# February '07 Photo Challenge - "Long Exposure" - Sponsored by joby.com



## TwistMyArm

Hey people, 

Once again joby.com is sponsoring the challenge so there's a Gorillapod that will be headed to the winner. Sticking with gorillapod theme we thought it would be cool to see what you people can do with a tripod (although if you don't want to use one that's fine too). Anyway the new challenge for Feb '07 will be "Long Exposure". The winner of the January "Free-for-all" challenge will win a Gorillapod courtesy of joby.com.


For all those who wish to participate please take a moment to read through the following: 

- The deadline for submissions is February 28
- *The image can be no larger then 150KB
- Include your forum username when submitting
- The submitted photo must be in the form of a .jpg
- Please keep your photo anonymous (no distinguishing watermarks, and no photos that have been posted previously on the forum)
- Submit no more than one photo
- If you wish you may include a title when submitting your photo (please use no special characters)
- The form must also be included when submitting the photo
- The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to exclude or remove any photo solely at their discretion
- The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to decide the winner of the photo challenge

.........Copy and Paste this into your submission email...........................*
ThePhotoForum.com Username:
*Photo Title (optional):
Is the photo 150KB or less? Y/N
Is the photo a jpeg? Y/N
Has this photo been posted before? Y/N
Please submit only one photo per challenge.
Please enter your email subject as "February '07 Challenge Submission"*
*Please ensure that the attached photo is named the title you wish it to have otherwise the title will not be used.
.......................................................................................................

Please email your photo to photochallenge@thephotoforum.com and remember to enter the subject as indicated.

All photos must include the form when submitted. Just copy and paste it into your email. This will ensure that no mistakes are made when photos are submitted and therefore, hopefully, no photos are excluded. If the form is not included in the submission email the photo will not be included in the challenge gallery and voting process. 

There is more information regarding rules and procedures located in the FAQ section. We highly recommend that you take the time to read these FAQs. 
Good luck to everyone and have fun with this challenge!

*150KB will be taken as the size on disk and not the actual file size. Also some email programs consider 1KB=1000Bytes as oppposed to 1KB=1024Bytes. When these programs calculate attachment size they will often read larger then they actually are. To be safe we recommend a target size of about 140KB so that once sent it does not go over 150KB.


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## midget patrol

This could be a fun one.


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## Olympus8MP

Sweet, my favorite technique!


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## kulakova

damn. there will be no limits. a taught one as always!!


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## perylousdemon

Oooh, I get to use my Pentax for this one. Sweet. :mrgreen:


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## mad_malteaser

Fingers crossed my 400D arrives in time for me to enter this one!


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## astrostu

Hmmm ... this is one that I think I might already have a good shot for.


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## Parago

This will be a first for me.. usually my long exposures are involuntarily.. :blushing: :lmao:


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## PlasticSpanner

Last time I did a long exposure I got locked up for the night! :shock:


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## cigrainger

I need to get a tripod and enter this one, I think I have a good idea.


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## Parago

PlasticSpanner said:


> Last time I did a long exposure I got locked up for the night! :shock:


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## machangezi

I think there's something wrong here. My post disappeared from this thread. Is it only me?


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## Parago

machangezi said:


> I think there's something wrong here. My post disappeared from this thread. Is it only me?


 
Ist it here?


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## neogfx

How long is long please?


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## kulakova

neogfx said:


> How long is long please?


 
yeah! i wanna know too!! :mrgreen:


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## Parago

I'm guessing as long as it takes to have a 'special effect' on the resulting picture. If you can't see that it's a long exposure shot, it probably wasn't one in the first place.


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## CameronBrown_Photography

nukacola said:


> yeah! i wanna know too!! :mrgreen:



long enough to see :crazy:


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## Majik Imaje

Using VPL film.. Mamiay RB 67 on bogen tripod.. 1 minute @ f 45 !

http://majikimaje.com/bns.jpg


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## Parago

Majik Imaje said:


> Using VPL film.. Mamiay RB 67 on bogen tripod.. 1 minute @ f 45 !
> 
> http://majikimaje.com/bns.jpg


 

Uhm.. 

