Creative Long Exposure Photography: Capturing Motion in a Single Frame
Creative Long Exposure Photography: Capturing Motion in a Single Frame
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Learn to use time, movement, and light as creative tool while deepening your understanding of photography’s bedrock variables.
Most photography instruction teaches us how to freeze movement, hold the camera steady, and keep everything sharp. This two-session workshop explores what becomes possible when you intentionally do the opposite.
Longer exposures can transform everyday movement into something expressive and unexpected. A moving subject can become a gesture. A changing background can create a sense of speed. Movement of the camera itself can turn a familiar scene into something much more abstract. Instead of treating blur as a mistake, you will learn how to use it deliberately to bring energy, rhythm, atmosphere, and a stronger sense of time into your photographs.
Longtime Looking Glass instructor Dave Strauss will guide you through the creative and technical decisions involved in slow-shutter photography. Through clear explanations, live tethered demonstrations, a between-session shooting assignment, and a constructive review of student photographs, you will have the opportunity to learn the techniques and then put them into practice.
Class Details:
- Date: Two sessions - Friday, July 31st and Friday, August 7th
- Duration: Each session is approximately 1.5 hours from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Location: Looking Glass Photo Classroom at 2095 Rose Street, Berkeley CA
What You’ll Learn
This workshop will help you understand how different shutter speeds affect the appearance of movement and how to choose an exposure based on the result you want to create.
Dave will demonstrate and discuss:
- How progressively longer exposures change the way movement appears
- Photographing a moving subject while the camera remains still
- Creating movement in the background while following a subject
- Using deliberate camera movement as part of the photograph
- Combining subject, background, and camera movement
- When to use a tripod and when shooting handheld may produce a more interesting result
- How neutral density filters allow you to use longer exposures in brighter conditions
- How shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and available light work together
- How to evaluate unsuccessful attempts and make useful adjustments
The focus will be on understanding the creative possibilities and the underlying photographic principles.
Course Format
This is a two-session, in-person workshop totaling three and a half hours.
Friday, July 31st from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Session One: Demonstration, Technique, and Preparation
One and a half hours
Dave will introduce the principles of long exposure photography by showing and discussing many examples, and then demonstrate a range of slow-shutter techniques using a camera tethered to the classroom’s large monitor. You will be able to see in real time how changes in exposure length, camera support, subject movement, and camera movement affect the finished image.
The session will also cover practical use of tripods and neutral density filters. At the end of the first session, Dave will provide shooting exercises for students to complete before the second meeting.
Between the Sessions
You will have time to experiment with the techniques introduced during the first class and create your own long exposure photographs. The assignment is designed to encourage exploration and experimentation rather than perfection! Trying different approaches, noticing what works, and encountering a few surprises are all part of the process.
Friday, August 7th from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Session Two: Student Image Review and Critique
One and a half hours
The class will reconvene for a thoughtful review of student photographs. Dave will discuss what is working in each image, how the chosen shutter speed affects the result, and what adjustments might strengthen the photograph or lead to a different creative outcome.
This second session gives you the opportunity to learn not only from your own experiments, but also from the many different ways other students approached the assignment.
Who This Class Is For
This workshop is intended for intermediate photographers using a DSLR or mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera.
Students should already be comfortable changing shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and should have a basic understanding of how those settings work together. You do not need previous experience with long exposure photography.
Those who are still learning the fundamentals of exposure and camera operation will benefit from taking Fundamentals 101: Foundations of Photography before enrolling in this workshop.
What to Bring
Please bring:
- A DSLR or mirrorless camera with a fully charged battery and memory card
- Any lenses you would like to use
- A tripod, if you own one
- Any neutral density filters you already own, along with the appropriate adapter rings needed to attach them to the lenses you plan to use. Please check your lens and filter sizes before class.
Because the between-session assignment is an important part of the workshop, access to a tripod and neutral density filter is strongly recommended. Dave will explain how these tools are used and what features to consider, while the Looking Glass team can help with specific equipment questions and selection.
By the end of the course, you will have a much broader understanding of what shutter speed can do and a new set of tools for making photographs that show movement, time, and energy in ways a fast exposure cannot.
