How to Create Surreal Images with Long Exposures
Long-exposure photography is when you slow down a camera’s shutter speed to capture a photo that has collected a subject’s movements over a long time.
Photographers apply long-exposure techniques when capturing something that moves. Examples include the movement of light over a sunrise, a waterfall, or the movement of clouds throughout the day.
Long exposure helps us see things in a way that our eyes cannot. Our eyes are incapable of going without blinking for an abnormally long time (like four hours). If we could, we would see a constantly moving waterfall blur into one smooth and aesthetically perfect flow of water.
Photographers use long exposure to create breathtaking images that look like they were taken on a heavenly celestial object. Learning long-exposure techniques will make you a better photographer and storyteller because it pushes your creative thinking boundaries.
This blog post will guide you through the steps to create stunning, surreal images using long exposure techniques. Learn how to get light trails and motion blur through long exposure photography techniques. Cover photo by Mateusz Dach.
Equipment Requirements
No prizes will be handed out to anyone who guessed you need a camera Although, you may be wondering why Apple’s new camera you spent over $1,500 on can’t do the job.
The thing with smartphone cameras is that their long-form ability is determined by the software on the phone. Unfortunately, it is one of those questions whose answer is “it depends.”
Some smartphone cameras may pull it off. Others may require external apps.
In short, if you’re serious about long-form photography and creating custom content, you’re better off investing in a camera with all the necessary long-form settings. These settings include the ability to control the following elements:
- Shutter speed. The length of time your camera’s shutter stays open to let light in.
- Aperture. This refers to your camera lens’ ability to control how much light enters.
- ISO. This is to adjust your camera’s sensitivity to light. You need a low ISO for taking long-exposure photos during the day and a higher number at night.
Another photography term you need to be familiar with is a neutral density (ND) filter. NDs give you further control over light. NDs are available in varying strengths.
The right camera should be complemented by something to place the camera on. A tripod or mini-tripod:
- Prevents your camera from shaking
- Helps you adjust angles with ease
Choose Your Location, Time and Subject
The best camera and equipment cannot do justice if the location and time are not optimal.
The best times for long-exposure photography are during low-light conditions. These are known as:
- Pedestrian movements like wedding photography or vehicle movements (against static buildings)
- Objects that sway with the wind, like leaves (against static trees)
- Changing colors (against static landscapes)
- Waterfalls (against static rocks)
- Clouds (against static skies)
The balance between the animate and inanimate adds depth to your long-exposure shot.
The ideal location and subject needs practical considerations:
- Are you carrying extras like batteries? Long-exposure photography is heavy on a camera’s battery.
- Is the weather going to be feasible on your chosen day?
- Is accessing the area easy and not against the law?
- Are you dressed for the weather?
- Is it safe to set up your shot?
How to Set Up Your Shot
Now that you have your equipment and shot in mind, it’s time to visit the location and set up your shot.
When done properly, long-exposure photography transforms ordinary scenes into surreal masterpieces.
For example, Cruise America, an RV rental company in Los Angeles, leverages location and subject knowledge to create captivating digital content for their promotional campaigns. By combining long and short exposure shots, they showcase the vibrant motion of starry skies or glowing cityscapes around their RVs.
Related: ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY & NIGHT SKY LIGHTROOM PRESETS
Step One: Mount Your Camera
Mount your camera on a strong tripod. This will help the camera maintain stability during the long-exposure shot. The thing with long-exposure shots is that the most minuscule movement can ruin a great plan and produce blurred images!
Before planting your camera in place, make sure you’ve captured the right contrast between movement and stillness.
Step Two: Set Your Subject
Once your subject is in the frame, it’s time to adjust the settings.
Change the mode to manual. This will give you the necessary control to capture the best long-exposure images.
In manual mode, you can adjust shutter speed, ISO, and aperture to your desired levels. It allows you to dictate how your image is exposed. Key in the following settings:
- ISO to the lowest value possible (100 or 200). This reduces digital noise caused by longer shutter speeds.
- Set the aperture to anything between f/8 and f/16. This helps keep your subject in focus – great for capturing landscapes or skylines. Smaller apertures limit the light entering the lens for a motion-blurred final image.
You can also use apps or exposure calculators specifically designed for long-exposure photography to make this process easier.
