Long Shutter Speed Photography

Once I figured out manual controls on my camera, it opened up an entire new world for me. The first camera I had with manual controls was a Fuji Finepix HS25EXR bridge camera. It had a built in lens. But, it operated like a very expensive DSLR. Although I've upgraded to a Nikon, I still use the Fuji for artistic purposes.

Here's a long shutter speed image I took with the Fuji.

If you are only using the program modes on your computer, that is fine. But, you can unlock the full artistic power of your camera by learning how to use Shutter Speed, ISO, and Iris control, (Iris control is more commonly knows as f-stop.).

In the shot below, I am using an F-stop of 5.6 and a shutter speed of 10 seconds. And all these photos, I am using ISO 200. This makes the "film" slower, and allows you to get that brilliant neon look to your images with the long shutter speeds. A lot of people will use a tripod as I am doing here with this shot.

But, with similar settings, if you decide to start moving the camera around, you can get some amazing abstract photographic effects. This is what F-stop of 18 looks like at a 30" shutter opening while moving the camera around vigorously. Honestly have had people ask me "What's wrong" when they see me shake my camera around.

Also, with a long exposure, you can create ghosting effects and light streaks. With this 30" exposure, I ran out in front of the camera and stood for a count of 15 seconds. And since the camera was burning an image for 30 seconds, my image appears translucent.

It's also interesting to note that these images were taken at night. And the sky seems to look as if it is daylight. That is because the moon exposed for 30 seconds creates enough light on the image to illuminate the scene.

Another technique I enjoy using is called streaking. Using a tripod and a long shutter speed and a high intensity flashlight, creating designs like this are easy. On this image, I am shooting a 7.1 f-stop and a 30" exposure. Love how the flash light creates these trails. And, the background came out in stunning color as well.

Hope this helps explains my technique to all of you who have commented and upvoted my photos. Please post any images you've created with these techniques. All you need is a camera that can shoot in manual controls. Cheers!