Canvas inspiration: Light trails

One of our favourite elements of night time photography is the way you can play with and manipulate lights. There are endless tricks and ways you can do this, and a popular favourite of ours is creating light trails by using a long exposure and a slow shutter speed. It sounds difficult but it's easy to do if you're willing to put some time into it!

You've probably seen this done before, the most common way is to photograph the tail lights of a moving car (or to take a photo FROM a moving car...). There is something kind of nostalgic and beautiful about showing movement this way, and the results are pretty awesome. We wanted to share some quick and easy tips to help you to get this effect using your camera at home.

Choose a cool location with a clear view of the road. Pick a spot where there is lots of traffic, make sure the surroundings are interesting and frame the shot well as they are the backbone of the photo. Remember if cars are coming towards you your light trails will be white, if they're driving away they will be red. 

Plan the shot! Light trails don't only work in pitch black, sunset/sunrise light trails look pretty awesome too. Make sure you have a tripod if you want the lines to be sharp and the shot to be clear. Getting the right shot can take time so don't rush it. Make sure the shot is framed nicely and test out a few different angles. 

Time the shot correctly. Typically you want to take the photo just as the car enters the frame, but this will take a few tries before you get it right. Experiment with the shutter speeds and exposure until you're happy. Setting your shutter speed for 20 seconds is a good place to start. More or less is fine depending on what you are going for. The longer you leave it, the duller the light trail will be. 

Here are some pictures of light trails we love to give you some ideas! Good luck!