B&B Photo Contest - November Theme: Long Exposures - Winner Announced

[BRuhling]

Long exposures can do a number of things for photography. They can smooth out motion, they can convey motion, they can capture light trails, or they can even make moving objects completely disappear. Let's see how you all use your longer exposures with this month's theme. As an example, I'll post this shot I took last month while visiting my alma mater. With tourists and cadets swarming around in front of me, I popped on my 6-stop filter, set a 30 second exposure and the people simply disappeared...

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[lister]

Awesome new theme. I just took delivery of a new remote shutter release yesterday so I'm keen to find something to suit this theme.

 

[lister]

Alrighty then.... I was toying with the idea of using my remote shutter release but the bottlebrush (Callistemon) trees in our area at the moment were just too good an opportunity to turn up. No touch up on the photo, just some good old fashioned motion blur and a (relatively) long exposure:

For those who don't know what one looks like when its not represented in a long exposure the flowers are a vibrant red colour reminiscent of an old-style bottlebrush interspersed between rich golden leaves and brown seed pods. They are one of the best known of the native Myrtaceae family.

 

[Edcculus]

oohhh, hopefully I can get all my pinhole stuff worked out before the end of this month. I'm doing paper negatives, so the exposure will be somewhere in the range of 5+ minutes. I need to work out how exactly to rate paper negatives.

 

[fast14riot]

Hmm, this should be fun! Now to figure out which camera to use...

Lister, bottlebrush plant are also known for attracting butterflys and hummingbirds, great addition to any garden!


-Xander

 

[lister]

That would be pretty cool to see Xander; here they attract very large numbers of bees (which I'm quite allergic to)

Really keen to see what your pinhole turns out like Edcculus; I've always been fascinated with the technique even though I've never tried it out.

 

[mdunn]

question to my photographic betters - ive played around with longer exposures with no real success.

To do almost anything in daylight, do I need filters to cut down on the light that's pouring through?

 

[BRuhling]

question to my photographic betters - ive played around with longer exposures with no real success.

To do almost anything in daylight, do I need filters to cut down on the light that's pouring through?

For outdoor daylight long exposures (depending on how sunny it is out), you would need to cut the light with filters or with exposure compensation. Of course, you can always do long exposures at dusk/night very easily, or you could do startrail exposures (if you can stack the images) for a long exposure without filters... There are lots of options for long exposures. Your options are limited only by your creativity!

 

[mdunn]

For outdoor daylight long exposures (depending on how sunny it is out), you would need to cut the light with filters or with exposure compensation. Of course, you can always do long exposures at dusk/night very easily, or you could do startrail exposures (if you can stack the images) for a long exposure without filters... There are lots of options for long exposures. Your options are limited only by your creativity!

Ok - and if I were to get filters im assuming the ones on ebay are rubbish and will fuzz up anything im trying to do? if so, recomendations for some good value ones?

 

[lister]

There are some good filters available via eBay but its worth noting that sometimes you get seconds, sometimes just some really cheap copies. If you get a reputable seller with a quality product you're no worse off than buying elsewhere, but it pays to be careful.

I might get flamed for saying this but I don't mind Hoya and Kenko filters, but I've used Cokin filters before and they've been very good.

Cost comes down to not only the quality but also the type and size of the filter; variable ND filters will cost far more than static filters, and you'll generally find you can stack multiple ND filters for the same price or less than the cost of a good variable filter.

To give you an idea, a 55mm Hoya ND4 might cost you in the realm of $55 whereas a 77mm ND4 would be nearly double that at around $110. Similarly an ND4 and an ND8 in 55mm for stacking might cost you around $110-$120 for the pair whereas a variable ND will set you back $150 or more. Its not a huge difference I guess in the scheme of things, but it does add up.

You may also need to factor in stepping ring(s) if you have different lenses so that you get the most utility out of the filter(s).

As Bill suggested though, there are plenty of options from exposure compensation, stacking images etc. And long exposure is a fairly elastic term - it doesn't mean a 30 second or 5 minute or an hour exposure; it could be using a 1/4 s exposure where you'd normally expect to use a 1/250 s exposure.

