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THE
FIV FIVE-
SECOND
SECON ECOND
RULE
Slow and steady
gets the shot
By Dan Richards
Okay, relax, take a deep
breath, and read carefully: This isn’t
really a rule. It’s more like a fun
formula. Exposures of about 5 seconds
(that means 4 to 8, give or take a few)
put you in a zone of unique effects.
Crowds turn into swirling abstracts,
nighttime traffic stretches out in neon
ribbons, and moving water turns to
mysterious ground-hugging mist.
What’s so special about 5 seconds?
Shorter, fractional exposures such as
1/8 sec can be annoyingly blurred. In
longer exposures (a minute or more),
moving subjects can disappear outright,
and skies turn a bland, pale blue.
The beauty of the 5-sec rule is that
it’s simple to follow with just about any
camera, other than the most basic.
Here’s how to optimize your images.
Hold it steady.
Obvious. What makes multi-second
exposures cool is the blur painted
onto a sharp canvas. A tripod or other
solid support is mandatory.
That’s often easier said than done.
“The main drawbacks are wind and
rain,” says Roger Coleman, whose
beach view appears on page 63.
“Hoping the tripod stays still near
the coast for many seconds is often
wishful thinking.” The only advice
here is to shoot a lot of pictures.
And sometimes a tripod is
inappropriate. “I almost never use
a tripod; it’s just too bulky to carry
around and is often prohibited,” says
Guy Flâneur, who took the streaky
image of the Washington Metro train
on the next page. “The Metro permits
POP PHOTO FEBRUARY 2009 61
KERRICK JAMES