Long Exposure Photography

A photo of flowing water using long exposure photography

Long exposure photography techniques can be used to obtain many different special effects. One that I hear people ask about regularly is how to achieve “milky water”. This effect is often seen on landscape photos of streams, waterfalls or beaches, where the majority of the scene looks perfectly normal, but the water looks like wisps of fog or cotton. Some people think that the water in these photos looks milky, hence the term “milky water”. To achieve the milky water effect there are a few basic elements that you’ll need to use, and a few others that are totally dependent on the environment on the day.

The set up

A long exposure basically means using a slow shutter speed, and as I’ve mentioned a number of times on this site, slow shutter speeds always mean using a tripod and a remote. If the camera is moved, bumped, jostled… in any way while the shutter is open your photo will be blurred and ruined so a tripod and remote is imperative. If you don’t have a remote, use the inbuilt self-timer. In this scenario, it’s likely that you will be shooting in wet conditions such as in or near a stream, or at the beach. For this reason it’s important to use a sturdy tripod that can cope with getting wet. If you don’t have a suitable tripod, there’s an affiliate link at the bottom of this page where you can get one.

A low ISO setting is important here too because extended exposures mean that your sensor will be active for longer periods than normal. With a DSLR this necessity will invariably lead to noise. By using a low ISO setting you will be reducing that noise to a minimum. I would recommend using ISO 100 (or lower if it’s available).

The shoot

Now, there are a few different ways we can set the camera up from this point forward. The easiest method is the use shutter-priority mode on your camera (Marked as Tv on Canon equipment). When using this mode, set the shutter speed to the time desired – I would recommend about 5 seconds as a starting point – and the camera will adjust the aperture accordingly, based on its inbuilt metering. Whilst this method is easy, it isn’t entirely accurate and you’ll probably find that parts of your photo might be under or over exposed.

The other method, which I prefer, is to use full manual mode on your camera. To get ideal results in this mode you’ll need to have some experience, but it won’t take you long to become familiar with it. Set your camera to manual mode, and set your aperture to f/8 or higher to maximise your depth of field. Using either your cameras in-built metering (here’s a link to exposure and metering if you need a refresher)or and external light meter, set your shutter speed accordingly. Depending on the amount of ambient light, you may need to use ND filters to extend your shutter speed long enough to get the desired exposure. I know this method sounds like a lot of fiddling around, but if you persevere, the results will be well worth it.

OK, now for the hardware I mentioned earlier in the post. Please note that these are affiliate links. If you choose to purchase from these links, I will be payed a commission. You are under no obligation to do so.

• You can get yourself a new tripod from Amazon by clicking here.
• You can get yourself a remote for your camera, also from Amazon by clicking here.
• You can browse a variety of different ND filters by clicking here.

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