This week I want to share one of my first — and perhaps still one of my best — ultra-long exposures. It was taken at university, in my ‘early years’ so to speak, long before I developed a decent technical understanding of photography. I was just beginning to work out what did work — and what didn’t. For a few months I only took photos that were exposed for 30 seconds or more!
Today I am still a huge fan of very long exposures, and you can see quite a few dead-of-night landscapes in my Sussex photo collection (page 2 and 3). Not only do you capture some great sights that might go unnoticed by the naked eye, it’s also quite fun to stand in the middle of no where, in a night as dark as pitch and just… be.
This is a post for Skywatch Friday.
Rinkly Rimes
Mar 26, 2009
Your photo has an element of mystery. At first I thought of the Northern Lights.
FranticAntics
Mar 26, 2009
I like it, I knew i liked it when i scrolled down to see more than a cm of the picture, if you were next to me, you’d have heard a little ‘Oh wow…’ under my breath
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
… Are we talking about the photo here, Frantic, or something else entirely?
Rinkly — It is a bit ‘otherworldly’! I actually intended to go to the arctic circle this winter, to get some Northern Lights photos… but for various reasons I didn’t make it. Maybe next year though, if I’m lucky
Bryan
Mar 26, 2009
Gorgeous sky. How long did you expose this image for? I’m curious because when I take long night exposures, I find the clouds look all sorts of funny.
Catherine
Mar 26, 2009
That is one beautiful piece of sky. I looked at it for longer than I should have done, scrolled up so that the lights from the buildings were hidden -it is so calming.
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
I think this one was about 30-35 seconds — I think the key to that kind of smooth, creaminess is long exposure, but also quite a small aperture — f11 or smaller, I think.
If you look at some of my other photos, you’ll see those kind of smooth skies are quite prominent in my night-time shots
Thanks Catherine — I actually have one without the other buildings, of just the pylon… I will leave a link to it on your blog!
Steffi
Mar 26, 2009
Wow…your SWF photo is really good!Great shot!Have a nice weekend!
Gill
Mar 26, 2009
what a super shot…
Gill in Canada
Photo Cache
Mar 26, 2009
one word: FABULOUS
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
Thank you, to all 3 of you!
But you can try to be more descriptive of the feelings and emotions the photo evokes…!
FranticAntics
Mar 26, 2009
Oh seb…really?
Yes, i’m sure it was the photo!
x
FranticAntics
Mar 26, 2009
It’s pretty phallic actually
East Gwillimbury WOW!
Mar 26, 2009
I’m impressed. This is something I want to learn more about…for sure!
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
You should hear my friend’s treatise on ‘Everything in the world is a phallus, or vagina.’ EVERYTHING…
He argued it quite well too…
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
Mr Gwillimbury (if that is in fact your name…!) the first thing would be to get a digital SLR — you can get them quite cheaply… look up a Canon Digital Rebel (or something like that) — probably yours for a few hundred dollars nowadays
Guy D
Mar 26, 2009
Excellent photo, I love unique pics like this, well done.
sylvia
Mar 26, 2009
What an incredible capture! This is stunning and, as Guy says, unique! I love it! Thanks for sharing and have a great weekend!
prkl
Mar 26, 2009
Very nice low light, long exposure. The colors are so smooth as they tend to be in these. I’m too lazy to carry tripod around but looking at this makes one wonder maybe he should. Can’t say there’s anything wronk with this, darn near perfect. Very well done. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy SWF!
sebastian
Mar 26, 2009
Hehe, the classic dilemma: do you leave the house without your big camera?
Even worse: do you take the tripod too?!
You just KNOW you’re going to miss an awesome photo if you leave without either of them…
What I normally do is get someone else to carry my tripod and camera…
Valkyrien
Mar 26, 2009
Who could believe a thing like that could be so beautiful! The “thing” in front – I don’t know what it’s called in English! Anyhow – stunning photo! Beautiful sky! Wonderful drama in the colors! You are an artist Sebastian!
Pagan Sphinx - Massachusetts
Mar 27, 2009
I have only a minimal understanding of mechanics of it all. I can appreciate the results, though.
One day I will learn how to use a real camera.
Tricia
Mar 27, 2009
I love this photo, too! A better understanding of photography is definitely what I’m striving for. This photo is so awesome – the lighting & everything about it. Fantabulous shot!!!
sebastian
Mar 27, 2009
Wow, fantabulous! I don’t think I’ve had fantabulous before…
Thank you!
(I should probably say this is the photo that I’ve sold the most copies of… given the response here, I guess that’s no surprise!)
Tammie
Mar 27, 2009
Hello,
The softness of this long exposure night photo is appealing.
I like your comment of just being in the night~
Catherine
Mar 27, 2009
Aw thanks for the link! It’s an even better picture because I think there are stars in it! And it feels like it was taken from another planet. Or something. Thanks again.