Dark Photography School

It’s no secret that when you leave the shutter open for more than a second you can get some neat effects when light is moving against a dark background. Many people experiment with this in the usual way with moving cars and rides at the state fair. I still do regularly, in fact. What many people may not know is that you don’t need the light to be in movement to create something unique.

EXIF: 100 ISO, 6 sec., f/22, 40mm focal length, flash on

For the photo above, I popped the flash with a 6 second exposure. After the flash went off, I then tilted the camera while still on the tripod. I didn’t try and do anything specific, I just slowly moved it short distance in a few different directions. The phrase less is more applies tremendously to this particular way of capturing light. It’s very easy to overdo it and create a picture that is just a bunch of squiggly white lines. Simply rock the camera forward and backward on the tripod while two out of the three legs are still on the ground. Try moving just a few inches in each direction.


EXIF: 100 ISO, 20 sec., f/22, 17mm focal length, flash off

If you’d like to get especially adventuresome, you could combine zoom with tilting the camera while the shutter is open, as shown in the above photo. All you have to do is slowly zoom in or out while the shutter is open. Similar to the less is more mantra I espouse in the first paragraph, it is very easy to go overboard with. The key is short, smooth movements to create subtle effects. You don’t want a photo that is a Rorschach inkblot test.