Long Exposure....please help!

[bsinmich]

To shoot into the sun at any time is going to take a pretty dark neutral desnity filter. Set the f stop to the highest number available to let the least amount of light through the lens and try varying exposures starting at 1 sec. and going to longer each time. When you get something that begins to get interesting use that as the start point for more experimenting. The sun may be one of the more difficult things to start with. Try flowing water and see what the different exposures do there.

 

[cynicaster]

OP, as somebody already mentioned, it sounds like you’re shooting from the hip (so to speak) rather than reasoning through what settings need to go where. If you put your nose to the grind stone and learn what is actually going on in that camera, I promise the results will follow.

As far as subjects go, the sun is pretty damn bright—even at sunset. It’s probably not the best place to make your foray into long exposure photography, because capturing it nicely is a bit of a technical challenge.

If you want to learn about long exposures, I’d recommend starting at night. Grab yourself a tripod and experiment. Maybe try capturing some light streaks from passing cars. Perhaps a bit clichéd, but the goal is to learn something.

 

[bsinmich]

For practice find some water moving and use a long exposure to smooth out the water. Always use a tripod when shooting a long exposure. Even when I was young I couldn't hold a camera still enough for long exposures. If your heart is beating your fingers are also moving slightly and the camera is going to exagerate any shaking. If a picture turns out too light it is a sign there was too much light. That can be controlled by using a smaller f stop or a lower ISO. A higher f number is actually a smaller stop andlets iinlesslight. I picked water as a subect because it is not as bright as the sun.

 

[weepete]

Looks to me like the op exposed for the ground and the trees, blowing out the sky.

 

[jimijames]

I'm not sure what the OP was hoping to capture, but I'm going to suggest that maybe this should not be a long exposure shot. I shot this sunrise at f11, 1/200, and ISO100. The faster shutter and small aperture results in the sun not washing everything out and the dark foreground... which was good since my foreground was pretty ugly. I was hoping for more color, but this is what nature gave me

 

[rambler]

Try to have something in your scene in motion..water, trees.

 

[ph0enix]

I would recommend familiarizing yourself with the basic concepts of photography so you have a better understanding of when and how to use long exposure.
Here is a great resource that you should help you get started:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-forum/267492-info-those-new-photography.html