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Usually, we are viewing photos that capture a short moment in time, but these stunning pictures are completely different. The intent of long exposure photography is to create an image that highlights the effect of passing time. There is no fixed definition of what constitutes "long" because a 30-minute picture of a static object might not be distinguishable from a short exposure. Therefore, the inclusion of motion (mostly through light art) is the main factor that adds intrigue to these interesting photos.
Bored Panda has compiled a list of interesting and innovative examples of long-exposure photography. It will not only please your eye but give you some ideas about what to look for when trying to achieve a similar creative photography effect as well. From traffic lights on an empty street to fireflies in a jar, the photographers behind these amazing photos certainly found an interesting way to picture their objects. Scroll down to enjoy the list and vote for your favorite entries!
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#1
Departing Tram Long Exposure
RELATED:
#2
Milky Way Long-Exposure Looks Like Fractal Geometry
#3
Long Exposure Photo Of A Plane Taking Off
#4
Traffic Light Long Exposure
Yaman Yamaner 8 years ago
I wish, Lucas Zimmermann, the photographer, was credited. But of course, compiling images from internet is very easy to prepare a post but, crediting the image owners is a huge burden. Isn't it?:(
#5
Long Exposure Of Fireflies In A Forest, Japan
#6
The Motions Of Canoers And Kayakers Revealed With Leds In Long Exposure Photography
#7
Long Exposure Of Ferris Wheel Looks Like It Has Stained Glass
#8
Zoomed Out While Taking A Picture Of My Christmas Tree
Mimis Nachbarin 8 years ago
That's the spirit of Christmas coming out of your tree to fill your hearts... ;-)
#9
Long Exposure Of Fireworks
#10
Long Exposure Of Bugs Under A Streetlamp
#11
I Used Some Led Lights To Spin A Forest Of Mushrooms Under The Milky Way
#12
I Took This Long Exposure Shot Of A Pumpkin As My Lense Unknowingly Fogged Up
#13
Long Exposure Of Helicopter Landing
Vlad Horobet 8 years ago
So the chopper goes down, then backwards, then down again. I'd frame this on my wall.
#14
A Long Exposure Photo Of A Train Roaring Through The Canadian Rockies
#15
Long Exposure Of A Tilt-A-Whirl
#16
Long Exposure Of “Merry Go Round”
#17
I Attached A Blinking Light To The Robot And Did A 10 Minutes Exposure Of It Cleaning The Living Room
#18
Long Exposure Of A Departing Tram In Budapest Covered With 30,000 Leds
#19
I Put Some Fireflies In A Jar And Did A Long Exposure For 3 Minutes. (Don't Worry I Let Them Go)
#20
Here Is A Long Exposure Zoom Keyboard
Vlad Horobet 8 years ago
This looks like the intro from some movie, flying inwards through the credits scene. Amazing.
#21
Long Exposure Photography Of A Snowboarder With Leds On His Board
Ida Råtass 8 years ago
Ok, so obviously a stupid question for those who know... but how do you get a clear shot of the moving snowboarder when everything else moving gets blurry?
Sebastian Pariasson 8 years ago
I'm a pohtographer, and i'm 99.9% sure this is a composite of 2 images, one of the trail of the snowboard and one to freeze the snowboarder in the middle, probably some adjustment to place the snowboarder where it should be
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Michel M. Prins 8 years ago
Hands down, one of the best shots in this gallery. Reminds me of those photos they use for mint products. I always loved those ones.
Vlad Horobet 8 years ago
he looks like he's trying to break out of some sort of condom-looking bubble.
Peter Doré 7 years ago
But, but, the snowboarder is in the middle, did you jump ahead in time to get the full shot? And what's with the line of light through the middle? Calling bs again!
Craig Carson 8 years ago
My guess is this is a single image, shot on a tripod and not tracking (as evidenced by the clearly defined trees and mountain in the background). I believe the reason you can see the snowboarder clearly is because he is at the apex of his jump, effectively motionless for a brief moment, allowing his Image to be captured. During the rest of his jump, he is moving too fast to produce an image, given the low lighting.
Craig Carson 8 years ago
My guess is that's a single image. It's not tracking the boarder, as evidenced by the clear trees and mountain in the background. I believe the snowboarder is clearly defined because he's at the apex of his jump, so he was basically motionless for a moment, allowing his image to be captured. During the rest of his jump, he was moving too fast to produce an image.