Description
Description
Learn to use time, movement, and light as creative tool while deepening your understanding of photography’s bedrock variables.
Most photography instruction teaches us how to freeze movement, hold the camera steady, and keep everything sharp. This two-session workshop explores what becomes possible when you intentionally do the opposite.
Longer exposures can transform everyday movement into something expressive and unexpected. A moving subject can become a gesture. A changing background can create a sense of speed. Movement of the camera itself can turn a familiar scene into something much more abstract. Instead of treating blur as a mistake, you will learn how to use it deliberately to bring energy, rhythm, atmosphere, and a stronger sense of time into your photographs.
Longtime Looking Glass instructor Dave Strauss will guide you through the creative and technical decisions involved in slow-shutter photography. Through clear explanations, live tethered demonstrations, a between-session shooting assignment, and a constructive review of student photographs, you will have the opportunity to learn the techniques and then put them into practice.
Class Details:
- Date: Two sessions - Friday, July 31st and Friday, August 7th
- Duration: Each session is approximately 1.5 hours from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
- Location: Looking Glass Photo Classroom at 2095 Rose Street, Berkeley CA
What You’ll Learn
This workshop will help you understand how different shutter speeds affect the appearance of movement and how to choose an exposure based on the result you want to create.
Dave will demonstrate and discuss:
- How progressively longer exposures change the way movement appears
- Photographing a moving subject while the camera remains still
- Creating movement in the background while following a subject
- Using deliberate camera movement as part of the photograph
- Combining subject, background, and camera movement
- When to use a tripod and when shooting handheld may produce a more interesting result
- How neutral density filters allow you to use longer exposures in brighter conditions
- How shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and available light work together
- How to evaluate unsuccessful attempts and make useful adjustments
The focus will be on understanding the creative possibilities and the underlying photographic principles.
Course Format
This is a two-session, in-person workshop totaling three and a half hours.
Friday, July 31st from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Session One: Demonstration, Technique, and Preparation
One and a half hours
Dave will introduce the principles of long exposure photography by showing and discussing many examples, and then demonstrate a range of slow-shutter techniques using a camera tethered to the classroom’s large monitor. You will be able to see in real time how changes in exposure length, camera support, subject movement, and camera movement affect the finished image.
The session will also cover practical use of tripods and neutral density filters. At the end of the first session, Dave will provide shooting exercises for students to complete before the second meeting.
Between the Sessions
You will have time to experiment with the techniques introduced during the first class and create your own long exposure photographs. The assignment is designed to encourage exploration and experimentation rather than perfection! Trying different approaches, noticing what works, and encountering a few surprises are all part of the process.
Friday, August 7th from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Session Two: Student Image Review and Critique
One and a half hours
The class will reconvene for a thoughtful review of student photographs. Dave will discuss what is working in each image, how the chosen shutter speed affects the result, and what adjustments might strengthen the photograph or lead to a different creative outcome.
This second session gives you the opportunity to learn not only from your own experiments, but also from the many different ways other students approached the assignment.
Who This Class Is For
This workshop is intended for intermediate photographers using a DSLR or mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera.
Students should already be comfortable changing shutter speed, aperture, and ISO and should have a basic understanding of how those settings work together. You do not need previous experience with long exposure photography.
Those who are still learning the fundamentals of exposure and camera operation will benefit from taking Fundamentals 101: Foundations of Photography before enrolling in this workshop.
What to Bring
Please bring:
- A DSLR or mirrorless camera with a fully charged battery and memory card
- Any lenses you would like to use
- A tripod, if you own one
- Any neutral density filters you already own, along with the appropriate adapter rings needed to attach them to the lenses you plan to use. Please check your lens and filter sizes before class.
Because the between-session assignment is an important part of the workshop, access to a tripod and neutral density filter is strongly recommended. Dave will explain how these tools are used and what features to consider, while the Looking Glass team can help with specific equipment questions and selection.
By the end of the course, you will have a much broader understanding of what shutter speed can do and a new set of tools for making photographs that show movement, time, and energy in ways a fast exposure cannot.
