By Lincoln Harrison

By Lincoln Harrison

 

At first these spectacular swirls of color may look like clever computer graphics.  Actually they are the product of hour after hour of painstaking night-time shooting by photographer Lincoln Harrison.   His stunning pictures of star trails across the Australian night sky were taken over periods of up to 15 hours.

long and short, lincoln h, 3Amazing star trails in Australialong and short, lincoln h. 2According to wikipedia, long exposure photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing or obscuring the moving parts.  The paths of moving light sources become clearly visible.

That sounds simple and straight-forward enough.  But what these artists exhibit is pure magic.  Various techniques and subject matter open an astounding variety of visual effects.

Where I can find them, I’ve included links to further images and to more technical explanations for the curious and geeky visitor.  Please let us know your favorites in the comments below.By David Johnson

By David Johnson

David Johnson has devised a way to photograph fireworks that is other-worldly and unique.

long and short, david jlong and short, david johnson 2long and short, david j. 5long and short, david johnson, 4long and short, david johnson, 3long and short, david j. 6long and short, David Johnsonlong and short, dClick here if you want to read about how these images were made and here for more images by David Johnson.

Photographer Bill Wadman has captured 9 dancers in flowing motion.Photographer Bill Wadman captures 9 dancers in flowing motion. long and short, Photographer Bill Wadman has captured 9 dancers in flowing motion, 3

long and short, Photographer Bill Wadman has captured 9 dancers in flowing motionlong and short, Photographer Bill Wadman has captured 9 dancers in flowing motion 4long, wadmanlong, wadman, 2

by IBRoomba on Flickr

by IBRoomba on Flickr

Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner that is able to autonomously vacuum the floor while navigating a living space and avoiding obstacles.

It also comes equipped with color-changing LEDs that indicate things like remaining battery power and dirty spots. The LED lights combined with a seemingly random cleaning path has led some intrepid photographers to take long exposure photographs. The results are a kind of ‘light painting.’

By Chris Bartle (bartlec on Flickr)

By Chris Bartle (bartlec on Flickr)

By reconscious on Flickr

By reconscious on Flickr

 

By Mike Bala (mikebala on Flickr)

By Mike Bala (mikebala on Flickr)

 

By-reconscious-on-Flickr.

By-reconscious-on-Flickr.

Seven Roombas operating simultaneously, by IBRoomba

Seven Roombas operating simultaneously, by IBRoomba

long and short, swinging burning steel  aroundFrom Eric S. at  Wildammo:

Light painting is an awesome technique that can be created in a variety of ways such as using LEDs (like Roomba) or fireworks.   But for some, steel wool is a great choice. Steel wool grade 0 and finer (00, 000) is flammable. You can attach a pad to a wire or string and spin it around and create a shower of sparks.   The faster you swing the more sparks you get.

long, steel-wool-long-exposure-wildammo-4long, steel-wool-long-exposure-wildammo-10long, steel-wool-long-exposure-wildammo-7long, steel-wool-long-exposure-wildammo-6long, steel-wool-long-exposure-wildammo-13long and short, ISS star trailsThis is a composite of a series of long exposure images photographed from a mounted camera on the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, from approximately 240 miles above Earth by  Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit.  For details on his technique go to webodysseum.

long, by NASA, Don Pettitlong, nasa, don pettitlong, iss, 3

By 2careless on Flickr

By 2careless on Flickr

People create gorgeous long exposure images of ferris wheels.

In Japan by Les Taylor

In Japan by Les Taylor

San Mateo, CA by Thomas Hawk.

San Mateo, CA by Thomas Hawk.

Santa Monica by Asim Bharwani

Santa Monica by Asim Bharwani

 

New York by Jordan Confino

New York by Jordan Confino

Other Amusement Park Rides

CAMERAAirplane takeoffs

long and short, sf airport planeslong and short, sf airport, 2Streets

long and short, streetlong and short, street, 2

Photo by Dan Anderson, a bottle rocket

Photo by Dan Anderson, a bottle rocket

Not sure how they did this:

long and short, 1

by  breeyerbs

by breeyerbs

By Martin Zalba Ibañez

By Martin Zalba Ibañez

By Martin Zalba Ibañez

By Martin Zalba Ibañez

 

 

long and short, 2

 

by Miles Morgan

by Miles Morgan

by mshobi

by mshobi

 

by samopotamous_street

by samopotamous_street

Even a wedding photo using sparklers.

 By Lindsay Bumpass

By Lamb and Lark photography

That’s if for LONG EXPOSURE images.  In case you are interested, here’s a taste of a SHORT EXPOSURE or high speed image from another post on this site.

By Jim Kramer

By Jim Kramer

Go here if you want to explore what photographic whizzes can do with high speed photography.

Thanks to Twistedsifter for the roomba images.  And to wildammo for the steel wool images.  And to webodysseum for the images from the international space station.

 

13 thoughts on “Long Exposure Magic

  1. The dancers struck me as Halloween-ish, but most of these (as usual — and appropriate for this site) are wonderful.

  2. All beautiful! Thanks for the wonderful images you keep posting. Especially the waterfall.

  3. Absolutely awesome!! I am a nurse who works 3-11pm and I came home tonight to these beautiful and artistic shots—you made ALL the tensions of this night just melt away, by looking @ your creative pix. Thank you very much for making MY night 🙂

  4. Thanks for these amazing images. The star trails especially are just stunning. I once saw a man who did a sort of calligraphy with neon tubes- the time lapse image was captured on camera. He was wonderful. I’ll try to find out his name- I think he was French.

  5. All the photographers have taken the photography to a high level of artistry. photographs of the fire works are superb, each one almost look as if i am looking at some unusual flower!
    Thanks a million.

  6. Wow! These are fantastic! My favorite would definitely be the ones with stars, but they are all so unique and wonderful.

  7. How in the heck did the photographer get the STAR TRAILS in a SPIRAL? I would like to know. Thank you very much.
    All of the photos are awe-inspiring. Lots of good work.

  8. Pingback: Bill Wadman–Long Exposure Photography | Concept 2: Time and Space

  9. Pingback: Long Exposure Firework

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *