A Long Look, Manasquan NJ - The How and Why

   Every once in a while, I find a scene that begs to have reality stretched a bit. I still don’t care to use photoshop to remove light posts that were there, or things like that, but I will play around with how I manipulate the camera to produce an images that departs a bit from normally viewed reality. So, with that said, this photograph could be made with a digital camera or a film camera. If you were to use film, it would be processed and printed just as any other negative and print would be. The basic idea behind this photograph lies is the basic definition of photography, that is, the use of light to create images on sensitized surfaces. Light is the essential ingredient in photography, without it, you have nothing.

   Without going into all the details, the film or digital sensor needs a certain amount of light to properly expose a scene. More light equal faster shutter speeds, when all other things are held constant. (film speed and aperture are the two variables we are holding constant). So, with that, it means that less light means a longer shutter speed. Anyone who has used a camera with low light knows that its really hard to make the photograph without it coming out blurry since your hand will certainly move slightly. One way around this is by using a tripod; but then what if, while the camera stays steady, the scene moves? Well, that is exactly what I was taking advantage of in this photograph. I set my camera up on a tripod, metered and composed the scene and then put a neutral density filter on the lens to reduce the amount of light coming into the camera. So I took a late afternoon scene and turned it into one that would need a lot more light, and hence, a longer shutter speed.

   So, while the camera stayed perfectly steady on the tripod, (as did the rock jetty) the waves and clouds continued to move. For this photograph, I used a B+W 3.0 neutral density filter. The filters work in increments of .3, so each increment is an f/stop (aperture setting) or change in shutter speed, so that the 3 filter actually increased the amount of light needed by a factor of 10, (3/.3 = 10) and resulted in an exposure time of around 4 minutes. That allowed enough time for all of the waves and clouds to look like stretched cotton while the ocean to looks silky soft. During this time, a mother and child walked through the scene, however, they do not show up because they were not in the scene long enough, and importantly were not bright enough to be picked up. Had they stayed stationary for some time in one spot, they would have appeared almost as ghosts; the longer they stayed in one spot, the more of them would be visible.

   Certainly, this manipulation of light can be used in many different manners. Years ago, when film emulsions were very slow, that is, they required a lot of light and time to make one exposure, photographers would take advantage of this to take photographs of busy intersections. Because of the time needed for exposure, and the fact that the people wouldn’t be in the same spot long enough to come out in the print enabled these photographers to photograph that busy intersection and make it look like there was no one on the street at all. Pretty cool huh? Now that you are armed with this, you can unleash your creativity; pedestrian free boardwalks and streets, as well as lightning strikes all should become possible with a little trial and error.