The technique of capturing long exposure photographs never gets dull. You can exhaust every jetty, bridge and waterfall in your area but there will always b somewhere or something else to explore with the technique. Recently I had to deliver a photography for inclusion in a Tearfund IF exhibition so I packed the Fujifilm X-E1 to capture the amazing Titanic Buildings.
On the way back I spotted an interesting pattern reflecting off Belfast Lough alongside the Odyssey Arena. It was dark enough not to need any of my ND filters so I stopped for a 30 second exposure towards the city lights.
The Long Exposure (PDF eBook)
The eBook covers everything from the equipment you will need right through to post-production processing in Adobe’s brilliant Lightroom.
This guide has been written with the beginner to the long exposure process in mind; however, the enthusiast and professional alike may find something of relevance also. The Long Exposure Ebook
You can also use the Long Exposure Photography technique to capture the stars. It is amazing how many more stars are in the sky than we can see with the human eye.
The sensor is able to pick up clusters of stars and the hues of the atmosphere. Long exposures of 20-30 seconds will freeze the stars but you can also explore with greater durations to also capture the movement of the stars across the sky.
Composite Images
The top image is a bit of cheating. It is difficult to mix buidlings with lots of lighting and the technique of capturing the stars. With the top image I shot the landscape of Harland and Wolff with the shutter open for as long as I could get away with.
The clouds were visible as were a number of the stars. I then took a second shot but didn’t allow any of the buildings in the frame. These two images were then merged to bring the enhanced stars to the original Harland and Wolff sky line.
Links
Long Exposure Photography and the X-E1
20 Long Exposure Photographs of Northern Ireland
The Long Exposure eBook
Harland and Wolff
