Long Exposure at Noosa Heads, Queensland Australia

I took this long exposure photograph whilst staying in Noosa during a 4 week holiday to Queensland. We all loved sitting on the rocks in the evening to watch the sun go down, the surfers returning home from some of the breaks out on the point, and one evening even dolphins playing in the surf. This photograph was taken from a spot a 10 minute walk out from the national park car park towards the boiling pot.

So, the techie stuff:

  • Canon 70d DSLR
  • Sigma 10 – 18 zoom set wide open
  • RAW mode (always!)
  • Tripod
  • Remote release – I always use a very simple, low cost remote switch to allow taking the image without touching the camera, the Canon RS-60E3 which I have had for ever and still does the job perfectly.
  • Filters – Lee Big Stopper, (a very dark glass filter, that multiplies the exposure by a huge factor of 1,000) and a Lee ND Filter that darkens the sky to balance the exposure
  • ISO 400 – I would of liked less, but in the fading light the exposure was already 90 seconds. See my article on ISO settings for more details on this important exposure control.
  • F11 Appeture
  • 90 second exposure

Before sunset you may want to take a walk along the Noosa Heads Coastal Path (or do so before breakfast as we did) – recommended!