- The deadline for submissions is February 28
- *The image can be no larger then 150KB
- Include your forum username when submitting
- The submitted photo must be in the form of a .jpg
*- Please keep your photo anonymous (no distinguishing watermarks, and no photos that have been posted previously on the forum)
*- Submit no more than one photo
- If you wish you may include a title when submitting your photo (please use no special characters)
- The form must also be included when submitting the photo
- The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to exclude or remove any photo solely at their discretion
- The forum Admins and Moderators reserve the right to decide the winner of the photo challenge


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## cornfield girl

Forgive me for being the newbie, but what is a "Long exposure" shot?


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## Majik Imaje

I dont really know how to answer that question, not that I am any authority or anything like that, but I do remember that when I used to use Vericolor professional film they had two types

VPS = short exposures

VPL = long exposure

The type S was of course for short exposures or more like NORMAL range 1/2000 -1/8

The type L was of course for LONG exposures as in seconds and minutes! 1/8 - sec - hour

Where does S end and L begin? Kodak has the answer to that on the data sheet for that film. google it

The longest exposure I have ever used was 3 minutes @ F90

using Kodak Vericolor type L for an Art Gallery I used to freelance and do all their work

I have actually worked one on one with some of the very top Artists in the world very famous artists.

Edna Hibbel
Joseph Trippetti
Leroy Neiman

Only because.. .. of what Vericlor film could do..It was made to MATCH

the original subject with exacting colors!

This Famous Art Gallery (East Coast ) hired and used many PROFESSIONAL agencies!

They always came to me! especially when they didn't like what the BIG PROS could not accomlish.

and this happened many tmes. Joesph Trippetti is a very advanced photographer himself. But he was complaining / explaining to me that taking photographs of his sterling silver clossiane work COULD NOT BE DONE.

he tried it, kept trying it, he had special lights built. he kept saying light, ring lights. more lights, overhead lights, he kept stressing light.

I asked him.. May I take one photograph of this piece you just brought into the gallery.. he laughed and said go ahead! 

STOP AND EXPLAIN:... who am I ? absolutely no body.. 

I have never ever been to any school or class or anything. I just wanted to learn how to do this in 1969.. it is now the year 1976 I have read everything I could get my hands on over and over and over and over until I understood what all of those words actually meant.

then, after making every concieable mistake KNOWN TO MAN. then .. I started to "develop" my own style (no pun intended)!

I was an elecrican and made good weekly pay checks and invested every dime into new equipment I had all the best!

My hobby darkroom was 10,000 square feet 12' wooden sinks 

when some pro's walked into it one day. they were speechless mouths hanging wide open!

that is what I had to work with when I asked Joseph Trippetti if I could expose one frame of film...to capture the *sterling silver* in his piece of art on *white porcelean*!


I asked the owner Vivian, Can you please take that Large Hiibel off the wall.. and have Joe's Piece placed there. it was done as requested

I set up my tripod (bogen 350 awesome tripod)... "ROCK SOLID"

I am using a mamiya RB 67 w/normal lens Vericolor Type L for long exosures

I said . shut out all the lights.sit down and be still please.

2 minutes @ F 45 -=click=-

Altough the lights were off in that "section " of the alcove of the gallery.. there was plenty of ambient light available..

I said.. I will be back.. in about 45 minutes ! I left. I am only 1/4 mile from my darkroom

When I showed Joe. that image, that 16 X 20 image, He jumped !!!

get that piece off the wall now!!! was his first statement..

The 16 x 20 image was laid beside his work.. and it MATCHED!!

you see.. Joe kept saying light light light.. 
He was trying to get the *SILVER* to show its *SHINE* against a *WHITE* porclean backgound using *LIGHTS*!! which of course would be too much.....I am an electrican and it was so obvious to me!

This famous gallery presented me with many unique challenges.

they even flew me back from alaska twice to do work for them only because .. 

the big pro agencies in boston(the ones they used) could not do.. WHAT I HAD LEANRED JUST BY .. -=reading books=-

The most specataular challenge they put to me once was this.

