long exposures?

[ngirly1991]

i have a minolta G400 4.5 pix and i was wondering, how can i do a long exposure with it?
im not really a proffesional when it comes to setting the picutre? do u have some nice tips that i can use while taking a picture specially long expsure?!

 

[LaFoto]

Well, I am not familiar with the camera brand at all, so I don't know what it offers, really. All I know is that for long exposures you best put the camera on a tripod. If there is no tripod there anywhere, you must find yourself another kind of support (wall or so). If you want to rest your camera on something softer than the plain wall, you can use one of those little cushions filled with something grainy like rice, wheat, cherry pips (I have one of those, to be heated up in the microwave, works wonders with headaches coming from strained neck muscles !) or so.

Then you must check on all the possibilities for manual operation that your camera offers you. Where do you change the aperture, and from where to where can you change it? Furthermore, where can you change the exposure, and what is your longest. On my little compact camera I can go to a maximum of 15 seconds exposure. Maybe the same applies to your Minolta? I don't know.

But 15 seconds can already do fine when you go out at night.
Remember that a smaller aperture and longer exposure brings out light sources better than a wide open lens with a shorter exposure. Wide open makes light sources show as big, bright blops. Smaller aperture creates a nice star-effect.

Does this help a little?