Long exposure how to?

[WeatherMan]

Okay so theres a storm outside.

Thunder lightening etc, I try to take a shot under bulb mode, where the lighting under live view looks just right.

after any amount of time all I get is a totally white over exposed image

How do I fix this?

Many thanks!

 

[Ben]

The short answer:
You have to set your aperture up as high as it can go. For my cam, that's f22 at 18mm focal length. Make sure your ISO is all the way down as well.

A different answer:
First off...You're shooting in day time. It's not easy to get a rightly-exposed shot in broad daylight(Especially in bulb mode when most of the time people hold the shutter open for more than 30 seconds). I've found even at F22 with the shutter open for 10 to 15 seconds its still way over exposed.

So what I suggest doing is again, setting your aperture as high as it can go, then only exposing the shutter for 5 seconds at a time. If it's underexposed after only 5 seconds(or even less), increase the amount of seconds you're exposing the shutter until you get the desired amount light in your picture. After getting that desired amount, continue your shooting after each X[amount of] second exposure. Don't waste any time between shutters.

And remember to put the ISO down as low as it can go--As well as any Active D-lighting...etc.

Let me know how it goes.

 

[Glliw]

You can use neutral density filters to help shed some stops worth of light as well.

 

[WeatherMan]

Thanks ben

ISO was on set to it's lowest (64) And Apeture at its highest, F8

I'll have to try doing what you say, short bursts of long exposure, trouble is I think the image gets overexposed after only a few seconds, like 2 maybe 3, is this due to the low apeture?

The scene I was shooting was pretty bright tbh, we don't really get black clouds in the UK

I'll do some experimenting tonight see what I can come up with, night time now so the problem shouldn't exist.

Tomorrow I'll give it a go, problem is my camera takes ages to process the shots.

After taking say a 40s shot, my camera then takes another 40s to process the image, counting down the seconds on screen, do all camera's do this or just mine being slow? (this was at 10MP in raw, also does it in jpeg)

 

[Glliw]

Yea, its alot of data for it to process. Not every camera will take that long. Depends on the camera's processor. What camera do you have? Also, the speed of your memory card matters.

 

[y2keable]

some advice...

If your camera takes so long to process a long exposure then it will hold you back when trying to take lightning photos. The camera needs to have its shutter open for as long as possible so as not to miss any lightning strikes. Its mostly down to the processor in your DSLR and how fast it can preform. Also, in daylight, even if you stop the lens right down and use an ISO 100 or lower, you're still probbably looking at a shutter speed of less than 1 second. If you're serious in taking lightning photos, you'll be better off with an ND filter (you can buy them up to 24 stops!!!) to darken your shot and force the camera to keep the shutter open for longer.

As for exposure, if you insist on using manual then note the light meter in your viewfinder and make sure to shoot in RAW as the exposure can "pushed" and "pulled" later. OR, use aperature priority

For stormy skies, you may want to invest in some ND grad filters. These allow you to expose the sky to the same brightness as the land, giving an evenly exposed shot. I use Cokin filters, here's an example of a shot i took with 2 Cokin filters, a 121 and 121L

A tri-pod, low ISO, high f-stop and some patients (if thats how you spell it) is all you need to think about. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

Good luck
Jayson

 

[Twist86]

Dang Jayson that is one nice view. I could see myself taking the scenic route with my 4 wheeler or Dirt Bike.