This gallerly just acquired 5 bronze statues about 18" tall 

of a female 1. as a baby 2. as a small child 3. as a teen 4. as a woman 5. as a mother.

These bronze sculptures were magnificent they had 5.000 sets!

I was in alaska I knew nothing of this..I get a phone call David, can you fly?

yes ..
I show up in Boston.. This is our problem she said.. and she begins to open box after box after box

the most gorgous photos of these sculptures.. WHOA !!! WOW..!

My mouth is hanging open.. I am amazed at these images, spectacular!

I have never seen such wonderful work. wow.

Vivian looks at me and says.. we don't like any of these! huh ??? 

We need something better she said. I am now in a state of total shock.

I have never seen anything so beautiful and razor sharp like this before.

I got so SCARED when she said.. we need something BETTER!

I wanted to just turn right around and leave. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO?
how could you possiblly get "better" than what I have just seen??

I was about to say.. I can't do better than that.. I'll give it a try was my CONFIDENT reply. i will be back tommorrow after noon.

AS I am drivnig to E. Phillip Levines (camera shop boston)

I am thinking.. how can I possibly do better than this?? I contemplated eveyrthing I had seen. and I knew. I would have to use an 8 x 10 view camera

I have never used on in my life before. but I had read lots about them.

so I rented one from Phil

the day of the shoot.

bogen 350 tripod 3 minutes @ F 90

same gallery. same room 

but.. it took me four hours.. to arrange all 5 sclupteres on a SEAMLESS backgound of orange/yellow cloth

this is the one thing.. that made my images so stiking! was the backgound

the seamless cloth the contrasting color 

instead of usng white as the big pros did.

that was the one thing that set mine off from these THOUSANDS of photographs they had shown me.

I took one exposure.. ! CLICK!

I GOT PAID 1,000 for that one click!

and a free round trip back to Alaska!!

they just could not believe the realsitic life givng qualites .. that were produced when placed against that back drop!! Either could I .

all 5 at once! and each was in the exact position requred to show the best prominent details of the piece.

so I hope I answered your question about long exposeres.

Please dont ask another LONG one.!! I joke! I'm only kidding


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## malkav41

Count me in on the contest. Hope the photo I chose is considered a "Long Exposure" Photo.


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## Lowa2

Is 6 seconds considered long? I think i've got a nice one for this month.


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## Majik Imaje

in my opinon  1/8 sec  - 10 hours should fit the range.

the data sheet for Kodak VPL  VERICOLOR PROFESIONAL LONG

will tell you the EXACT  definition of their idea. of what they consider because I do believe they provide a range.

but I personally do not know .


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## machangezi

I guess this one's gonna be a tough one.


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## RacePhoto

cornfield girl said:


> Forgive me for being the newbie, but what is a "Long exposure" shot?



Opinion... My opinion. It may be wrong. 

For my impression of this, I'd say anything 1 second or over. Mine was a couple of minutes. Yes I already sent it in, I was having so much fun after the last contest, I shot one out.

Why one second, not 1/8th? No particular reason. Just that I figured anything that's a fraction of a second, isn't "long". 

Someone else may say, anything shot Bulb, but I know there are cameras that can meter and shoot in minutes, so it wouldn't be fair to not count them as long.


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## ardsam

I'm New and have entered my first ever long exposure shot onto this competition, It's fairly good, if not a bit un-original though!


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## jmwilburn

Anything could be considered long in my opinion. Like it was said above. As long as it is noticeable that it was exposed for a period of time. Like 1/8th of a second could be long if what you're shooting is faster and leaves a trail and such.


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## Majik Imaje

that's exactly my thought also. I was once standing across the street from the Salem witch house. I had b&w film I made a still shot of the house.. but I left the shutter open for 1/8 of a second and the "trails" of people walking by . were just fantastick thanks for using that illustration it reminded me of how lovely those "trails" looked


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## astrostu

See, that's nothing ... I consider short exposures to be 90 seconds   But I guess shooting at night is more photon-limited than during the day.


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## Majik Imaje

VPS = short exposures and they have what they call SHORT.

VPL = LONG  exposures and they have a range for those.. 

At some point VPS ends and VPL starts.. 

