Has anyone ever done a long exposure portrait shot? (Page 5): Thank you. She needed some coaching since she'd never done model work before. I kept telling her that she had the look and...

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Nightski wrote:

The light on this beautiful young girl is lovely. This is what I mean by long exposure light.

Thank you. She needed some coaching since she'd never done model work before. I kept telling her that she had the look and perhaps one day.

My wife designed a small set for this shoot and it worked very well. When we were finished my grand daughter remarked "Grand pa, I don't want to be a model... too much work". I must admit to get the shot I was pretty demanding with her but now she's very happy I was.

One thing to consider is using your in camera count down at 10-seconds. She knew she had to be as still as possible because of the shutter at 2.5. So when I pressed the shutter release I would tell her "counting". Then from about 3-seconds I count her down. Then "shutter open", then "shutter closed - relax". It worked pretty well.

Nightski

jimmya wrote:

Thank you. She needed some coaching since she'd n... (show quote)

That's a great idea, Jim. It is important for the subject to know how much longer. I hadn't thought of that.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

Nightski wrote:

That's a great idea, Jim. It is important for the subject to know how much longer. I hadn't thought of that.

When I did that shot of my grand daughter I'd never done a long exposure portrait either and the idea came to me while the camera was counting down. Yes indeed, it does work.

canon Lee

Nightski wrote:

Thanks for the laugh ... omg .. too funny .. maybe not .. head clamps? :shock:

YES head clamps. The poses were almost always sitting and well disguised behind the subjects head were support props to make sure there was no movement. Can you imagine sitting for a family portrait and having to not blink for long periods of time.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

canon Lee wrote:

YES head clamps. The poses were almost always sitting and well disguised behind the subjects head were support props to make sure there was no movement. Can you imagine sitting for a family portrait and having to not blink for long periods of time.

My earliest photography was as a helper in a photo studio in south dakota in the 40's and 50's.
The expressions you see in the photos were very true copies of the expressions worn daily by those hard pressed farmers and their parents before them.

Nightski

canon Lee wrote:

YES head clamps. The poses were almost always sitting and well disguised behind the subjects head were support props to make sure there was no movement. Can you imagine sitting for a family portrait and having to not blink for long periods of time.

Okay .. I have an idea .. I'd like to try. I'm going to get my brother to go to some pubs with me ... i'll offer to buy him a beer .. lol .. and I'll do a long exposure of him with the bar movement behind. I think I'll leave my head clamp thingy at home .. might get some strange looks. :lol:

Brian in Whitby Loc: Whitby, Ontario, Canada

Back in the early days of photography, film emulsions were very slow and exposures in the order of minutes were common.
Portraits were usually done in a seated position. A back brace was provided for the subject to hep him/her stay still.
The photographer often timed the exposure using a pocket watch,.'

Still this is a very creative idea; I hope you try it. Please keep us posted.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Nightski wrote:

Okay .. I have an idea .. I'd like to try. I'm going to get my brother to go to some pubs with me ... i'll offer to buy him a beer .. lol .. and I'll do a long exposure of him with the bar movement behind. I think I'll leave my head clamp thingy at home .. might get some strange looks. :lol:

Nightski, that's just "dragging" your shutter!
Do that using a speed-light.
I do long exposures all the time for product using strobes. Sometimes 10 to 30 seconds! It's not people but long nonetheless. ;-)
SS

Nightski

SharpShooter wrote:

Nightski, that's just "dragging" your shutter!
Do that using a speed-light.
I do long exposures all the time for product using strobes. Sometimes 10 to 30 seconds! It's not people but long nonetheless. ;-)
SS

I'm terrible at using my flash .. I'd probably blind everybody in the pub and tick everybody off. Besides .. I want motion in the background people. How would that work?

Lionel1954 Loc: Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

What I've doing lately has been long exposures if the docks, river and lake at night. I have been amassing a lot of information about low light and night photography, you may try this approach as you get ready for low light or night photos. In the past I have been using flashlight to trace the outline of a subject, as well as firing strobes while the subject was changing position. The possibilities are endless, I hope this helps, sorry I don't have examples to show they were all on film and I don't have them on the computer.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I recently did a shoot with some friends. I just wanted to try out my new ND filter. Here's one of the long-exposures (They had to stay as still as possible during the exposure)

Nightski

Basil wrote:

I recently did a shoot with some friends. I just wanted to try out my new ND filter. Here's one of the long-exposures (They had to stay as still as possible during the exposure)

The pic didn't come through, Basil .. I'd love to see it.

Lionel1954 Loc: Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

If you're wanting motion use a low power flashlight and track the subject. Know that you can use a light sourse that will give you the desired effect.

Nightski

Basil wrote:

I recently did a shoot with some friends. I just wanted to try out my new ND filter. Here's one of the long-exposures (They had to stay as still as possible during the exposure)

Wow .. that came out really well. Great shot, Basil. :-)

Basil Loc: New Mexico

Nightski wrote:

Wow .. that came out really well. Great shot, Basil. :-)

Thank you! It was my first time using an ND filter. I arrived at the location 30 mins early to practice in manual mode and find a good f-stop / shutter speed combo to yield desired results.