Long Exposures

Since there have been a few posts lately regarding long exposures, I'm wondering what exactly is the artistic advantage of using long exposures lasting over fifteen minutes or more, especially with color transparencies?

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On a practical issue, what kind of adjustments should be used with a film like Velvia for exposures in terms of filtration and exposure with an exposure of fifteen minutes or so? I've used exposures of up to three minutes with Velvia using no filtration and only very modest amounts of exposure increase with my 35mm equipment. So far, I have used my camera's suggested meter readings and extrapolated the exposure times by metering with a wide open aperature, and it has worked well despite Fuji's recommendations of more drastically increased exposure times. However, I have only used such long exposures due to available conditions, not for any artistic reasons. Similarly, I would like to hear from photographers actually use such long exposure times, regardless of what Fuji's tech specs say. My speculation is that with such long exposures using color transparencies it is the color shift that is desired, despite what some might say regarding 'corrective' filtration, though this is speculation on my part. Or perhaps it is the shifting light position, which would only be an issue during the edge of sundown/twilight or sunrise.

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What does such long exposures do for landscapes with foliage lightly moving in a slight breeze? Is a completely windless situation required, or does the movement 'average out' and record a sharp image of the 'natural' position of foliage one would see without a slight breeze?

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I've never really experimented with long exposures on my 35mm equipment because of battery drain, but I'm interested if there is any advantage to doing so with my 4 x 5 equipment.

Andy "...what exactly is the artistic advantage of using long exposures..." Well there is none it just a way of interpreting what you 'see' or feel towards your subject matter and as a photographer/artist you should use whatever means possible to relay your 'message' to others. I photograph the coast of Kent (S.E.England) a fair bit and use time exposures ranging from a few seconds to about 30min. I like the misty, etherial quality that time exposures have on water especially when you include something static in the picture, rocks, groynes, piers whatever. The duel qualities of staic and flowing just apeal to me.

One photorapher who uses this technique to superb effect is Brad Cole you can view samples of his work at www.amoeba.com (just click on Robert Rich at the index and from there you should be able to view Brad Cole's superb images) signed copies of his book "The Last Dream" are available from this site.

Regards,

Also look at works by David Fokos, featured in the May/June issue of

<I>View Camera</I> magazine.

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As far as landscapes go, that depends on what kinds of textures you

are after. Moving foliage won't be sharp, but it might be

interesting.

Andy, Another great advantage to long exposures is the removal of

unwanted, pesky moving objects like... people! 2 weeks ago I was

shooting in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio. I metered off of the

shadowed part of what is reputed to be the largest cave of its type.

Less of a cave and more of a depression. Anyway, after fuguring

reciprocity failure for the film I came up with 8 minutes at f/64.

Worked out brilliantly because at least 100 people trudged right

through the middle of the picture and not a one showed up in the

negative. As to your comments on shooting long exposures on 35mm using

Velvia, I noticed that in 35mm, reciprocity failure was not nearly the

problem it is in large format. I was wondering if that might have

something to do with the concentration of light. I could be way off

base here, wouldn't be the first time.

David, F11 is F11 reguardless of format. F ratios takes the guesswork

out of it.

The Fuji pocket film guide lists all the filters and reciprocity for

Velvia for long exposoures. It is quite helpful.

If you are shooting Velvia with long exposures you may find it goes

green on you. Astia may be a better choice for color neutrality and

much less color shift. It is an excellent film, along with Ektachrome

EPN, for very long exposures and star trail photography.

As for the artistic aspects, that is entirely your own impression as

you work with the film and time factor.