Long exposure photography in Cornwall
Locations | St Michael’s Mount, Kennall Vale, St Nectan’s Glen
Cornwall Landscape photographer | Paul Keppel
Long exposure photography in Cornwall gives you an array of creative possibilities. Cornwall is almost surrounded by the sea that wraps around the stunning coastline for almost 300miles so it only seems right to take advantage of it.
Living within a couple of miles radius of Kennall Vale, it’s a great place to take photographs, to walk the dog or just to enjoy the walks around the remains and leats which diverted water from the river to power the mills. Now wellies are a must, as it is shaded from the trees and can get pretty muddy, but also the best shots sometimes may involve getting your feet wet.
Both pictures- f/22 iso-200 6 seconds exposure
f/32 iso-200 13 seconds exposure
The day I chose followed heavy rainfall which made the rivers fast flowing, so there was no need to any Neutral density (ND) filters to prolong the exposure, this gave the photos a great smokey/ milky look. The waterfall was my favourite feature to photograph I even carried the big rock to create some foreground interest.
f/22 iso-200 6 seconds exposure
Once I reached home I googled waterfalls in Cornwall and that’s how I found my next picture.
f/22 iso-200 105 seconds exposure
My second outing to try long exposures was at St Nectan’s glen which is located in Trethevy near Tintagel. The river Trevillet has carved its way through Late Devonian slate to create a spectacular 60 foot waterfall and punch a hole through the original kieve (basin). This is one of my favourite places for long exposure photography in Cornwall. To photograph here I did stack some ND filters to get a longer exposure. I think the pictures I have shown are around 85secs long. For this length of exposure a tripod is essential.
f/18 iso-200 59 seconds exposure
Last of all, I went for a different type of long exposure photography, cloud trails. Now this is pretty difficult due to the bright sun making exposures very short. This is where a 10 stop ND filter comes into play. On a bright day with the sun shining I could achieve an exposure of 1 minute which creates movement in the clouds.
f/22 iso-200 52 seconds exposure 10stop ND filter
If you are looking for long exposure photography in Cornwall then please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss your photography requirements.
Did you witness anything strange at St Nectans Glen? My photos showed lots of orbs floating around that were invisible to the naked eye.