Quick Guide to Long Exposure Photography on a Budget

Have you ever wanted to take stunning photos of space🔭, light trails left by passing traffic 🚦or create effects similar to neutral density with no software, editing or expensive filter🚫 and without having to fork out all of your prized cryptocurrency Hodlings to buy the latest Canon or Nikon?📷💰💰💰😅

The image above was my first ever attempt during the last years apartheid meteor shower.

You wont need much, just a camera that has a P A S M functions, a tripod, some basic knowledge of the exposure triangle and somewhere to go with little to no light pollution.
It doesn't even need to be a DSLR, some point-and-shoots even a film cameras from a thrift store(check for mould☣) have these settings. Film cameras will need a special HIGH-ISO film for astrophotography.

"Program"(P) "Aperture Priority"(A) "Shutter Priority"(S) "Manual"(M)

Manual Is the one you will be using for this method of capturing light Ⓜ

Here is an example of my cheap mirrorless rig that i currently take with me during field work:
Sony ICLE 3000 20.1mp, Exmor APS-C, Mirror-less. DSLR  $250 + $50 2y extended warranty

Sony SEL 1855  f=3.5-5.6/18-55mm, AL-C-SH-112 petal-shaped hood.  Multi-function Lens

Sony  NP-FW50 Infolithium Batterypack 7.7wh (1080mAh)

SLIK Mirage 1.5m Tripod (Modified for smooth action tilt/pan)  $10

2 x Kodak KPB-K/52 Powerbank 5200mAh  USB 5V-1A x2=10,400mAh  $30

SanDisk Ultra 64GB SDXC1 Class10 80MB/s SD CARD $29

$320 Not bad huh for the capabilities! 🤓🤓🤓

(Mirrorless cameras are great for long exposures, less moving parts, less vibration than traditional DSLR's) 

It may seem difficult for the minnow photographer at the start, but through my trial and error hopefully i can save you some time. Here is how you take an astro shot.

• Change your camera settings to M or Manual (on the knob)
  This will give you complete control over the exposure triangle
  
• Turn off auto-focus and manually focus to infinite using a light like your phone or a torch
  You cant focus on the sky in the dark
  
• Set your Aperture to as low as it can go (Wide-Open)
  Little blades inside your lens that control the amount of light that comes through, a smaller value e.g  f=1.8 would be completely open f=22 would restrict nearly all the light getting to your sensor
  
• Set your ISO to 12800 or 16000
  This sets the sensitivity of your CMOS Sensor or Active Pixel Sensor
  Cheaper cameras range ISO100 to ISO16000 although canons  ME20F-SH is a sensor whale at ISO4000000
  
• Set your shutter speed to 30s
  You will change this a lot
  
• Shoot on timer or buy a remote to reduce vibration
  Make sure your tripod is steady
  
• Point at the heavens, shoot and be rewarded with the outcome
  Too bright? try lowering your ISO or reducing your shutter speed each exposure.

If you do well with entry level gear imagine what you could do with an EOS or A7R.
One can only speculate.🤔

Hopefully this has given you a general idea of how to perform a Long Exposure Capture and i thank you for your presence.

@themda