Useful tips for long exposure photography

Long-exposure photography is exactly what its name suggests. In this technique, the length of time a camera's image sensor is exposed to light is increased for a considerable time. This technique is mostly used while shooting at night. It help photographers to boost brightness of a scene. With continuous experiments and trials, photographers have discovered a whole new artistic approach using the long exposure. They can now add magical, eye-catching and artistic effects to a subject specially if it is moving lights at night, or a spinning carnival ride, fireworks, vehicles on highway etc. If you have just started to explore what long exposure photography is, then you must read the tips stated below. They will definitely help you improve your skills to shoot with long exposure setting. 1. To hold your camera still, til you camera takes the shot, use a tripod. It is almost impossible to hand-hold a camera absolutely still for a long time like 30 seconds. It is always better to use a tripod to keep it still for as long as you want. 2. Compose and focus your shot without the filter. The filters that you use are very dense and hence they do not allow dim or diffused light to enter and reach your camera sensors. It is better to switch to manual focus first and then attach a filter. 3. Cover the viewfinder to ensure accurate light metering. It also helps to prevent any external light from entering the sensors during the exposure time. 4. If you are using an exposure longer than 60 seconds, preferably use 'Bulb' mode. Selecting a bulb mode helps you to open shutter for as long as you choose. Bulb mode helps you enable really long exposure. 5. Sometimes, Long exposure can cause a lot of image noise, even if you choose a low ISO. You may not see them on your camera's LCD display, but when you 100% zoom it on your computer screen, you'll see them. The best way to remove / prevent them is to take an exposure of identical length, at the same ISO, with the lens cap on. Keeping these points in mind you can definitely improve your long exposure photography skills.