Long-exposure troubleshooting

Long exposures can be truly sublime, covering a number of techniques and styles. James Abbott explains how to avoid common pitfalls in a variety of situations

-  James Abbott

One of the most exciting aspects of photography is its ability to capture the world in a way that's far beyond the capabilities of human It can freeze ultra-fast movement to suspend a subject in time and space. At the other end of the scale, exposure time can be drawn out for seconds, minutes, and even hours to capture movement in some of the most eye-catching ways possible. Landscape photography in particular offers a number of possibilities to use long exposures for creative shots.

Nikon D610, 16-35mm, 30sec at f/16, ISO 100 O perception.

Common landscape problems

Camera shake and ghosting

Camera shake is the movement of the camera that's captured in the image and results in blur. It's certainly not the type of blur you're aiming for with the long-exposure technique. This is why it's important to attach your camera to a tripod and use a shutter remote to fire the shutter. Camera shake can also occur if you're shooting on unstable ground and people walk past the camera, which is what happened in the image above.

A second problem in the image shown above is that stationary, as well as slow-moving people, have been captured as ghosts despite the long exposure. If people are walking through the scene they're often not captured, but anyone standing still or moving slowly can be, so timing is everything. To achieve a sharp shot, it was necessary to wait until the scene was free of people and that no one was walking past the camera during the exposure.

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