1. The Location

Most of the time long exposures outdoors are affected by factors such as the time of day and the weather at the location, if you want to pre-plan a shot make sure the conditions of the location are going to be suitable for what you’re going for.

2. The Framing

Some people might show up to the location and immediately plop down a tripod in a spot, put the camera on it and call it a day. If you do that you may not end up with a 100% satisfying shot. Experiment with the framing by looking through the lens before deciding where to put down your camera, that way you know for certain you’re getting the most creative shot possible.

3. Focusing

A lot of landscape long exposures are prone to actually being out of focus because the photographer put their focusing point on a further away part of the frame, the key to getting the most of the frame in focus as possible is manually focusing to the closest third of the frame.

4. Settings

Lastly you’ll want to adjust your exposure settings, Shutter Speed is most important. The longer the shutter is kept open, the more light will be read by the sensor and that is key when getting a long exposure, how long you want the shutter open is ultimately up to you, good luck!

Many people are used to the automatic settings given to them by their phones and digital cameras, however in order to get the most out of your equipment you must be able to understand how to expose an image manually by juggling three factors – Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO.

1. Aperture

Aperture is what basically controls the iris of the camera. It’s a ring inside the lens that opens and closes according to F-stop measurements of light. Adjusting aperture does two things, it controls how much light you light go into the sensor of your camera, and it controls how narrow your depth of field is.

2. Shutter Speed

Shudder Speed is how fast the shutter in front of your camera’s sensor opens and closes to allow light in. It’s another way to control the exposure of your image, and it also determines how much blur there is in movement. The faster you set the Shutter Speed, the more “frozen” your image will become.

3. ISO

ISO is the last pillar of exposure in photography. It determines the sensitivity of the sensor in your camera. ISO is required to be able to capture moments where you’re in low lighting conditions and need a proper exposure, and/or want to get a narrow depth of field, and/or when you want to capture very fast movement with a very fast Shutter Speed. The higher you crank up ISO the more digital noise or “grain” you’ll introduce to your image, however you’ll get a brighter image than what may be possible with Aperture and Shutter Speed alone.

These three elements are what you’re required to be able to juggle when trying to get a proper image, it’s important that every photographer knows the basics on how to get a manual exposure down correctly. Once you learn how to master these settings the possibilities in photography open up significantly, so get out there and start shooting!

Photography has an integral role in society as a whole. Through it we are able to easily create and share moments in time as pieces of art that give us expression and feeling.

1. Photography allows us to capture moments

Being able to feel moments in our lives is part of what makes us all human, and being able to cherish special moments that invigorate feelings deep within ourselves is special and something that photography easily allows anyone to do.

2. It’s a very good hobby to have

Everyone likes to have meaning in their lives, and photography can bring many people meaning as it’s a skill that can always be improved upon. There is always something to learn from practicing photography, and mastering it as an art can take many years of dedication.

3. It allows people to express themselves

Like any art form, photography allows people to share their own unique perspective on the world around them, it allows others to peer into the eyes of the artist, and see their subjective view of reality the way they intended.

4. It makes us feel something

All art is partially created for us to share our human experiences, and with that comes the feelings from seeing the art around us every single day. Everything invigorates us to feel something whether it’s for a second or for a lifetime, and every photograph has a an innate feeling to it that sparks something inside of us.

5. Photography makes us think

Photography can be completely subjective, while the artist themselves always has something to say through their work, there’s always the reality that absolutely everything is open to interpretation, and a photograph when observed long enough can sprout many thoughts about the story behind the moment and what it says to the individual person.

Photography has a language to it and it speaks to our eyes in a multitude of ways, it’s important for people to not take for granted the power we all have through sharing the colors in our lives through the art of the photograph.