My Camera Trick #1

You can’t teach an old dog a new trick.

Blah. I’m not a dog!

I’m not good at taking photographs. I’m not putting myself down but I’m just stating a fact. I’m the lazy one when it comes to taking pictures. Though, I have always fantasized about traffic photos with long streaks of light. I don’t know but I was really amazed whenever I see one. Until, one night JM taught me how to do it! It’s as easy as one-two-three! I kid you not.

What is Long Exposure?

Long exposure is already a summary of what it is. Returning to basics, a camera has a shutter, a kind of trap-door which lets light in and exposes either film or an imaging sensor. The shutter speed can be changed; high speeds such as 1/500 of a second will freeze action, while slower speeds like 1/30 of a second will blur it. Long exposures, therefore, are photos taken with the shutter open at extremely long time intervals - 1 second, 10 seconds, even 30 minutes or longer.

Here are the tips from JM: (Thank you love!)

1. Because the camera will have its shutter open for prolonged periods of time, it is important to keep it completely still to avoid the shakes. A tripod is your best friend.

2. Set your camera to either the shutter-priority automatic mode, marked on most cameras as "Tv", or manual mode, marked with "M". This will allow you to set your own shutter speed.

On shutter-priority mode, the camera will set the aperture automatically as you select your shutter speed; on manual mode you'll have to adjust both. You want to move past the fractions and into the double quotes range - this means your shutter will be open for entire seconds.

If you have a digital SLR you can have a shutter-speed setting called "B" - short for "Bulb." In layman's terms, this is an infinitely open shutter. The shutter will remain open as long as your finger is on the shutter release button, or as long as an accessory called a "cable release" is tripped and held open. This is the way to get those super-long, 30-minute exposures.

3. Compose your shot. Find that traffic/fireworks that you want.

4. Trip the shutter via the release button or a cable release to begin your long exposure. Take care not to jostle the camera to avoid camera shake.

5. Once the shutter closes, the exposure is over. Check out your results!

Here is my first attempt to achieve bliss:

Yes I have so much more to learn so I need more practice. I'll try to show more long exposure photos when I get to shoot a decent one :). Click away!