"A snapshot steals life that it cannot return. A long exposure creates a form that never existed." - Dieter Appelt.

The above quote actually sums it up for me as to why I shoot long exposures. The forms you can create with long exposures really appeal to my aesthetic sensibility. I enjoy how with even clouds that are barely moving you can still exaggerate movement in them with a long exposure shot.

To some photographers and non-photographers, long exposures don't reflect reality and therefor are put into the "photoshopped" (that's another blog post entirely!) realm of artistic images and aren't "real" photographs. As I consider photography to be an art form, I honestly think anything goes and it's simply personal preference that dictates how you shoot.

With the explosion of smartphone photography, the other reason I enjoy taking long exposures is that it's not easily replicated with a phone. Sure you could use an app (there's always an app for that!), but you'll be struggling to replicate exactly what I can achieve in a single frame. Then there's noise issues and trying to edit an image created by such a tiny sensor.

I was once shooting a long exposure in the city during midday, and a young man came up to me while eyeing off my DSLR and tripod. He asked me why I was using all this gear when he could get the same shot with his iphone. I asked him to take a shot with his phone the same time I clicked my shutter. His phone rapidly clicked on and off. Mine was still going. For another 4 minutes. I asked him if he could hold his iphone completely steady for 4 minutes. Ah, nope.

Basically, I love creating imagery that evokes a sense of movement in a hyper reality, whether that be fast moving clouds or ultra smooth water in the ocean. I've been shooting long exposures for at least 6 years and I'm not getting tired of them yet. So get ready to see more here. :)