Photographer Kyle Nutt is up to his tricks again in the below video where he shares five ways to shoot head-turning long-exposure photos. As with his smartphone photography tricks video we shared recently, Nutt’s below tutorial doesn’t involve any talking, just clear demonstrations of how to perform the long exposure tricks so you can try them yourself.
Here’s a rundown of his five long exposure photography ideas, which he shows you in full in the 2.5-minute video at the bottom of this story.
Trick #1: Touching the Rainbow
Surround your model with cotton so it resembles clouds. Cover your model’s hand in a rainbow array of colored paint. Use light gels to create a rainbow light bar. Move the rainbow light bar in a curving motion up from your model’s hand while shooting a self-timed long exposure photo with your camera on a tripod.
Trick #2: Thunderstorm
Have an assistant hang a fake cloud over a seated model using a boom. Have another assistant pour water from a watering can in front of the model so it resembles rain. Move a handheld light in a zig-zag pattern in front of your model while shooting a self-timed long exposure photo with your camera on a tripod.
Trick #3: Wings of Fire
Have your model stand on a chair. Wrap a 100% cotton shirt around a long stick to create a torch. Light the torch and safely wave it behind your model to create fiery wings while shooting a self-timed long exposure photo with your camera on a tripod.
Trick #4: Electric Cycle
While shooting a self-timed long exposure photo with your camera on a tripod, wave a light stick in an up-and-down motion behind the cycle while walking backward. Then, in a second long-exposure shot, wave sparklers behind the cycle while walking backward. Combine all the layers of the image together in Photoshop later.
Trick #5: Portal
Wave a light stick, wrapped in a plastic bag, in a circular motion while shooting a self-timed long exposure photo with your camera on a tripod. (The plastic bag will help capture more texture in your photo.) Shoot a second-long exposure image of a model from behind. Light your subject to create the illusion they’re standing in front of a portal. Combine the two images later in Photoshop.