#22
Long Exposure + Subway Tunnel =
#23
Long Exposure Of A Lighthouse
#24
Long Exposure Photograph Of A Firework
#25
Long-exposure Capture Of Moths Swarming A Light At Night
#26
Took This Photo Last Night By Zooming My Lens In And Out During A 10 Second Exposure. Had To Look Up And Make Sure The Building Hadn't Exploded After Reviewing The Picture. (no Photoshop)
#27
Long Exposure Photography Of Lava Lamp Looks Like Some Galaxy Captured In A Jar
#28
Long Exposure Photo Of Candle Procession At Salisbury Cathedral
#29
Long Exposure Of Road
#30
Escalator Long Exposure
#31
Long Exposure Of Air Traffic Above San Francisco
#32
I Tied Glowsticks To My Hands And Feet And Took A Long Exposure Shot Of Me Rock Climbing
#33
Long Exposure Of A Roomba Vacuum With Color-changing Light On Top
#34
A Long Exposure Of Our Planet As Seen Through The Windows Of The Iss's Cupola Module By Don Pettit, Nasa Astronaut
#35
A Truck Passed In Front Of The Camera During A Long Exposure Shot
#36
Long Exposure Of A Plane Taking Off
#37
Long Exposure Shot Of A Carousel At Night
#38
My Long Exposure Photograph Of Tonight's Delta Iv Rocket Launch
#39
Long Exposure Photo Of Fireworks
#40
I Took A Long Exposure Of A Moving Train, And I Am Very Happy With The Result
#41
Long Exposure Shot Of Glow Sticks Dropped Into A Waterfall
#42
Long Exposure Of Hundreds Of Skiers Holding Flashlights
#43
Long Exposure Of An Illuminated Golf Ball Shot
#44
While Playing Some Christmas Light Jump Rope, I Decided To Take A Long Exposure Photo
#45
Roomba Led Long Exposure
#46
Took A 4 Sec Exposure Of My Front Bike Tire With Some Post It Notes Attached To The Rungs
#47
Long Exposure Of Teacups
#48
Long Exposure Of Soyuz Launch To The Iss
Vlad Horobet 8 years ago
Looks like some sort of ray is hitting the earth. "Beam me up, Scotty!"
#49
Marathon Of Colour Long Exposure
#50
Long Exposure Of A Peacekeeper Missile Testing
#51
Long Exposure Of Speed Zones
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Sherida Lammers 8 years ago
I can't stop looking, I want more of these photographs. Just amazing!
Amr Mohamed 8 years ago
Exposure is how long the camera takes to take the picture. Some of these pictures were taken with the camera set to 30 minutes, some 30s
therealpixie 8 years ago
The thing that most amazes me is how many look nothing like what you'd expect. Absolutely fascinating.
Summer 8 years ago
Can someone explain what exposure is for a clueless non-photographer like myself?
Jessica Stohr 8 years ago
It's how much time you allow to pass while taking the picture. Long ones allow more light in and are usually used in low light situations.
Load More Replies...
Anwyn Davies 8 years ago
Just to nit-pick - #2 is not a long exposure photo, it's a time-composite. Long exposure means the shutter is left open for a period of time; if you take a long exposure photograph of the stars, what you see looks like concentric circles. The fractal effect comes from multiple photographs taken at regular intervals super-imposed on top of each other (in the days of photographic film, you would achieve this by taking 'normal' photographs at regular set times, without winding the film on.)
Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
This post made me think about how different lifeforms see things differently than us.
Harihara Rao 8 years ago
These long exposure pictures are not only give a new experience to the art lovers and food stuff to the newer generation. I thank Neeladri for this from bottom of my heart.
Vincent Jay 8 years ago
Very interesting. I never would have thought to do something like this.
Toast 8 years ago
Nice post, I like all the content, but would it hurt to at least credit all the original photographers?
admin 8 years ago
Hi Toast, the images were all credited. Perhaps you missed the links below the pics?
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Mira Margareta 8 years ago
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Lisa-Marie Dhondt 8 years ago
At the risk of sounding really stupid: can I take these shots with my iphone and if so, how?
Jessica Stohr 8 years ago
Not sure, but if so, you would want to use a tripod, otherwise it will turn out all shaky/blurry.
Load More Replies...
Sherida Lammers 8 years ago
I can't stop looking, I want more of these photographs. Just amazing!
Amr Mohamed 8 years ago
Exposure is how long the camera takes to take the picture. Some of these pictures were taken with the camera set to 30 minutes, some 30s
therealpixie 8 years ago
The thing that most amazes me is how many look nothing like what you'd expect. Absolutely fascinating.
Summer 8 years ago
Can someone explain what exposure is for a clueless non-photographer like myself?
Jessica Stohr 8 years ago
It's how much time you allow to pass while taking the picture. Long ones allow more light in and are usually used in low light situations.
Load More Replies... Anwyn Davies 8 years ago
Just to nit-pick - #2 is not a long exposure photo, it's a time-composite. Long exposure means the shutter is left open for a period of time; if you take a long exposure photograph of the stars, what you see looks like concentric circles. The fractal effect comes from multiple photographs taken at regular intervals super-imposed on top of each other (in the days of photographic film, you would achieve this by taking 'normal' photographs at regular set times, without winding the film on.)
Tasha Lacroix 8 years ago
This post made me think about how different lifeforms see things differently than us.
Harihara Rao 8 years ago
These long exposure pictures are not only give a new experience to the art lovers and food stuff to the newer generation. I thank Neeladri for this from bottom of my heart.
Vincent Jay 8 years ago
Very interesting. I never would have thought to do something like this.
Toast 8 years ago
Nice post, I like all the content, but would it hurt to at least credit all the original photographers?
admin 8 years ago
Hi Toast, the images were all credited. Perhaps you missed the links below the pics?
Load More Replies... Mira Margareta 8 years ago
Rasakan sensasi Bermain Game Kartu Online Langsung aja Click Situs Judi Poker Online
Lisa-Marie Dhondt 8 years ago
At the risk of sounding really stupid: can I take these shots with my iphone and if so, how?
Jessica Stohr 8 years ago
Not sure, but if so, you would want to use a tripod, otherwise it will turn out all shaky/blurry.
Load More Replies... 
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