PRO CASE STUDY
Landscape photographer Christoph Schaarschmidt on long exposures
Hey Christoph, tell us a bit about yourself and your photographic journey
That journey started in my childhood. Both my grandfather and my father were enthusiastic hobby photographers and videographers. When I was in school, I took a camera with me on every trip. Later, I wanted to turn my hobby into a job and so I studied media engineering.
What fascinates you about long-exposure photography?
My final thesis during my studies was about time-lapse photography. I spent days and nights filming movements in nature. During this time I found more and more pleasure in capturing exactly these processes in just one single exposure. Using this method, I can make things visible that you can’t see with your eyes. This is when I shot my first star trail images and long-exposure landscapes.
What are your biggest challenges when taking long-exposure images?
One of the biggest challenges is taking long exposures of light trails on roads. This summer, I wanted to take such a picture in the Austrian Alps. When
I got to the mountains for the first time, it started to rain and there was lightning on the horizon. So I returned to my tent. On the second attempt, I waited in vain for a car to light up the road below; so the third time, I had to make sure it worked properly.
I hiked to my photo location and positioned and programmed my camera. After that, I returned to my car and drove up and down the pass road by myself. When I got back to my camera afterwards, I was more than happy to find that everything had worked according to plan.
What has been the longest exposure time you’ve ever worked with?
I think the longest exposure time for a single image was about 20 minutes. When you expose for such a long time,
terrible colour noise appears in the finished picture, so you have to take dark frames at the same time and it just gets incredibly complicated.
Most of my extremely long exposures are created by stacking many single images. In principle, you shoot a timelapse, which is subsequently assembled into a single image on the computer. Using this technique, I have created images with an exposure time of up to two hours.
When capturing the beauty of nature, what do you pay special attention to?
When I find a place that I want to photograph, I first look for a suitable composition. Then I try to find out what would be the perfect time to photograph this place, because it is important how the natural light interacts with the landscape.
Should I photograph it in the morning, evening, or at night with the moving stars? Or do I have to come back at a completely different time of year? Often, you don’t have the luxury of choosing, so you have to do something with the situation you find. My motto is that you get a little smarter with every attempt, even if the result isn’t perfect.
What equipment do you use most regularly?
I’m currently using a Canon EOS 6D Mark II. I’ve always been a Canon user and, without being a huge tech geek, I’m just really happy with what it offers me.
When it comes to lenses, I naturally like wide-angle and bright lenses, mainly because I like to be out and about at night to photograph stars and the Milky Way. For this reason, I use a Sigma 1424mm f/2.8 – one of the best lenses I’ve ever owned. For landscape details, I now have a Canon 100-400mm lens with me, which I am very happy with.
I also use Haida grey and graduated filters for my landscape pictures. Of course, a stable tripod that stands firm for several hours is also very important. And I never want to be without a remote control again – without this my star trails wouldn’t be possible.
What is next for you and your work?
This is a good question. I’d definitely like to spend more time outside with my camera. I’ve travelled a lot, and photographed around 80 national parks around the world, but there are so many more in Europe alone that I haven’t seen yet and would love to shoot.