How to do Long Exposure Photographs

One of the coolest pictures anyone can take is long exposure photographs.  People who are not photographers often think they are either Photo-shopped images or extremely complicated to create.  In reality it is the absolute easiest thing to do in photography.

Do you ever wonder how photographers get those streaks of light from car headlights?  Or that silky appearance when they photograph water?  The answer is long exposure.

You just need two things, a camera that allows you to control your shutter speed (all DSLR cameras have this feature) and a tripod.

If you do not know how to set your shutter speed, just take a look in your owners manual or Google your camera model.  Each camera is a little different to adjust but it is incredibly easy to do.  Set your camera to manual mode and you most likely have a wheel or know to turn to adjust your shutter speed.  Try various shutter speeds but usually at least ten seconds is a good place to start.  Set your ISO low, around 100-200.  Set you aperture (f/stop) to at least f/8 so you have your picture in focus.


Put your camera on your tripod and you are good to go.


Now to do long exposures you either need it to be dark or at least low light.  The more light their is the higher the f/ number needs to be.  Remember the longer the exposure the more light the camera will let into the picture.  If you picture is to bright (maybe even all white) set your shutter for less time.  If it was set for 10 seconds, try 2 seconds.

Conversely if the picture is to dark, set it for a longer exposure.  Try 20 seconds.  You may have to fiddle with the adjustments depending on your lighting situation.

You will want a good tripod for this.  Any movement in the tripod will cause blurring in the image.  You will also want to use a remote control or use the cameras timer to take the picture.  The slight movement from you pushing the shutter button can cause a blurry image.  Especially with cheap tripods.

And that is it.  Go out and find some cars moving or some moving water and snap away.