Ghostly Exposures

 

I love doing long exposure night photography, and have captured city scenes in Adelaide, London, Sunderland and Whitby. The trick is supporting the camera solidly, usually just resting it on some surface, then opening the lens and seeing what you capture. If things are barely moving, the effect can be amazing, while the blur and streak effect of objects bright enough to register in motion is always artistic. I took this shot at the tram stop in Victoria Square, Adelaide, on July 3^rd, 2012, looking across to the state administration buildings and the Flinders University City campus. People are blurred, vehicles almost transaprent, while in the clear, cold evening the solidarity of the buildings and fixed lights registered beautifully. No processing was used at all. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Trying For Motion-Streaking

Click image to view at 1000 pixels wide

This is a simple effect with a manual camera. In the old days I would put the camera on the tripod at it's lowest height, focus in, then set the aperture to F16, forcing the shutter speed out to half a second, then the motion of the water would streak into solid bars of soft-edged light, which is of course how the famous Steve Parish creates those amazing water images in his celebrated landscape photography. Digital cameras are another matter, and this was purely experimental: was the light level in the Flinders Medical Centre rainforest garden low enough to force a long exposure without going to aperture priority? Almost! The result, while not quite the arty streaking it might have been, is certainly engaging: the crystal clarity of the wet rock texture, and the individual droplets of water catching the light. December, 2007; sharpened and colour-balanced. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.