So many examples of what can be done and Bill's first example shows how big an impact it can have on a photo.

Also, just remembered - if you do organise some stepping rings (assuming you have multiple lenses available) you need to be careful about which way you step. You don't want the diameter of the filter to be smaller than the diameter of the lens.

 

[fast14riot]

I have heard of people using welding glass as makeshift ND filters, usually around 8-10 stops. Never done it myself, but have seen some wonderful shots done this way with no degrading of sharpness.


-Xander

 

[BRuhling]

Sean, your laydown is very good. I tend to only buy B+W filters myself. But all of my glass is very high end glass and I don't want to degrade it with a subpar filter (I had that experience with the first filter filter I purchased (a quantaray), which left my images muddy.

One question that I have: when you stack ND filters, does it matter what order you stack them (assuming they are all the same diameter)? In other words, does it matter if you put a higher stop filter in front of or behind a lower stop filter? I would imagine it does not, but curiousity got the better of me...

 

[Edcculus]

Depending on what camera you have, you can probably manually control the apeture pretty darn small. I've never had to use it, but I'm pretty sure some of my lenses can go down to f22 and smaller. If you are shooting outside and want a long exposure in the day, et your iso as low as it will possibly go (100 for me), set a very small apeture and meter to find out the shutter speed. You could also use apeture priority mode and let the camera figure out what shutter speed to use. You will definitely need a tripod and ideally a cable release, or a way to remotely trigger if it won't accept a traditional cable release. Use the self timer mode if needed.

 

[lister]

Hi Bill, my experience is the stacking order doesn't make a difference and logically it shouldn't affect the amount or quality of the light getting through. I'll caveat that by saying its in my excited amateur experience; a more experienced photographer might have a more informed opinion

I certainly agree that a good filter is the way to go, I've just stuck with Hoya and Kenko as my glass isn't top of the line (I'd say again more mid-level/amateur type lenses). I always go with the advice "buy the best you can afford" as you won't regret the choice to buy quality, but of course this is always tempered by the reality of buying what you can afford.

Probably the other reason I haven't gone in for the likes of a B+W (which I've heard many many favourable reports on) is that I tend to get out and about and I like the idea that I can take the odd hit or two without risking a very expensive lens/filter. I can safely say the worst mishap I've had is a pelican dumping mid-flight on my 50mm prime earlier this year (and how it got into the focus ring I can't tell you), but I am always a bit uncomfortable with high end and expensive gear that it might get damaged.

Like a good friend who was my first dive instructor said; if you can't afford to lose it, you can't afford to take it...

Good advice.

Cheers.

 

[BRuhling]

Sean, I hear you. When I buy lenses, I follow the adage you quote that you buy the best you can afford (otherwise you spend more buying multiple versions), so I'm willing to put a high end filter on high end glass. The filters (clear/UV at least) are really not that much more than you spend on a cheap lens that degrades the quality of the optics. Of course, the reason I put multi-coat clear/UV filters on my lenses is for protection. WI buy lenses, I follow the adage you quote that you buy the best you can afford (otherwise you spend more buying multiple versions), so I'm willing to put a high end filter on high end glass. They. ND/CPL or other lenses are used for effect and usually go on and off as needed as I have developed my work flow...

 

[evnpar]

Stormy Day at Canon Beach, 30" exposure.

 

[lister]

Nice shot Richard

 

[mdunn]

Well.. I went to the bush round the corner and had a bit of a play with exposure settings. lots and lots of crap was the result. This is maybe the best one (which as you can see, isnt much).

But.. I did it to learn, so feel free to rip me apart!

 

[grinbergs]

This is a shot where I experimented with different lenghts of shutter speed to achieve a "ghost" like effect by letting my girlfriend walk back and forth in an abandoned railway carriage. I thought it would fit nicely with the rugged environment.

 

[Jaaaames]

30 second long exposure of Pennybacker Bridge in Austin Texas.


...sorry about the crappy picture quality, I had to post off of FB and their massive compression kills resolution.