LONG EXPOSURE WITH A SMARTPHONE
Long exposure is a photographic technique that consists of leaving the shutter open for a longer time than usual in order to capture not only the static elements of our scene but also those that may be in movement, giving us as a result well-defined objects and at the same time others that are somewhat blurred. You may be asking yourself: Why is this useful if we normally look for sharpness and focus when taking a picture? Well my friends, this is useful in many occasions and allows us to capture images that have the famous silk effect of water, starry lights, stars & milky way, aurora borealis, night "light trails" in cities or even light painting.
Using long exposure technique during an urbex expedition
On a technical level and to execute the technique as rigorously as possible we would need a reflex or mirrorless camera, a tripod and an ND filter but this is the holiday season, we have a bit more free time and with the good weather we feel like exploring. So today we are going to learn how to take long exposure photographs so that the lack of equipment is not a problem when it comes to capturing the magic of every new place you visit these summer days.
WHAT WILL I NEED FOR THIS?
A smartphone with a camera that allows you to take pictures in live view mode or, failing that, a smartphone with an application that allows you to modify the shutter speed, such as the camera that has the Lightroom mobile application integrated.
A tripod for mobiles or, failing that, a place with a static base on which to rest the phone and avoid trepidation.
On iPhone
Open the Camera app on your phone and make sure you have Live photography enabled.
Mount your tripod or place your phone on a stable, static surface.
Tap the screen to focus and take a photograph of your scene.
Go to Gallery and select you picture. Then, change in the top left corner the preference from LIVE to LONG EXPOSURE. Wait few seconds and voilà! You have now a Long Exposure shot ready to edit :)
On Android
If your device has Live photography mode you can follow the same steps as on iPhone. If your mobile phone doesn’t have this mode then keep reading!
Download a Long Exposure app or use an app like Lightroom which allows you to modify the exposure time. I will use Lightroom to explain the steps.
Open the Lr camera and change it to PRO mode instead of the Auto.
Select 1 on the “Sec” feature located in the lower part of the screen.
Put your device on your tripod or on a stable & static surface, focus the scene tapping the screen and take your shot. Voilà! You have your long exposure photograph ready to edit :)
SOME IDEAS TO TRY THIS TECHNIQUE
Let the water flow in a waterfall and reach the silk effect easily on a landscape you have seen tons of times.
Silk effect shot on iPhone 7
People on the move in a city. From a pedestrian crossing to people crossing in front of a landmark building or strolling through a park. You'll get a very distinctive motion blur that will give your snapshots an original touch.
At night, it captures the lights emitted by vehicles as they travel along a road. The famous trails that you may have seen on high mountain roads at dusk can also be photographed with your mobile phone. However, in a much shorter version due to the limitation of the exposure time.
Get pictures with dispersed smoke. Sometimes, when we try to photograph smoke it is very dense and we look for a much softer effect to give ambience. If we don't have a smoke machine and an enclosed place, things get complicated... The long exposure can help us to get a somewhat dispersed smoke that gives a mysterious touch to our images.
At fairground attractions it is always a good idea to look at the carousel or the Ferris wheel through the long exposure. These photos became quite common about 7 years ago, when I started to become more interested in the world of photography and I have to admit that it is something that I have pending because at that time I did not know this technique with the mobile phone and I thought that I could not do it without ND filter or tripod. I encourage you to try it today with your phone, the result is very funny and colourful because of the lights that usually surround these attractions.
Have fun with light painting. I remember the first time I tried light painting, we were setting up the Christmas tree and with a laser pointer we were drawing the decorative items on the tree. The result was a bit disastrous but we certainly had a fun afternoon.
Add a starry touch to urban lights in your photographs. To get a different photo of an emblematic place we have to put our creativity to work and, on that trip to Malaysia, it occurred to me to use this technique with the Petronas Towers. The photograph I show you here was taken with a camera, they were too tall and I couldn't frame them with my phone. Nowadays, with the wide angles that many devices have, it's a piece of cake!
Shot with a Nikon D5200 + ´Tokina 11-16mm 2.8
Photograph the stars and, if you dare, the Milky Way or the Northern Lights. Yes, this is one of the most cool things you can do with this tool on your phone. You will need to either be in a place without light pollution to capture the stars and the Milky Way or travel to the north of the globe to try to locate the NL.
On a windy day, give a touch of movement to the clouds in your landscape. There are days when it is too windy and the clouds move fast. We try to "stop them" in our landscape photography and can become frustrated at not succeeding. Well, let's turn the tables! Use these days to capture clouds in motion and get a sky in your photography that is different and conveys that movement in a more artistic way.
At this point, you will already have a thousand ideas in your head about how to practice this technique and you will be eager to go out in search of the right situation to use it in. You have the tools, now you just need to explore!