Recently I got the opportunity to experiment with long exposure seascape photography! I normally experiment with the exposure time to control the waves as they move along the shore line, but those exposure are often in the range of 1/4 of a second to 15 seconds. In this case when I talk about long exposure photography, I am taking about a shutter speed that is several minutes long! The long shutter speed can have a magical affect on the skies and the water, and can dramatically change a photograph!
Blue – a long exposure seascape photograph created at the Newton Avenue rocks at sunrise.
On a recent sunrise trip to the Newton Ave Rocks in Narragansett I simply was not feeling anything inspirational. I was right at the tide line, working the water moving across the rocks, but I was not creating anything that excited me. The colors in the sky were non existent. The waves were not moving as I had hoped.Sunrise had beaten me, and I was going to return home without creating a photograph of worth.
I was disappointed and discouraged, as I started the climb up the rocks to head back to the car. As I reached the top of the rocky bluff, I turned and looked back over my shoulder. As I surveyed the rocky coastline that had gotten the best of me that morning an image started to form in my mind. The clouds that had obscured my vision now swirled across the sky, and I decided to have a little fun.
I unpacked my camera, mounted it on my tripod and added my 10 Stop ND filter onto my lens and started to experiment with long exposures. After creating several photos of various shutter speeds, I found that 2 minutes gave me the look I was going for in the clouds.
As I reviewed the photographs on the cameras LCD I started to feel something I had not felt all morning – excitement! My heart started to beat a little faster, as possibilities began to dance through my mind.
On each of my photography adventures I try to learn something new. It might be a technical skill about my gear, it might be something about nature. On this adventure I learned something about myself – to always keep an open mind. An open mind to experimenting and try new things! A few experiments with long exposure photography resulted in a new favorite image, and a new technique in my photographers tool box!
The latest addition to my seascape print collection is the photograph “Blue”. My favorite long exposure from that morning at Newton Ave Rocks, the movement in both the water and the sky captured everything that I felt that morning, and I am excited to be able to share it with you!