Step Three: Adjusting and Testing
Other settings to tinker with to maximize the final product include adjusting the white balance to match the natural lighting on the day. You can also use a custom white balance setting for greater control.
Before initiating the final shot, do a test to make sure you’re going to capture the intended image. Your test shots shouldn’t under or overexpose an image.
Monitor the light conditions as they can change quickly, especially during golden or blue hours.
Post-Processing Tips
Don’t treat post-processing as a way to ‘save’ a poorly captured image. If you want post-processing to have the desired impact, the initial photo needs to be well-exposed, with post-processing playing the role of fine-tuning the final result.
So, how do you customize images? Start by adjusting the highlights, shadows, and contrast. This helps balance the exposure and add depth to your image.
For example:
- Increasing the contract widens the distinction between light and dark areas. This is useful when highlighting the smooth motion created during the long exposure.
- You can reduce shadows to reveal details behind the darker parts of your picture.
- You can reduce highlights to recover details in bright areas like the sky.
Additional photo editing settings to tinker with are:
- White balance to create warmer/cooler tones. This is great for making the blues in water, or the greens of a tree stand out.
- Noise removal to remove digital noise causes an image to blur or look grainy.
Tools for Post-Processing
Depending on your skill level, you can use a variety of tools to post-process your images:
- Canva is good for those with little editing skills. They have easy-to-use sliders to adjust contrast, white balance, and more. Canva also has an auto-adjustment feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance an image.
- Adobe Lightroom is widely used by photographers. It’s technically a step up from Canva as it offers noise reduction and color grading options to perfect your image.
- Adobe Photoshop is slightly more advanced. Editors use Photoshop when they want control over every aspect of post-processing.
However, you’re not restricted to Adobe. There are alternatives like Affinity Photo and Luminar Neo that come with respectable editing capabilities.
Looking for entirely free options? Try GIMP and Darktable.
Final Thoughts
Long-exposure photos are truly captivating and unlike any other type of image. They do require much research, investment, and patience up-front, but the rewards are worth it.
As with any skill, the key is trial and error.
Experimenting with different settings, locations, times, and days is how you become a better photographer.
Every type of shot (day, night, nature, city) offers unique challenges and opportunities, so don’t be afraid to try different settings, compositions, and post-processing methods.
Play with shutter speeds and other settings to see how letting in different amounts of light influences the final image, and experiment with filters to discover new creative effects.
As you tinker, you’ll develop your style and learn what works best for you.
Good luck!
Read next: 21 FREE Photo Booth Templates (2×6 Strips & 4×6 Postcards)
- Golden hour (just after sunrise or before sunset). Golden hour photography is great for taking landscape images.
- Blue hour (just before sunrise or after sunset). This period is perfect for catching sci-fi-like dreamy images.
- Night photography (when it’s pitch black) to capture stars, light trails, or cityscapes.
A quick note to say your long-exposure photography doesn’t only have to focus on capturing light trails or motion blur—it’s about creating moments that feel timeless and full of depth.
Take, for example, a black-and-white photograph shared by Beaches of Normandy Tours on their Facebook page to promote their Band of Brothers tour.
The image depicts a group of soldiers during World War II, arms linked as they stand in a circle around a modest Christmas tree in a wooden barracks. The image’s mood is contemplative and emotional, capturing camaraderie and perhaps a longing for home amidst wartime.
The shadow of the tree on the wall adds an absorbing layer, creating a haunting, almost surreal quality. The photo has sparked a wave of reactions from their audience, who cherish historical details and authentic imagery, proving how powerful visuals can connect us to the human experiences of the past.
Weather plays a big role in shaping your long-exposure shots. Cloudy or windy days create dynamic skies with streaks of motion. Calm weather gives glassy reflections on the water.
Try to avoid taking long-exposure images during sunny conditions, as it is challenging to achieve longer shutter speeds without overexposing the image (overexposing means letting too much light into the camera, which makes an image look white).
Your chosen location and subject should enhance the effect of motion with a static backdrop to illustrate the contrast once the picture is taken. Examples include:
- Pedestrian movements like wedding photography or vehicle movements (against static buildings)
- Objects that sway with the wind, like leaves (against static trees)
- Changing colors (against static landscapes)
- Waterfalls (against static rocks)
- Clouds (against static skies)
The balance between the animate and inanimate adds depth to your long-exposure shot.
