Introduction

Breaking free of the boring shutter speeds of snapshot photography will liberate your creative soul. Instead of grabbing a quick moment, you can capture something more impressive when you play with time. This includes the ultra long durations that collect a bunch of time in the same long exposure; a group of images shot in succession that imitate a quickly played movie; and the really fast moments that freeze action in the blink of an eye. These types of photography get my juices flowing, and hopefully reading about them and seeing the crisp photographs in Time Lapse Photography, Long Exposure & Other Tricks of Time: From Snapshots to Great Shots will do the same for you.

Although diverse, the tricks of time you’ll learn about in this book come from my early influences. My first encounter with time exposure happened at age six when I saw the wall of my favorite ice cream parlor adorned with large black-and-white prints of automotive light trails. That image stayed with me for years, and when I finally figured out how it was made, I was hooked on capturing time.

My formal training began at film school where the world moves at 24 frames per second. Not long after, I dabbled in three-dimensional animation, which captured each step of action a single frame at a time. After transferring into a photography program, I became fascinated by sports and action photography, where moments are frozen in a fraction of a second.

Those influences helped me find my personal vision, and my hope is that after thumbing through the pages of this book, you’ll find your personal vision too.

Q: What do you have against snapshots?

A: Nothing. They serve a purpose, although an aesthetic one escapes me at the moment. All kidding aside, the problem is that snapshots usually capture the world at 1/60 of a second, give or take, and that doesn’t always produce the most captivating pictures.

Q: What’s wrong with shutter speeds like 1/30 or 1/60 of a second?

A: They’re fine when you’re capturing live subjects that don’t move. But if they do move, they’ll often render a slight blur. Conversely, 1/30 or 1/60 of a second is not usually enough to expose a dark scene or show a creative use of motion. But here’s the kicker: Anyone who has ever seen a shutter dial on a DSLR knows there are at least 50 time settings, not to mention the B setting (it keeps the shutter open for as long as you want). So use them to interpret the exposure and motion in the scene as you see fit.

Q: Must I read the entire book to get the information I need to take great shots?

A: Not really, unless you want to make me very happy. However, each chapter discusses techniques you can use in your photography. Chapters 1 and 7 deal with equipment and composition, respectively. Those are important for everything you do. The remaining chapters focus on more specific interests. Chapters 2 and 3 explore long exposure photography; Chapter 4 explains manipulating time in a different way using electronic flash; Chapter 5 talks about the various techniques for capturing time lapse sequences; and Chapter 6 targets high-speed photography.

Q: What should I expect from reading this book?

A: You should acquire a sense of confidence that comes from understanding how to approach a particular situation after reading succinct information and looking at sharp, illustrative photographs.

Q: What kind of camera do I need?

A: This book does not discriminate: It provides examples captured with various DSLR, point-and-shoot, GoPro, and smartphone cameras. Not every camera works in all situations, but as you’ll see with the included photographs, each has special functions.

Q: Does this book tell me everything I need to know?

A: Of course not. First, it does not contain enough pages to describe every trick of time. Second, each camera requires an understanding that can be described in a book of its own. So coming to the process with an idea of how to use your camera will expedite your ability to manipulate time.

Q: Is long exposure a new thing?

A: No. In fact, it’s an old thing. If you were a photographer in 1870, long exposure photography was the only game in town. And I mean very long due to incredibly slow materials that could barely register an ISO setting in the single digits; so even some brightly lit scenes could take hours to expose.

Q: Is time lapse photography a new technique?

A: It shares much in common with the infancy of motion pictures, which were created from a series of progressive images, much like a time lapse sequence.

Q: Is there anything else I should know before getting started?

A: In addition to everything you’ll find in the book, I’ve provided a short video that illustrates how I made a cool time lapse video with a GoPro camera mounted on my car.

To access and download the bonus video:

1. Visit peachpit.com/register.

2. Log in with your Peachpit account, or if you don’t have one, create an account.

3. Register using the book’s ISBN, 9780134429083. This title will then appear in the Registered Products area of your account, and you can click the Access Bonus Content link to be taken to the page where the video is available for easy download.