How to use Bulb mode on your Nikon DSLR

Whether you’re shooting star trails or urban light patterns, you’re going to be dealing with exposures that run into several seconds, if not minutes.

Taking long exposures can be daunting, but it doesn’t have mean the death of your night photography ambitions if you learn how to use the Bulb mode on your Nikon DSLR.

Below we’ve shown you how to use Bulb mode in 4 simple steps.

How to use Bulb mode

Step 1: Use a tripod
During a long exposure, the slightest movement will blur the picture, and handheld shooting is out of the question. Your camera needs to be fixed to a tripod, and you should make sure it’s locked in place.

Step 2: Set the shutter to Bulb
Set the camera to manual mode and use the command dial to set the shutter speed to Bulb. Pressing the shutter button opens the shutter, which will stay open until you release the shutter button again.

Step 3: Use a remote release
If you simply hold down the shutter button yourself, you’ll keep jogging the camera with slight movements that will blur the picture. Instead, use a cable release or infrared remote to fire the shutter.

Step 4: Time the exposure
Using the remote, lock the release during the exposure and time it using a watch or the stopwatch function on your phone to get an accurate exposure time. Some remotes have timers built in.

Posted on Monday, February 20th, 2012 at 4:57 pm under Getting Started. You can subscribe to comments.

Tags: hot, long exposures, low light, night photography, Nikon DSLRs