The ideal location and subject needs practical considerations:
- Are you carrying extras like batteries? Long-exposure photography is heavy on a camera’s battery.
- Is the weather going to be feasible on your chosen day?
- Is accessing the area easy and not against the law?
- Are you dressed for the weather?
- Is it safe to set up your shot?
How to Set Up Your Shot
Now that you have your equipment and shot in mind, it’s time to visit the location and set up your shot.
When done properly, long-exposure photography transforms ordinary scenes into surreal masterpieces.
For example, Cruise America, an RV rental company in Los Angeles, leverages location and subject knowledge to create captivating digital content for their promotional campaigns. By combining long and short exposure shots, they showcase the vibrant motion of starry skies or glowing cityscapes around their RVs.
Related: ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY & NIGHT SKY LIGHTROOM PRESETS
Step One: Mount Your Camera
Mount your camera on a strong tripod. This will help the camera maintain stability during the long-exposure shot. The thing with long-exposure shots is that the most minuscule movement can ruin a great plan and produce blurred images!
Before planting your camera in place, make sure you’ve captured the right contrast between movement and stillness.
Step Two: Set Your Subject
Once your subject is in the frame, it’s time to adjust the settings.
Change the mode to manual. This will give you the necessary control to capture the best long-exposure images.
In manual mode, you can adjust shutter speed, ISO, and aperture to your desired levels. It allows you to dictate how your image is exposed. Key in the following settings:
- ISO to the lowest value possible (100 or 200). This reduces digital noise caused by longer shutter speeds.
- Set the aperture to anything between f/8 and f/16. This helps keep your subject in focus – great for capturing landscapes or skylines. Smaller apertures limit the light entering the lens for a motion-blurred final image.
You can also use apps or exposure calculators specifically designed for long-exposure photography to make this process easier.
Step Three: Adjusting and Testing
Other settings to tinker with to maximize the final product include adjusting the white balance to match the natural lighting on the day. You can also use a custom white balance setting for greater control.
Before initiating the final shot, do a test to make sure you’re going to capture the intended image. Your test shots shouldn’t under or overexpose an image.
Monitor the light conditions as they can change quickly, especially during golden or blue hours.
Post-Processing Tips
Don’t treat post-processing as a way to ‘save’ a poorly captured image. If you want post-processing to have the desired impact, the initial photo needs to be well-exposed, with post-processing playing the role of fine-tuning the final result.
So, how do you customize images? Start by adjusting the highlights, shadows, and contrast. This helps balance the exposure and add depth to your image.
For example:
- Increasing the contract widens the distinction between light and dark areas. This is useful when highlighting the smooth motion created during the long exposure.
- You can reduce shadows to reveal details behind the darker parts of your picture.
- You can reduce highlights to recover details in bright areas like the sky.
Additional photo editing settings to tinker with are:
- White balance to create warmer/cooler tones. This is great for making the blues in water, or the greens of a tree stand out.
- Noise removal to remove digital noise causes an image to blur or look grainy.
Tools for Post-Processing
Depending on your skill level, you can use a variety of tools to post-process your images:
- Canva is good for those with little editing skills. They have easy-to-use sliders to adjust contrast, white balance, and more. Canva also has an auto-adjustment feature that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance an image.
- Adobe Lightroom is widely used by photographers. It’s technically a step up from Canva as it offers noise reduction and color grading options to perfect your image.
- Adobe Photoshop is slightly more advanced. Editors use Photoshop when they want control over every aspect of post-processing.
However, you’re not restricted to Adobe. There are alternatives like Affinity Photo and Luminar Neo that come with respectable editing capabilities.
Looking for entirely free options? Try GIMP and Darktable.
Final Thoughts
Long-exposure photos are truly captivating and unlike any other type of image. They do require much research, investment, and patience up-front, but the rewards are worth it.
As with any skill, the key is trial and error.
Experimenting with different settings, locations, times, and days is how you become a better photographer.
Every type of shot (day, night, nature, city) offers unique challenges and opportunities, so don’t be afraid to try different settings, compositions, and post-processing methods.
Play with shutter speeds and other settings to see how letting in different amounts of light influences the final image, and experiment with filters to discover new creative effects.
As you tinker, you’ll develop your style and learn what works best for you.
Good luck!
