Unique Long Exposure Tricks

Learning new tricks on your DSLR can be both fun and challenging, and sometimes even a little grating. I made it my goal to learn something new about Long Exposure photography.

Many times, when people use long exposure, they don’t take it any further than creating silky smooth running water or getting a shot of the starlit night sky. Both are fun techniques and make beautiful photographs, but you can use long exposure for other great shots as well!

To get abstract shots!

To get the photo above, I simply set my shutter speed to 4 seconds and while the shutter was open I carefully moved my camera up and down. A tripod is definitely needed to get a shot like this one. It may take a few times but just keep practicing and you’ll get the hang of it!

Here’s another example of moving the camera while the shutter is open. This one was taken at a frozen lake by my house. The difference this time is that I moved the camera side to side instead of up and down. You can almost tell where the ice stops and where fluid water begins.

Another trick I learned involved flowers.

I know what your thinking “Flowers? What the heck does that have to do with long exposure?” I thought the exact same thing when  a friend of mine told me that if I go outside in the dead of night with a flashlight, my camera, and a tripod I could get some cool shots of flowers. How? Set your shutter to 4-8 seconds and gently brush your subject with light from the flashlight.

I was skeptical…. but it turned out he was right! I received much better results than I thought I would and it was thrilling!

You gain such a beautifully dark background that adds depth and drama to a simple rose. Each rose was shot at ISO 800 f/11 and 4 sec shutter speed.

So what do you think? Ready to get out there and see what you can find? Play around with your camera using different settings and techniques to make an ordinary shot an amazing one!

Bonus!

Tulips against the stars!

Thanks for visiting

I’m glad you could stop by! Be sure to check out my other posts on photography tips and the “Prints” page to purchase a beautiful print of your very own!

Let’s chat

I’d love to hear your own unique techniques :). Have you experimented with your camera lately? Or if you get a chance to use one of the tricks stated above, let me know in the comments how it went!