The human eye adjusts to different changes in light intensity. When we exit a dark room and enter a bright one, our eyes "hurt" as the pupil needs to adjust to the light's intensity. In other words, the amount of light that penetrates our pupil forces it to adapt accordingly. In photography this amount of light is known as exposure. Exposure can be long, short or in-between. Short exposure has a quick response from the camera so it takes less than a second to take the photo. With long exposure however, taking a photo can last as long as 5 seconds (or 30 on professional cameras). How to lengthen the exposure of a photo There are two ways of making sure that your photos are exposed long enough to light. The first involves waiting for the sun to set or drawing the blinds in order to reduce light as much as possible. As a result the exposure time will be at around 3 seconds. The second way to do this is to manually set the exposure time (the FujiFilm s5600 allows exposure times to up to 15 seconds). Both ways are efficient as the result is virtually the same.

Here is a set of tips that may come in handy when taking long exposure shots:

• Shake your camera as much as possible. Although camera shaking is a photographer's worst nightmare, when dealing with long exposure it can produce some wonderful effects.

Lines and streaks

• The best light source to do this, is a LED (these can be found in TV lights, computer lights as well as on/off switches around the house). Larger lights, such as light bulbs produce diffuse glow in long exposure (as seen in the second picture above).

• Starlight can be captured with long exposure shots. If you set the timer to >10 seconds (amateur models; professionals can go up to 30 mins. and more) you can see the stars. Although they can be seen when taking normal photos, this really amplifies their light and makes them stand out. Specialised photographical equipment with high exposure times can capture the trajectory of stars on the night sky.

Neon effects

• In some cases, the camera cannot focus and the final image is a bit "puffy'. This can add to the image's originality but if you feel uncomfortable with it you can either approach the subject from a different angle or re-focus (the second image above shows the result of not being able to focus).

• Different coloured lights can enhance your photo and turn it into a masterpiece. An orange light can represent fire (or the sun) whereas a blue one can be a substitute for water.

Neon and ambient light effects