articles/Landscape/timepass-page4

Time Passes By - part 4 of 1 2 3 4

by Paul Gallagher Published 01/08/2012

Westport Bay (long exposure)

Another important point is to cover the eye-piece on the back of your camera and ensure the sponge backing on the rear of your filter is tight against the filter holder. The slightest degree of light leakage puts lovely purple stripes right across your image which are almost impossible to remove and look awful! (See failed long exposure) Whilst we are considering exposure my advice is not to get too hung up about it. I have seen folk with mobile phone apps and charts coming out if their ears which I do not believed help.

Most of the charts I find are only rough guides at best and I found I have regularly to add a third more time to the value provided in the chart with my Big Stopper.

Westport Bay

Charts are constant and fixed. Light certainly is not, so if you spend an age with your calculator determining that perfect exposure for the light, it could (and probably will) change during your exposure time. This is not an exact science at all!

Lastly, it goes without saying that you need a good tripod and a good tripod head that will stay still during the exposure. Along with this, try not to get too adventurous in inclement weather with strong breezes , or even worse, strong winds. The skies might look great and the winds may be producing amazing swells and waves, but if your camera moves it will not only be the water that looks soft, but all of it, so it wasn't worth getting it out of the bag in the first place!

So if you are considering entering the ethereal world of long and considered exposures, find a quiet location. Get your set-up just right and make a nice omfy spot made out for yourself because to may need it. One last point, when does an exposure become a 'long' exposure . . . . . ?????

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