Michael Pino: Photography & Design

Daytime Long Exposure Photography

I recently wont First Place at an art show for one of my photographs. So I thought that I’d give a little insight into how I created this image:

Evening Storm over the lake.

To create any long exposure photography during the day requires the use of a fairly strong neutral density filter. A good 10-stop ND filter starts at around 100 and goes up from there. You can stack filters to increase the effect, but at the cost of vignetting around the edges of the image.

There is a cheap way around this barrier, but it is going to require some pre- and post-production work. First head on down to Lowes, Home Depot, or any other hardware store that sells welding supplies and accessories. For around $5.00 US you can purchase a replacement welding glass. You need to be sure that you are buying the larger 4in x 3in glass. Some stores sell a smaller, rectangular piece, but it will not cover your whole lens.

To attach the filter to my camera I use two thick rubber bands. Its not the safest way, but it is one of the cheapest, light-tight ways to attach the filter. You can modify Cokin or similar filter holders to mount the glass, but that starts to increase the cost.

Now, go to you favorite landscape photography spot. Set up your tripod and camera; before you put the filter on, compose and focus your shot. Once you have the shot that you want, attach the filter to the camera, set your camera to manual mode and have it set to the bulb setting. Welding glass tends to stop light as much as 14-stops, so you can do the math if you get a meter reading prior to attaching the glass.

Now the pre-production work that you need to take is to set a custom white balance. This is more for anyone not taking a RAW photo. If you are taking a RAW photo, a custom white balance helps you to get a close as you can to the original colors.

I tend to experiment with the shot that I want to take. The prize winning shot was a 120 second exposure at f/4.0. During the middle of the day, I will close the aperture down to f/16-f/22. When you stop your lens down as far as it will go, you will be able to take several minute long exposure in the middle of a sunny day. I prefer my images to be taken on windy or cloudy days, so I can capture the movement of the clouds.