As the Ships Sail By
Long Exposure of passing boats from The Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy.
Long Exposure of passing boats from The Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy.
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Jan, 2015Views
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Contest Finalist in The Ultimate Travel Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in the beautiful city of Venice, Italy from the famous Rialto Bridge.Time
It was taken just before midnight on the New Year of 2015. We were waiting on the Rialto Bridge in hopes of seeing fireworks over the buildings (we didn't). But it was a great place to ring in the New Year and I got this fun photo out of it!Lighting
I really loved the lighting coming from the surrounding buildings and the reflections they were creating. Then I noticed that all the passing boats, large and small, had lights inside them or on top of them and that's when I got the idea to do the long-exposure and capture the light trails from the moving boats.Equipment
I used a Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 18-200mm lens. I always bring my small, flexible travel tripod. It's a GorillaPod SLR-Zoom. I can fit it into my travel bag while walking around large cities and it can hook onto, wrap-around or sit-on pretty much anything.Inspiration
I was celebrating the New Year in Venice, standing on the Rialto Bridge with my husband. I knew this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I wanted to capture it in a special, memorable way. Instead of capturing a video with lots of noises and voices, I created a peaceful photo that captured a full 25 seconds of life in Venice just as I want to remember it.Editing
This photo didn't require much post-processing at all. I increased the contrast and colors a bit and a used some blur in the sky to reduce some of the noise created from such a long-exposure, even at the lowest ISO possible, but that's the only work I did with it.In my camera bag
I’ve upgraded a bit since taking this photo. I now primarily use my Sony A7iii Mirrorless camera with the 24-70mm lens when traveling. I still have my Nikon D7000 camera body (used to take this image) and all my Nikon lenses as backups. And I always carry my flexible GorillaPod tripod. I can use it for uneven surfaces, hook it around railings and poles, even trees, or just set it on something to use a basic tripod. It's lightweight, fits in my bag and it doesn't attract the attention a full-sized tripod does. That’s what I used to set my my camera on the bridge for 25 seconds to get this long exposure shot.Feedback
Before deciding on a specific place to set-up, walk around and think about composition both from your own eyes and through your camera. Before you ever hit the shutter button, ensure everything that’s going to end up in the frame of your photo is everything you want and nothing you don't. You can never judge how easy or difficult it will be to edit something out of the photo until you get it home. Be patient. Long exposures can be tricky and hopefully you'll get the opportunity to take more than one to get it just right. At times, there may not be a second chance. So while it can be trial and error sometimes, always try to get it right in-camera the first time. When traveling, leave the full-size tripod at home. Some cities and buildings won't even allow you to use them. Invest in a small flexible tripod for low-light and long-exposure shots. I suggest something like this for cell phones too! It can go anywhere, hook onto just about anything and you won't be asked to take it down.
