L O N G Exposures

[Chippy]

Well you all know I really like my weird stuff, but I've been trying out some long (4-6 minute) exposures during this week (with a HDR thrown in)...

 

I was quite surprised at how dark it really has to be, even with a ND8 filter, ISO50 and F16-F22 to be able to get that length of exposure. It made composing the shot really tricky and would have had no chance of getting the horizon straight without a bubble level.

 

Juts need to find the right location for it now, but here's my first attempts

 

 

 

And a HDR.........

 

[J.K]

Great work as always chippy. Well thought out and well composed shots

[MrWiggly]

Hi Chippy ..

 

Have been using NDs and Grads for a long time now, along with various other "oddballs" from my Black & White days.

 

It is surprising the low level of light that you need to get some of the effects you want, especially if your are on low ISO for top quality. You would not think that a pic would be possible under those conditions.

 

On the 40D you can bring up a grid in your viewfinder to get the scene level, which is a bonus !

 

Do you use a timer for your long shots, or do you just count off on a remote release ?

 

Nice HDR shot ...

 

Wiggly.

[Darren T]

some really nice shots there. I read something a while back while i was reading a review for a camera and the reviewer was asking for mroe cameras that will go down to iso 25 or lower. At the end of the day its all about amplifying the signal after it hits the sensor. Iso 100 or 200 are great for normal shos but as you said, for a long exposure with iso 100 you need to pretty much hold a black plate over the lens to get the exposure right.

 

it would be interesting to see some shots from exactly the same location with a range of exposures. maybe one 30s, one 60s, 90s, 120s etc. if only to see at what point the exposure duration no longer makes a difference.

[Cameraman]

mmmm, I just like the third shot, but I do like experimenting.

[Chippy]

On the 40D you can bring up a grid in your viewfinder to get the scene level, which is a bonus !

 

Do you use a timer for your long shots, or do you just count off on a remote release ?

 

Wiggly.

 

 

The 1D III has a grid which comes up in liveview mode, but pretty useless when the scene is so dark that you can't see the horizon

 

I used the TC-80 timer remote. Bought it primarily for doing startrails though. In the bulb mode the top screen has a timer, so a normal electronic release would still be fine.

[John S]

Very moody photo's there, well done Chippy I feel inspired to have a go at something similar now, the only long exposures I really do is star shots....

[Darren T]

The 1D III has a grid which comes up in liveview mode, but pretty useless when the scene is so dark that you can't see the horizon

 

was the scene that dark before you put the ND8 in the way? if not then would maybe a cokin system make life a litte easier, you can line up the shot and then just slide in your filters.

[Hellbelly]

G-day Chippy. Great to see you posting again mate. I really like the first two shots (#1 being the best) but the third, I like the colour but the scene looks a little bland for mine. I've been wanting to get down the beach and do some long exposure stuff myself but I just cant find the time right now.

 

Mick.

[Chippy]

was the scene that dark before you put the ND8 in the way? if not then would maybe a cokin system make life a litte easier, you can line up the shot and then just slide in your filters.

 

Yeah I use Cokin Grads, but have a decent hoya screw in (all my lenses are 77mm) ND8. I suppose I could have compose then added it, but even then it was still pretty dark.

 

Currently thinking off getting rid of all my cokins and investing in full ND and ND grad sets from Lee, as these tend to be the only filters (excluding my polariser) that i use.