
- Set camera to timer mode (if you're like me and don't own a remote) Again: Shake is bad.
- Low ISO.  My camera goes to 100.  So there it stayed!
- Closed f-stop (aperature).  For my main shot I set mine to f11
- Open that shutter!  My shutter was set at 13".  That is 13 seconds of holding that baby open.

What did I do next?
Played hide and seek with my camera of course!

I set my focus then hit the trigger.  The timer counted down then *click* the shutter opened.  I stood in place for a few seconds, then quickly ducked out of frame and let the camera finish taking the shot.

The result was a ghost image of myself taking a photo.  Love it!

(Though now that I look at it, I should have straightened that slip cover.  Hmm...)

After this, I am itching for a chance to go explore long exposure even more.  As fun as the ghost shot was, I am dying to get some great night photos and water shots.  Add that to my list of musts!


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