I keep using this film as a reference only because .. "it is a PROFESSONAL film" with RANGES

NOW IF YOU look carefully at a Luna Pro light meter you see that the RANGE on THAT METER goes from  1/10,000 of a second to  8 hours

now .. define short ! ? or long ?  the ONLY  reference I know of.. (not that I consider my self of ANY  authority .. NO! BUT  it is the ONLY  thing I can find. which gives  a starting pont !  KODAK! 

I guess I will have to find a data sheet on VPL to compare with the data sheet for VPS film

I will post the results when I find them!


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## RacePhoto

Majik Imaje said:


> VPS = short exposures and they have what they call SHORT.
> 
> VPL = LONG  exposures and they have a range for those..
> 
> At some point VPS ends and VPL starts..
> 
> I keep using this film as a reference only because .. "it is a PROFESSONAL film" with RANGES
> 
> NOW IF YOU look carefully at a Luna Pro light meter you see that the RANGE on THAT METER goes from  1/10,000 of a second to  8 hours
> 
> now .. define short ! ? or long ?  the ONLY  reference I know of.. (not that I consider my self of ANY  authority .. NO! BUT  it is the ONLY  thing I can find. which gives  a starting pont !  KODAK!
> 
> I guess I will have to find a data sheet on VPL to compare with the data sheet for VPS film
> 
> I will post the results when I find them!



I thought my arbitrary, personal opinion had some merit. A fraction of a second is short in common day terms.

However, to admit the other side has a point, one mans lifetime in the perspective of the age of the universe, is a blink of the eye. That's short. If you are 90, that's long in relative human terms.

The point is, in what context is short, short and long, long? 

If you were taking a photo on glass plates, during the Civil War, a short exposure might be 10 seconds.  When the early 35 mm cameras came out and one no longer needed a tripod to take a picture, 1/125th or 1/250th was short.

Anyway the month is almost over and then we can discuss what is ??? for next months March assignment. :thumbup:

Long or short is not only relative to the context but open to subjective arguments. Unless someone finds a book or article from a photo authority saying "long exposure is defined as..." we'll never have an absolute answer for the question.

The one I did find, says, *"long exposure is defined as one second or over, or showing typical motion effects associated with a long exposure."*


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## Majik Imaje

Kodak defines where VPS stops. and VPL begins..

I will do the research  -=one cick=-

Re-search =two clicks.

that was a  "joke"

let me find the data sheets.. 

I have stressed.. this  at lease two / three times in this thread

Are  Kodak's requirements considered valid? I can show motion in an image using 1/30 or higher. ?? Now I AM ALL CONFUSED. becuasethe bold quote you inserted, ? well now  I can easily show motion @ 125 of a second very easily if something is coming towards me.

I will post Kodaks advice! and find what other informaton I can find. but VPS and VPL are the only films that I know of that are specificaly designed for a limited "RANGE"   EV 1 ?  EV 3 ?  I WILL BE BACK.. in time for next months contest!


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## astrostu

Alright, I'm sending mine in.  Hopefully I won't have issues like I did in December, and hopefully this time mine isn't too "abstract" to get votes .


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## RacePhoto

astrostu said:


> Alright, I'm sending mine in.  Hopefully I won't have issues like I did in December, and hopefully this time mine isn't too "abstract" to get votes .



Darn I was going to write, Please Don't Enter. I need that tripod. :lmao:

This is the only photo BB where I've ever entered anything, and it's been great fun. The mix here and the general open and kind atmosphere makes it "the place". I plan on entering every month from now on. (and not winning anything) 

Slow shutter almost shouts "abstract". Good luck.


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## GoM

Mmm....two more days, you say...


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## GoM

K....here's the thing...

I'm going out tonight to shoot for this, as I just borrowed a tripod now.

One problem is I may not get home before midnight....

I have my camera set to the proper date and time, so if I end up submitting it at, like, 1 AM, but the time is still in February...that cool?


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## TwistMyArm

As long as it comes in before I post them it's cool. I normally get a few in the morning following the deadline. Just make sure you complete the form properly when you send it. If you send it in a rush and miss something it might not be included.


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