Long Exposure / Neutral Density Filter workshop
Sep 30, 2020
I've always had a fascination with long exposure photography, and the hyper-real results you get from long shutter speeds that you just wouldn't see with the naked eye. So, recently, I joined a small group of like-minded individuals on a walk through London with our 10-stop neutral density filters, tripods, remote triggers and a collective sense of adventure.
I never appreciated before just how slowly the London Eye actually moves - and that it stops periodically. The longest exposure I could get was 13 seconds without blowing out the highlights. Fortunately, a ferry coming in to dock adds an additional sense of movement to the shot. Some day I must go back after dark and shoot the London Eye with a slower shutter speed.
One of the many points of access to the river, now blocked from the public. I liked the almost abstract feel of this one.
Moving from the Embankment to Trafalgar Square, where the fountains offer plenty of opportunity to get long-exposure effects. In the background is the spire of St Martin in the Fields church. I assume there's a different angle to this same photo, somewhere on Instagram.
Canada House offers a solid backdrop to this sculpture and fountain.
It was very kind of this young lady to keep still - and hide her face - for this photo. I don't think she even realised she was being photographed, she was so engrossed in browsing her phone. In the background are the National Portrait Gallery and St Martin in the Fields church, with their respective pillars framing the fountain.
The Thames at low tide offers so many opportunities for photographers as well as mudlarks. These old posts offer a great leading line into Southwark Bridge and the Shard building. Shortly after this exposure ended, a boat passed by and both I and my camera were nearly washed away in the wake. The tide rises rapidly too, so you have to be quick down here.
One of London's many tourist boats passes by, with some ancient remnants of a pier in the foreground, almost directly beneath the Millennium Bridge.
A good day ends at Horselydown Old Stairs, where the old cobblestones reach into the water near Tower Bridge.
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