There is something magical about long exposure photography – allowing your camera to capture light and details for a longer period of time can create some stunning photographs. From traffic lights and light painting to smoky water and star trails, or even photographing the Milky Way – the possibilities are endless.

Equipped with a sturdy tripod and a good knowledge of how light travels you can create your own long exposure photos. While it certainly takes time and a lot of practice to master fully, long exposure photography is a great way to learn more about light and widen your creativity.

Today we have 40 great examples of long exposure photographs. Some of those images have a shutter speed as short as 2 seconds while others are over 30 minutes long. Hopefully some of those images will inspire you to give long exposure photography a shot!

Stars

photo by John Fowler

As the windmills and the heavens turn

photo by @sage_solar

Sunrise at Swine’s Den

photo by Jonathan Combe

MV Ever Transport III

photo by Harald Kobler

Orb spining

photo by Disco-Dan

Celestial Mooring

photo by jason jenkins

Trace of a Northern Light

photo by Timo Horstschäfer

A Thousand Suns Wouldn’t Shine as Bright

photo by jason jenkins

Cause and effect

photo by Kenny Louie

Double Arch and Milky Way

photo by John Fowler

Experimenting with long exposure

photo by Paul Stocker

The Lighthouse

photo by Jonathan Combe

Night Stars Milky Way

photo by alfa.83

Lily Lighting

photo by Andrew Nourse

Long exposure of a Ferris Wheel from Luna Park

photo by matthewwu88

Hogeweidebrug Utrecht

photo by Marcel030NL

Long Exposure Waves

photo by Tim Sackton

Long exposure of the surf coming in near Poipu, Kauai

photo by Frank Kovalchek

Tyne Bridge – Long exposure

photo by steve r watson

Long Exposure in Yurikamome (Daiba, Tokyo, Japan)

photo by t-mizo

Long exposure Seascape

photo by Darren Shilson

Glow in the Dark

photo by Jon Phillips

Pillars

photo by Thomas Leth-Olsen

Dromana Pier

photo by Scott Cresswell

Knightsbridge, London

photo by Nikos Koutoulas

IMG_0032

photo by illum

Campfire Blackhole

photo by Aaron Wagner

Sunset Pier

photo by Samuel Sharpe

Weather Maker

photo by Ian Sane

Sunshine

photo by Luke Detwiler

The Hollow Line – Light Graffiti

photo by Rob Walker

Milf Powers

photo by darkday

Spring Runoff

photo by Ian Sane

Twist in the Road

photo by Yogendra Joshi

Light Graffiti – Goku

photo by Rob Walker

Inexact Time

photo by Dan DeChiaro

The Boles

photo by Jordi nll

The Green Wheel at Roskilde Festival 2009

photo by Stig Nygaard

Oversum Winterberg light explosion

photo by Thomas Wensing

Guardian

photo by Paško Tomić

I hope you enjoyed this post and that the photos we included sparked some ideas. Please feel free to share your own long exposure photographs with us by leaving a comment via Twitter or Facebook.