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.

long exposure photography in cornwall 3 Waterfalls and Landscapes

Both pictures- f/22  iso-200  6 seconds exposure

long exposure photography in cornwall 6 Waterfalls and Landscapes

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.

long exposure photography in cornwall 5 Waterfalls and Landscapes

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.

long exposure photography in cornwall 10 Waterfalls and Landscapes

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.

long exposure photography in cornwall 8 Waterfalls and Landscapes

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.

long exposure photography in cornwall 2 Waterfalls and Landscapes

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.

One comment

  1. Did you witness anything strange at St Nectans Glen? My photos showed lots of orbs floating around that were invisible to the naked eye.

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